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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:14:23 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:14:23 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/123-0.txt b/123-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dc8ee04 --- /dev/null +++ b/123-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5130 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 123 *** + +[Illustration] + + + + +At the Earth’s Core + +By Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + +CONTENTS + + PROLOG + CHAPTER I. TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + CHAPTER II. A STRANGE WORLD + CHAPTER III. A CHANGE OF MASTERS + CHAPTER IV. DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + CHAPTER V. SLAVES + CHAPTER VI. THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + CHAPTER VII. FREEDOM + CHAPTER VIII. THE MAHAR TEMPLE + CHAPTER IX. THE FACE OF DEATH + CHAPTER X. PHUTRA AGAIN + CHAPTER XI. FOUR DEAD MAHARS + CHAPTER XII. PURSUIT + CHAPTER XIII. THE SLY ONE + CHAPTER XIV. THE GARDEN OF EDEN + CHAPTER XV. BACK TO EARTH + + + + +PROLOG + + +In the first place please bear in mind that I do not expect you to +believe this story. Nor could you wonder had you witnessed a recent +experience of mine when, in the armor of blissful and stupendous +ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of it to a Fellow of the Royal +Geological Society on the occasion of my last trip to London. + +You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no less a +heinous crime than the purloining of the Crown Jewels from the Tower, +or putting poison in the coffee of His Majesty the King. + +The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I was half +through!—it is all that saved him from exploding—and my dreams of an +Honorary Fellowship, gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame faded +into the thin, cold air of his arctic atmosphere. + +But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the learned +Fellow of the Royal Geological Society, had you and he heard it from +the lips of the man who told it to me. Had you seen, as I did, the fire +of truth in those gray eyes; had you felt the ring of sincerity in that +quiet voice; had you realized the pathos of it all—you, too, would +believe. You would not have needed the final ocular proof that I +had—the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature which he had brought back +with him from the inner world. + +I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the rim +of the great Sahara Desert. He was standing before a goat-skin tent +amidst a clump of date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by was an Arab +douar of some eight or ten tents. + +I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted of a +dozen children of the desert—I was the only “white” man. As we +approached the little clump of verdure I saw the man come from his tent +and with hand-shaded eyes peer intently at us. At sight of me he +advanced rapidly to meet us. + +“A white man!” he cried. “May the good Lord be praised! I have been +watching you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS time there would +be a white man. Tell me the date. What year is it?” + +And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck full +in the face, so that he was compelled to grasp my stirrup leather for +support. + +“It cannot be!” he cried after a moment. “It cannot be! Tell me that +you are mistaken, or that you are but joking.” + +“I am telling you the truth, my friend,” I replied. “Why should I +deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a matter as the date?” + +For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head. + +“Ten years!” he murmured, at last. “Ten years, and I thought that at +the most it could be scarce more than one!” That night he told me his +story—the story that I give you here as nearly in his own words as I +can recall them. + + + + +I +TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + + +I was born in Connecticut about thirty years ago. My name is David +Innes. My father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen he died. +All his property was to be mine when I had attained my +majority—provided that I had devoted the two years intervening in close +application to the great business I was to inherit. + +I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent—not because of the +inheritance, but because I loved and honored my father. For six months +I toiled in the mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to know +every minute detail of the business. + +Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow who had +devoted the better part of a long life to the perfection of a +mechanical subterranean prospector. As relaxation he studied +paleontology. I looked over his plans, listened to his arguments, +inspected his working model—and then, convinced, I advanced the funds +necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. + +I shall not go into the details of its construction—it lies out there +in the desert now—about two miles from here. Tomorrow you may care to +ride out and see it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred feet +long, and jointed so that it may turn and twist through solid rock if +need be. At one end is a mighty revolving drill operated by an engine +which Perry said generated more power to the cubic inch than any other +engine did to the cubic foot. I remember that he used to claim that +that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy—we were going to +make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our first +secret trial—but Perry never returned from that trial trip, and I only +after ten years. + +I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous occasion +upon which we were to test the practicality of that wondrous invention. +It was near midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry +had constructed his “iron mole” as he was wont to call the thing. The +great nose rested upon the bare earth of the floor. We passed through +the doors into the outer jacket, secured them, and then passing on into +the cabin, which contained the controlling mechanism within the inner +tube, switched on the electric lights. + +Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the +life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air to +replace that which we consumed in breathing; to his instruments for +recording temperatures, speed, distance, and for examining the +materials through which we were to pass. + +He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which +transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose of +his strange craft. + +Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon +transverse bars that we would be upright whether the craft were +ploughing her way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running +horizontally along some great seam of coal, or rising vertically toward +the surface again. + +At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a moment +we were silent, and then the old man’s hand grasped the starting lever. +There was a frightful roaring beneath us—the giant frame trembled and +vibrated—there was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through +the hollow space between the inner and outer jackets to be deposited in +our wake. We were off! + +The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full minute +neither of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial desperation +of the drowning man to the handrails of our swinging seats. Then Perry +glanced at the thermometer. + +“Gad!” he cried, “it cannot be possible—quick! What does the distance +meter read?” + +That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as I +turned to take a reading from the former I could see Perry muttering. + +“Ten degrees rise—it cannot be possible!” and then I saw him tug +frantically upon the steering wheel. + +As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated +Perry’s evident excitement, and my heart sank within me. But when I +spoke I hid the fear which haunted me. “It will be seven hundred feet, +Perry,” I said, “by the time you can turn her into the horizontal.” + +“You’d better lend me a hand then, my boy,” he replied, “for I cannot +budge her out of the vertical alone. God give that our combined +strength may be equal to the task, for else we are lost.” + +I wormed my way to the old man’s side with never a doubt but that the +great wheel would yield on the instant to the power of my young and +vigorous muscles. Nor was my belief mere vanity, for always had my +physique been the envy and despair of my fellows. And for that very +reason it had waxed even greater than nature had intended, since my +natural pride in my great strength had led me to care for and develop +my body and my muscles by every means within my power. What with +boxing, football, and baseball, I had been in training since childhood. + +And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of the huge +iron rim; but though I threw every ounce of my strength into it, my +best effort was as unavailing as Perry’s had been—the thing would not +budge—the grim, insensate, horrible thing that was holding us upon the +straight road to death! + +At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word returned +to my seat. There was no need for words—at least none that I could +imagine, unless Perry desired to pray. And I was quite sure that he +would, for he never left an opportunity neglected where he might +sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when he arose in the morning, he prayed +before he ate, he prayed when he had finished eating, and before he +went to bed at night he prayed again. In between he often found excuses +to pray even when the provocation seemed far-fetched to my worldly +eyes—now that he was about to die I felt positive that I should witness +a perfect orgy of prayer—if one may allude with such a simile to so +solemn an act. + +But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring him in the +face Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. From his lips there +flowed—not prayer—but a clear and limpid stream of undiluted profanity, +and it was all directed at that quietly stubborn piece of unyielding +mechanism. + +“I should think, Perry,” I chided, “that a man of your professed +religiousness would rather be at his prayers than cursing in the +presence of imminent death.” + +“Death!” he cried. “Death is it that appalls you? That is nothing by +comparison with the loss the world must suffer. Why, David within this +iron cylinder we have demonstrated possibilities that science has +scarce dreamed. We have harnessed a new principle, and with it animated +a piece of steel with the power of ten thousand men. That two lives +will be snuffed out is nothing to the world calamity that entombs in +the bowels of the earth the discoveries that I have made and proved in +the successful construction of the thing that is now carrying us +farther and farther toward the eternal central fires.” + +I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more concerned with our +own immediate future than with any problematic loss which the world +might be about to suffer. The world was at least ignorant of its +bereavement, while to me it was a real and terrible actuality. + +“What can we do?” I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath the mask of a +low and level voice. + +“We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere tanks +are empty,” replied Perry, “or we may continue on with the slight hope +that we may later sufficiently deflect the prospector from the vertical +to carry us along the arc of a great circle which must eventually +return us to the surface. If we succeed in so doing before we reach the +higher internal temperature we may even yet survive. There would seem +to me to be about one chance in several million that we shall +succeed—otherwise we shall die more quickly but no more surely than as +though we sat supinely waiting for the torture of a slow and horrible +death.” + +I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. While we were +talking the mighty iron mole had bored its way over a mile into the +rock of the earth’s crust. + +“Let us continue on, then,” I replied. “It should soon be over at this +rate. You never intimated that the speed of this thing would be so +high, Perry. Didn’t you know it?” + +“No,” he answered. “I could not figure the speed exactly, for I had no +instrument for measuring the mighty power of my generator. I reasoned, +however, that we should make about five hundred yards an hour.” + +“And we are making seven miles an hour,” I concluded for him, as I sat +with my eyes upon the distance meter. “How thick is the Earth’s crust, +Perry?” I asked. + +“There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there are +geologists,” was his answer. “One estimates it thirty miles, because +the internal heat, increasing at the rate of about one degree to each +sixty to seventy feet depth, would be sufficient to fuse the most +refractory substances at that distance beneath the surface. Another +finds that the phenomena of precession and nutation require that the +earth, if not entirely solid, must at least have a shell not less than +eight hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. So there you are. You +may take your choice.” + +“And if it should prove solid?” I asked. + +“It will be all the same to us in the end, David,” replied Perry. “At +the best our fuel will suffice to carry us but three or four days, +while our atmosphere cannot last to exceed three. Neither, then, is +sufficient to bear us in safety through eight thousand miles of rock to +the antipodes.” + +“If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a final stop +between six and seven hundred miles beneath the earth’s surface; but +during the last hundred and fifty miles of our journey we shall be +corpses. Am I correct?” I asked. + +“Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?” + +“I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce believe that +either of us realizes the real terrors of our position. I feel that I +should be reduced to panic; but yet I am not. I imagine that the shock +has been so great as to partially stun our sensibilities.” + +Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising with less +rapidity. It was now but 140 degrees, although we had penetrated to a +depth of nearly four miles. I told Perry, and he smiled. + +“We have shattered one theory at least,” was his only comment, and then +he returned to his self-assumed occupation of fluently cursing the +steering wheel. I once heard a pirate swear, but his best efforts would +have seemed like those of a tyro alongside of Perry’s masterful and +scientific imprecations. + +Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well have +essayed to swing the earth itself. At my suggestion Perry stopped the +generator, and as we came to rest I again threw all my strength into a +supreme effort to move the thing even a hair’s breadth—but the results +were as barren as when we had been traveling at top speed. + +I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. Perry pulled +it toward him, and once again we were plunging downward toward eternity +at the rate of seven miles an hour. I sat with my eyes glued to the +thermometer and the distance meter. The mercury was rising very slowly +now, though even at 145 degrees it was almost unbearable within the +narrow confines of our metal prison. + +About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this unfortunate +journey, we had bored to a depth of eighty-four miles, at which point +the mercury registered 153 degrees F. + +Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager food he +sustained his optimism I could not conjecture. From cursing he had +turned to singing—I felt that the strain had at last affected his mind. +For several hours we had not spoken except as he asked me for the +readings of the instruments from time to time, and I announced them. My +thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I recalled numerous acts of my +past life which I should have been glad to have had a few more years to +live down. There was the affair in the Latin Commons at Andover when +Calhoun and I had put gunpowder in the stove—and nearly killed one of +the masters. And then—but what was the use, I was about to die and +atone for all these things and several more. Already the heat was +sufficient to give me a foretaste of the hereafter. A few more degrees +and I felt that I should lose consciousness. + +“What are the readings now, David?” Perry’s voice broke in upon my +somber reflections. + +“Ninety miles and 153 degrees,” I replied. + +“Gad, but we’ve knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory into a cocked +hat!” he cried gleefully. + +“Precious lot of good it will do us,” I growled back. + +“But my boy,” he continued, “doesn’t that temperature reading mean +anything to you? Why it hasn’t gone up in six miles. Think of it, son!” + +“Yes, I’m thinking of it,” I answered; “but what difference will it +make when our air supply is exhausted whether the temperature is 153 +degrees or 153,000? We’ll be just as dead, and no one will know the +difference, anyhow.” But I must admit that for some unaccountable +reason the stationary temperature did renew my waning hope. What I +hoped for I could not have explained, nor did I try. The very fact, as +Perry took pains to explain, of the blasting of several very exact and +learned scientific hypotheses made it apparent that we could not know +what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, and so we might +continue to hope for the best, at least until we were dead—when hope +would no longer be essential to our happiness. It was very good, and +logical reasoning, and so I embraced it. + +At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 DEGREES! +When I announced it Perry reached over and hugged me. + +From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to drop until +it became as uncomfortably cold as it had been unbearably hot before. +At the depth of two hundred and forty miles our nostrils were assailed +by almost overpowering ammonia fumes, and the temperature had dropped +to TEN BELOW ZERO! We suffered nearly two hours of this intense and +bitter cold, until at about two hundred and forty-five miles from the +surface of the earth we entered a stratum of solid ice, when the +mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees. During the next three hours we +passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging into another +series of ammonia-impregnated strata, where the mercury again fell to +ten degrees below zero. + +Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at last we were +nearing the molten interior of the earth. At four hundred miles the +temperature had reached 153 degrees. Feverishly I watched the +thermometer. Slowly it rose. Perry had ceased singing and was at last +praying. + +Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually increasing +heat seemed to our distorted imaginations much greater than it really +was. For another hour I saw that pitiless column of mercury rise and +rise until at four hundred and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. Now +it was that we began to hang upon those readings in almost breathless +anxiety. + +One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum temperature +above the ice stratum. Would it stop at this point again, or would it +continue its merciless climb? We knew that there was no hope, and yet +with the persistence of life itself we continued to hope against +practical certainty. + +Already the air tanks were at low ebb—there was barely enough of the +precious gases to sustain us for another twelve hours. But would we be +alive to know or care? It seemed incredible. + +At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading. + +“Perry!” I shouted. “Perry, man! She’s going down! She’s going down! +She’s 152 degrees again.” + +“Gad!” he cried. “What can it mean? Can the earth be cold at the +center?” + +“I do not know, Perry,” I answered; “but thank God, if I am to die it +shall not be by fire—that is all that I have feared. I can face the +thought of any death but that.” + +Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had seven miles +from the surface of the earth, and then of a sudden the realization +broke upon us that death was very near. Perry was the first to discover +it. I saw him fussing with the valves that regulate the air supply. And +at the same time I experienced difficulty in breathing. My head felt +dizzy—my limbs heavy. + +I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and sat erect +again. Then he turned toward me. + +“Good-bye, David,” he said. “I guess this is the end,” and then he +smiled and closed his eyes. + +“Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you,” I answered, smiling back at +him. But I fought off that awful lethargy. I was very young—I did not +want to die. + +For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death that +surrounded me upon all sides. At first I found that by climbing high +into the framework above me I could find more of the precious +life-giving elements, and for a while these sustained me. It must have +been an hour after Perry had succumbed that I at last came to the +realization that I could no longer carry on this unequal struggle +against the inevitable. + +With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned mechanically +toward the distance meter. It stood at exactly five hundred miles from +the earth’s surface—and then of a sudden the huge thing that bore us +came to a stop. The rattle of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket +ceased. The wild racing of the giant drill betokened that it was +running loose in AIR—and then another truth flashed upon me. The point +of the prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it dawned on me that since +passing through the ice strata it had been above. We had turned in the +ice and sped upward toward the earth’s crust. Thank God! We were safe! + +I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were to have +been taken during the passage of the prospector through the earth, and +my fondest hopes were realized—a flood of fresh air was pouring into +the iron cabin. The reaction left me in a state of collapse, and I lost +consciousness. + + + + +II +A STRANGE WORLD + + +I was unconscious little more than an instant, for as I lunged forward +from the crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash +to the floor of the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. + +My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought that +upon the very threshold of salvation he might be dead. Tearing open his +shirt I placed my ear to his breast. I could have cried with relief—his +heart was beating quite regularly. + +At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly across +his forehead and face several times. In a moment I was rewarded by the +raising of his lids. For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite +uncomprehending. Then his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he +sat up sniffing the air with an expression of wonderment upon his face. + +“Why, David,” he cried at last, “it’s air, as sure as I live. Why—why +what does it mean? Where in the world are we? What has happened?” + +“It means that we’re back at the surface all right, Perry,” I cried; +“but where, I don’t know. I haven’t opened her up yet. Been too busy +reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a close squeak!” + +“You say we’re back at the surface, David? How can that be? How long +have I been unconscious?” + +“Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don’t you recall the sudden +whirling of our seats? After that the drill was above you instead of +below. We didn’t notice it at the time; but I recall it now.” + +“You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, David? That is +not possible. The prospector cannot turn unless its nose is deflected +from the outside—by some external force or resistance—the steering +wheel within would have moved in response. The steering wheel has not +budged, David, since we started. You know that.” + +I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in pure air, and +copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin. + +“We couldn’t have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know as well as +you,” I replied; “but the fact remains that we did, for here we are +this minute at the surface of the earth again, and I am going out to +see just where.” + +“Better wait till morning, David—it must be midnight now.” + +I glanced at the chronometer. + +“Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, so it must be +midnight. Nevertheless I am going to have a look at the blessed sky +that I had given up all hope of ever seeing again,” and so saying I +lifted the bars from the inner door, and swung it open. There was quite +a quantity of loose material in the jacket, and this I had to remove +with a shovel to get at the opposite door in the outer shell. + +In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock to the floor +of the cabin to expose the door beyond. Perry was directly behind me as +I threw it open. The upper half was above the surface of the ground. +With an expression of surprise I turned and looked at Perry—it was +broad daylight without! + +“Something seems to have gone wrong either with our calculations or the +chronometer,” I said. Perry shook his head—there was a strange +expression in his eyes. + +“Let’s have a look beyond that door, David,” he cried. + +Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a landscape +at once weird and beautiful. Before us a low and level shore stretched +down to a silent sea. As far as the eye could reach the surface of the +water was dotted with countless tiny isles—some of towering, barren, +granitic rock—others resplendent in gorgeous trappings of tropical +vegetation, myriad starred with the magnificent splendor of vivid +blooms. + +Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns +intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest. +Huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense +under-brush overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. Upon +the outer verge we could see the same splendid coloring of countless +blossoms that glorified the islands, but within the dense shadows all +seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. + +And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays out of a cloudless +sky. + +“Where on earth can we be?” I asked, turning to Perry. + +For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with bowed head, +buried in deep thought. But at last he spoke. + +“David,” he said, “I am not so sure that we are ON earth.” + +“What do you mean, Perry?” I cried. “Do you think that we are dead, and +this is heaven?” He smiled, and turning, pointing to the nose of the +prospector protruding from the ground at our backs. + +“But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed come to the +country beyond the Styx. The prospector renders that theory +untenable—it, certainly, could never have gone to heaven. However I am +willing to concede that we actually may be in another world from that +which we have always known. If we are not ON earth, there is every +reason to believe that we may be IN it.” + +“We may have quartered through the earth’s crust and come out upon some +tropical island of the West Indies,” I suggested. Again Perry shook his +head. + +“Let us wait and see, David,” he replied, “and in the meantime suppose +we do a bit of exploring up and down the coast—we may find a native who +can enlighten us.” + +As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly across the +water. Evidently he was wrestling with a mighty problem. + +“David,” he said abruptly, “do you perceive anything unusual about the +horizon?” + +As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the strangeness of the +landscape that had haunted me from the first with an illusive +suggestion of the bizarre and unnatural—THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as +the eye could reach out the sea continued and upon its bosom floated +tiny islands, those in the distance reduced to mere specks; but ever +beyond them was the sea, until the impression became quite real that +one was LOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyes could +fathom—the distance was lost in the distance. That was all—there was no +clear-cut horizontal line marking the dip of the globe below the line +of vision. + +“A great light is commencing to break on me,” continued Perry, taking +out his watch. “I believe that I have partially solved the riddle. It +is now two o’clock. When we emerged from the prospector the sun was +directly above us. Where is it now?” + +I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the center of +the heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely noticed it before. Fully +thrice the size of the sun I had known throughout my life, and +apparently so near that the sight of it carried the conviction that one +might almost reach up and touch it. + +“My God, Perry, where are we?” I exclaimed. “This thing is beginning to +get on my nerves.” + +“I think that I may state quite positively, David,” he commenced, “that +we are—” but he got no further. From behind us in the vicinity of the +prospector there came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever +had fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned to discover the +author of that fearsome noise. + +Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the sight that +met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it. Emerging from the +forest was a colossal beast which closely resembled a bear. It was +fully as large as the largest elephant and with great forepaws armed +with huge claws. Its nose, or snout, depended nearly a foot below its +lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk. The giant body +was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair. + +Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling trot. I +turned to Perry to suggest that it might be wise to seek other +surroundings—the idea had evidently occurred to Perry previously, for +he was already a hundred paces away, and with each second his +prodigious bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed what +latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed. + +I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest which ran +out toward the sea not far from where we had been standing, and as the +mighty creature, the sight of which had galvanized him into such +remarkable action, was forging steadily toward me, I set off after +Perry, though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It was evident that the +massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed, so all that I +considered necessary was to gain the trees sufficiently ahead of it to +enable me to climb to the safety of some great branch before it came +up. + +Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at Perry’s +frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety of the lower branches +of the trees he now had reached. The stems were bare for a distance of +some fifteen feet—at least on those trees which Perry attempted to +ascend, for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger of the +forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. A dozen times he +scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back to the ground +once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over his +shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken +shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest. + +At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of one’s wrist, +and when I reached the trees he was racing madly up it, hand over hand. +He had almost reached the lowest branch of the tree from which the +creeper depended when the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell +sprawling at my feet. + +The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was already too +close to us for comfort. Seizing Perry by the shoulder I dragged him to +his feet, and rushing to a smaller tree—one that he could easily +encircle with his arms and legs—I boosted him as far up as I could, and +then left him to his fate, for a glance over my shoulder revealed the +awful beast almost upon me. + +It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous +bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with the agility of my +young muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of its way and run +completely behind it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit. + +The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged in +the branches of a tree a few paces from that in which Perry had at last +found a haven. + +Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, and +so did Perry. He was praying—raising his voice in thanksgiving at our +deliverance—and had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that +the thing couldn’t climb a tree when without warning it reared up +beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and reached those +fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon which he crouched. + +The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry’s scream of fright, +and he came near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws beneath him, so +precipitate was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. It +was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him gain a higher branch in +safety. + +And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror. +Grasping the tree’s stem with his powerful paws he dragged down with +all the great weight of his huge bulk and all the irresistible force of +those mighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began to bend toward +him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward as the tree leaned more and +more from the perpendicular. Perry clung chattering in a panic of +terror. Higher and higher into the bending and swaying tree he +clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward the +ground. + +I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. The +use that he was putting them to was precisely that for which nature had +intended them. The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed +that mighty carcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage. The +reason for its attacking us might easily be accounted for on the +supposition of an ugly disposition such as that which the fierce and +stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. But these were later +reflections. At the moment I was too frantic with apprehension on +Perry’s behalf to consider aught other than a means to save him from +the death that loomed so close. + +Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open, I +dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only on distracting the thing’s +attention from Perry long enough to enable the old man to gain the +safety of a larger tree. There were many close by which not even the +terrific strength of that titanic monster could bend. + +As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the tangled mass +that matted the jungle-like floor of the forest and, leaping unnoticed +behind the shaggy back, dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked +like magic. From the previous slowness of the beast I had been led to +look for no such marvelous agility as he now displayed. Releasing his +hold upon the tree he dropped on all fours and at the same time swung +his great, wicked tail with a force that would have broken every bone +in my body had it struck me; but, fortunately, I had turned to flee at +the very instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering back. + +As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running along the +edge of the forest rather than making for the open beach. In a moment I +was knee-deep in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing behind me was +gaining rapidly as I floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate +myself. + +A fallen log gave me an instant’s advantage, for climbing upon it I +leaped to another a few paces farther on, and in this way was able to +keep clear of the mush that carpeted the surrounding ground. But the +zigzag course that this necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap +upon me that my pursuer was steadily gaining upon me. + +Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, piercing +barks—much the sound that a pack of wolves raises when in full cry. +Involuntarily I glanced backward to discover the origin of this new and +menacing note with the result that I missed my footing and went +sprawling once more upon my face in the deep muck. + +My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I must feel the +weight of one of his terrible paws before I could rise, but to my +surprise the blow did not fall upon me. The howling and snapping and +barking of the new element which had been infused into the melee now +seemed centered quite close behind me, and as I raised myself upon my +hands and glanced around I saw what it was that had distracted the +DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called, from my trail. + +It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like creatures—wild +dogs they seemed—that rushed growling and snapping in upon it from all +sides, so that they sank their white fangs into the slow brute and were +away again before it could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping +tail. + +But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. Chattering and +gibbering through the lower branches of the trees came a company of +manlike creatures evidently urging on the dog pack. They were to all +appearances strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their +skins were very black, and their features much like those of the more +pronounced Negroid type except that the head receded more rapidly above +the eyes, leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were rather longer +and their legs shorter in proportion to the torso than in man, and +later I noticed that their great toes protruded at right angles from +their feet—because of their arboreal habits, I presume. Behind them +trailed long, slender tails which they used in climbing quite as much +as they did either their hands or feet. + +I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that the +wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay. At sight of me several of the +savage creatures left off worrying the great brute to come slinking +with bared fangs toward me, and as I turned to run toward the trees +again to seek safety among the lower branches, I saw a number of the +man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage of the nearest tree. + +Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, but at +least there was a doubt as to the reception these grotesque parodies on +humanity would accord me, while there was none as to the fate which +awaited me beneath the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers. + +And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath that which +held the man-things and take refuge in another farther on; but the +wolf-dogs were very close behind me—so close that I had despaired of +escaping them, when one of the creatures in the tree above swung down +headforemost, his tail looped about a great limb, and grasping me +beneath my armpits swung me in safety up among his fellows. + +There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement and +curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair, and my flesh. They +turned me about to see if I had a tail, and when they discovered that I +was not so equipped they fell into roars of laughter. Their teeth were +very large and white and even, except for the upper canines which were +a trifle longer than the others—protruding just a bit when the mouth +was closed. + +When they had examined me for a few moments one of them discovered that +my clothing was not a part of me, with the result that garment by +garment they tore it from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter. +Apelike, they essayed to don the apparel themselves, but their +ingenuity was not sufficient to the task and so they gave it up. + +In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of +Perry, but nowhere about could I see him, although the clump of trees +in which he had first taken refuge was in full view. I was much +exercised by fear that something had befallen him, and though I called +his name aloud several times there was no response. + +Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures threw it to the +ground, and catching me, one on either side, by an arm, started off at +a most terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have I experienced +such a journey before or since—even now I oftentimes awake from a deep +sleep haunted by the horrid remembrance of that awful experience. + +From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, +while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as I glimpsed the depths +beneath, into which a single misstep on the part of either of my +bearers would hurl me. As they bore me along, my mind was occupied with +a thousand bewildering thoughts. What had become of Perry? Would I ever +see him again? What were the intentions of these half-human things into +whose hands I had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the same world into +which I had been born? No! It could not be. But yet where else? I had +not left that earth—of that I was sure. Still neither could I reconcile +the things which I had seen to a belief that I was still in the world +of my birth. With a sigh I gave it up. + + + + +III +A CHANGE OF MASTERS + + +We must have traveled several miles through the dark and dismal wood +when we came suddenly upon a dense village built high among the +branches of the trees. As we approached it my escort broke into wild +shouting which was immediately answered from within, and a moment later +a swarm of creatures of the same strange race as those who had captured +me poured out to meet us. Again I was the center of a wildly chattering +horde. I was pulled this way and that. Pinched, pounded, and thumped +until I was black and blue, yet I do not think that their treatment was +dictated by either cruelty or malice—I was a curiosity, a freak, a new +plaything, and their childish minds required the added evidence of all +their senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. + +Presently they dragged me within the village, which consisted of +several hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves supported upon the +branches of the trees. + +Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, were dead +branches and the trunks of small trees which connected the huts upon +one tree to those within adjoining trees; the whole network of huts and +pathways forming an almost solid flooring a good fifty feet above the +ground. + +I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges +between the trees, but later when I saw the motley aggregation of +half-savage beasts which they kept within their village I realized the +necessity for the pathways. There were a number of the same vicious +wolf-dogs which we had left worrying the dyryth, and many goatlike +animals whose distended udders explained the reasons for their +presence. + +My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; then +two of the creatures squatted down before the entrance—to prevent my +escape, doubtless. Though where I should have escaped to I certainly +had not the remotest conception. I had no more than entered the dark +shadows of the interior than there fell upon my ears the tones of a +familiar voice, in prayer. + +“Perry!” I cried. “Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you are safe.” + +“David! Can it be possible that you escaped?” And the old man stumbled +toward me and threw his arms about me. + +He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been seized by a +number of the ape-creatures and borne through the tree tops to their +village. His captors had been as inquisitive as to his strange clothing +as had mine, with the same result. As we looked at each other we could +not help but laugh. + +“With a tail, David,” remarked Perry, “you would make a very handsome +ape.” + +“Maybe we can borrow a couple,” I rejoined. “They seem to be quite the +thing this season. I wonder what the creatures intend doing with us, +Perry. They don’t seem really savage. What do you suppose they can be? +You were about to tell me where we are when that great hairy frigate +bore down upon us—have you really any idea at all?” + +“Yes, David,” he replied, “I know precisely where we are. We have made +a magnificent discovery, my boy! We have proved that the earth is +hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust to the inner world.” + +“Perry, you are mad!” + +“Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our prospector bore +us through the crust beneath our outer world. At that point it reached +the center of gravity of the five-hundred-mile-thick crust. Up to that +point we had been descending—direction is, of course, merely relative. +Then at the moment that our seats revolved—the thing that made you +believe that we had turned about and were speeding upward—we passed the +center of gravity and, though we did not alter the direction of our +progress, yet we were in reality moving upward—toward the surface of +the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and flora which we have +seen convince you that you are not in the world of your birth? And the +horizon—could it present the strange aspects which we both noted unless +we were indeed standing upon the inside surface of a sphere?” + +“But the sun, Perry!” I urged. “How in the world can the sun shine +through five hundred miles of solid crust?” + +“It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It is another +sun—an entirely different sun—that casts its eternal noonday effulgence +upon the face of the inner world. Look at it now, David—if you can see +it from the doorway of this hut—and you will see that it is still in +the exact center of the heavens. We have been here for many hours—yet +it is still noon. + +“And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a nebulous +mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. At length a thin crust of +solid matter formed upon its outer surface—a sort of shell; but within +it was partially molten matter and highly expanded gases. As it +continued to cool, what happened? Centrifugal force hurled the +particles of the nebulous center toward the crust as rapidly as they +approached a solid state. You have seen the same principle practically +applied in the modern cream separator. Presently there was only a small +super-heated core of gaseous matter remaining within a huge vacant +interior left by the contraction of the cooling gases. The equal +attraction of the solid crust from all directions maintained this +luminous core in the exact center of the hollow globe. What remains of +it is the sun you saw today—a relatively tiny thing at the exact center +of the earth. Equally to every part of this inner world it diffuses its +perpetual noonday light and torrid heat. + +“This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal life +long ages after life appeared upon the outer crust, but that the same +agencies were at work here is evident from the similar forms of both +animal and vegetable creation which we have already seen. Take the +great beast which attacked us, for example. Unquestionably a +counterpart of the Megatherium of the post-Pliocene period of the outer +crust, whose fossilized skeleton has been found in South America.” + +“But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?” I urged. “Surely they +have no counterpart in the earth’s history.” + +“Who can tell?” he rejoined. “They may constitute the link between ape +and man, all traces of which have been swallowed by the countless +convulsions which have racked the outer crust, or they may be merely +the result of evolution along slightly different lines—either is quite +possible.” + +Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of several of our +captors before the entrance of the hut. Two of them entered and dragged +us forth. The perilous pathways and the surrounding trees were filled +with the black ape-men, their females, and their young. There was not +an ornament, a weapon, or a garment among the lot. + +“Quite low in the scale of creation,” commented Perry. + +“Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though,” I replied. “Now +what do you suppose they intend doing with us?” + +We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip to the +village we were seized by a couple of the powerful creatures and +whirled away through the tree tops, while about us and in our wake +raced a chattering, jabbering, grinning horde of sleek, black +ape-things. + +Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased beating as +we plunged toward instant death among the tangled deadwood beneath. But +on both occasions those lithe, powerful tails reached out and found +sustaining branches, nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp +upon me. In fact, it seemed that the incidents were of no greater +moment to them than would be the stubbing of one’s toe at a street +crossing in the outer world—they but laughed uproariously and sped on +with me. + +For some time they continued through the forest—how long I could not +guess for I was learning, what was later borne very forcefully to my +mind, that time ceases to be a factor the moment means for measuring it +cease to exist. Our watches were gone, and we were living beneath a +stationary sun. Already I was puzzled to compute the period of time +which had elapsed since we broke through the crust of the inner world. +It might be hours, or it might be days—who in the world could tell +where it was always noon! By the sun, no time had elapsed—but my +judgment told me that we must have been several hours in this strange +world. + +Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a level plain. A +short distance before us rose a few low, rocky hills. Toward these our +captors urged us, and after a short time led us through a narrow pass +into a tiny, circular valley. Here they got down to work, and we were +soon convinced that if we were not to die to make a Roman holiday, we +were to die for some other purpose. The attitude of our captors altered +immediately as they entered the natural arena within the rocky hills. +Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity marked their bestial faces—bared +fangs menaced us. + +We were placed in the center of the amphitheater—the thousand creatures +forming a great ring about us. Then a wolf-dog was brought—HYAENODON +Perry called it—and turned loose with us inside the circle. The thing’s +body was as large as that of a full-grown mastiff, its legs were short +and powerful, and its jaws broad and strong. Dark, shaggy hair covered +its back and sides, while its breast and belly were quite white. As it +slunk toward us it presented a most formidable aspect with its upcurled +lips baring its mighty fangs. + +Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a small stone. +At my movement the beast veered off a bit and commenced circling us. +Evidently it had been a target for stones before. The ape-things were +dancing up and down urging the brute on with savage cries, until at +last, seeing that I did not throw, he charged us. + +At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball teams. My +speed and control must both have been above the ordinary, for I made +such a record during my senior year at college that overtures were made +to me in behalf of one of the great major-league teams; but in the +tightest pitch that ever had confronted me in the past I had never been +in such need for control as now. + +As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles under +absolute command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling toward me at +terrific speed. And then I let go, with every ounce of my weight and +muscle and science in back of that throw. The stone caught the +hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, and sent him bowling over upon +his back. + +At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from the circle +of spectators, so that for a moment I thought that the upsetting of +their champion was the cause; but in this I soon saw that I was +mistaken. As I looked, the ape-things broke in all directions toward +the surrounding hills, and then I distinguished the real cause of their +perturbation. Behind them, streaming through the pass which leads into +the valley, came a swarm of hairy men—gorilla-like creatures armed with +spears and hatchets, and bearing long, oval shields. Like demons they +set upon the ape-things, and before them the hyaenodon, which had now +regained its senses and its feet, fled howling with fright. Past us +swept the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy ones accord us +more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its +former occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to have +authority among them directed that we be brought with them. + +When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great plain we saw +a caravan of men and women—human beings like ourselves—and for the +first time hope and relief filled my heart, until I could have cried +out in the exuberance of my happiness. It is true that they were a +half-naked, wild-appearing aggregation; but they at least were +fashioned along the same lines as ourselves—there was nothing grotesque +or horrible about them as about the other creatures in this strange, +weird world. + +But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we discovered +that the poor wretches were chained neck to neck in a long line, and +that the gorilla-men were their guards. With little ceremony Perry and +I were chained at the end of the line, and without further ado the +interrupted march was resumed. + +Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now the +tiresome monotony of the long march across the sun-baked plain brought +on all the agonies consequent to a long-denied sleep. On and on we +stumbled beneath that hateful noonday sun. If we fell we were prodded +with a sharp point. Our companions in chains did not stumble. They +strode along proudly erect. Occasionally they would exchange words with +one another in a monosyllabic language. They were a noble-appearing +race with well-formed heads and perfect physiques. The men were heavily +bearded, tall and muscular; the women, smaller and more gracefully +molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into loose knots upon +their heads. The features of both sexes were well proportioned—there +was not a face among them that would have been called even plain if +judged by earthly standards. They wore no ornaments; but this I later +learned was due to the fact that their captors had stripped them of +everything of value. As garmenture the women possessed a single robe of +some light-colored, spotted hide, rather similar in appearance to a +leopard’s skin. This they wore either supported entirely about the +waist by a leathern thong, so that it hung partially below the knee on +one side, or possibly looped gracefully across one shoulder. Their feet +were shod with skin sandals. The men wore loin cloths of the hide of +some shaggy beast, long ends of which depended before and behind nearly +to the ground. In some instances these ends were finished with the +strong talons of the beast from which the hides had been taken. + +Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like men, were +rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so they were indeed +mighty creatures. Their arms and legs were proportioned more in +conformity with human standards, but their entire bodies were covered +with shaggy, brown hair, and their faces were quite as brutal as those +of the few stuffed specimens of the gorilla which I had seen in the +museums at home. + +Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head above +and back of the ears. In this respect they were not one whit less human +than we. They were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth which +reached to the knees. Beneath this they wore only a loin cloth of the +same material, while their feet were shod with thick hide of some +mammoth creature of this inner world. + +Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metal—silver +predominating—and on their tunics were sewn the heads of tiny reptiles +in odd and rather artistic designs. They talked among themselves as +they marched along on either side of us, but in a language which I +perceived differed from that employed by our fellow prisoners. When +they addressed the latter they used what appeared to be a third +language, and which I later learned is a mongrel tongue rather +analogous to the Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie. + +How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of us were +asleep much of the time for hours before a halt was called—then we +dropped in our tracks. I say “for hours,” but how may one measure time +where time does not exist! When our march commenced the sun stood at +zenith. When we halted our shadows still pointed toward nadir. Whether +an instant or an eternity of earthly time elapsed who may say. That +march may have occupied nine years and eleven months of the ten years +that I spent in the inner world, or it may have been accomplished in +the fraction of a second—I cannot tell. But this I do know that since +you have told me that ten years have elapsed since I departed from this +earth I have lost all respect for time—I am commencing to doubt that +such a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man. + + + + +IV +DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + + +When our guards aroused us from sleep we were much refreshed. They gave +us food. Strips of dried meat it was, but it put new life and strength +into us, so that now we too marched with high-held heads, and took +noble strides. At least I did, for I was young and proud; but poor +Perry hated walking. On earth I had often seen him call a cab to travel +a square—he was paying for it now, and his old legs wobbled so that I +put my arm about him and half carried him through the balance of those +frightful marches. + +The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the level +plain through mighty mountains of virgin granite. The tropical verdure +of the lowlands was replaced by hardier vegetation, but even here the +effects of constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity of +the trees and the profusion of foliage and blooms. Crystal streams +roared through their rocky channels, fed by the perpetual snows which +we could see far above us. Above the snowcapped heights hung masses of +heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, which evidently served the +double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and protecting them +from the direct rays of the sun. + +By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard language in +which our guards addressed us, as well as making good headway in the +rather charming tongue of our co-captives. Directly ahead of me in the +chain gang was a young woman. Three feet of chain linked us together in +a forced companionship which I, at least, soon rejoiced in. For I found +her a willing teacher, and from her I learned the language of her +tribe, and much of the life and customs of the inner world—at least +that part of it with which she was familiar. + +She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she +belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs above the +Darel Az, or shallow sea. + +“How came you here?” I asked her. + +“I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she answered, as though +that was explanation quite sufficient. + +“Who is Jubal the Ugly One?” I asked. “And why did you run away from +him?” + +She looked at me in surprise. + +“Why DOES a woman run away from a man?” she answered my question with +another. + +“They do not, where I come from,” I replied. “Sometimes they run after +them.” + +But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the fact +that I was of another world. She was quite as positive that creation +was originated solely to produce her own kind and the world she lived +in as are many of the outer world. + +“But Jubal,” I insisted. “Tell me about him, and why you ran away to be +chained by the neck and scourged across the face of a world.” + +“Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father’s house. It was +the head of a mighty tandor. It remained there and no greater trophy +was placed beside it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One would come and +take me as his mate. None other so powerful wished me, or they would +have slain a mightier beast and thus have won me from Jubal. My father +is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a sadok tossed him, and never +again had he the full use of his right arm. My brother, Dacor the +Strong One, had gone to the land of Sari to steal a mate for himself. +Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal +the Ugly One, and I ran away and hid among the hills that skirt the +land of Amoz. And there these Sagoths found me and made me captive.” + +“What will they do with you?” I asked. “Where are they taking us?” + +Again she looked her incredulity. + +“I can almost believe that you are of another world,” she said, “for +otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable. Do you really mean that you +do not know that the Sagoths are the creatures of the Mahars—the mighty +Mahars who think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon +its surface, or creeps or burrows beneath, or swims within its lakes +and oceans, or flies through its air? Next you will be telling me that +you never before heard of the Mahars!” + +I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there was no +alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a clean breast of +my pitiful ignorance as to the mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But she +did her very best to enlighten me, though much that she said was as +Greek would have been to her. She described the Mahars largely by +comparisons. In this way they were like unto thipdars, in that to the +hairless lidi. + +About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had +wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground; could +swim under water for great distances, and were very, very wise. The +Sagoths were their weapons of offense and defense, and the races like +herself were their hands and feet—they were the slaves and servants who +did all the manual labor. The Mahars were the heads—the brains—of the +inner world. I longed to see this wondrous race of supermen. + +Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we occasionally +did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he would join in the +conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just +ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He +too entered the conversation occasionally. Most of his remarks were +directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It didn’t take half an eye to see +that he had developed a bad case; but the girl appeared totally +oblivious to his thinly veiled advances. Did I say thinly veiled? There +is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have forgotten which, +who indicate their preference for the lady of their affections by +banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By comparison with this +method Hooja’s lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. At first it +caused me to blush violently although I have seen several Old Years out +at Rectors, and in other less fashionable places off Broadway, and in +Vienna, and Hamburg. + +But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she +considered herself as entirely above and apart from her present +surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with Perry, and with +the taciturn Ghak because we were respectful; but she couldn’t even see +Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, and that made him furious. He +tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up ahead of him in the +slave gang, but the fellow only poked him with his spear and told him +that he had selected the girl for his own property—that he would buy +her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, +was the city of our destination. + +After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt sea, +upon whose bosom swam countless horrid things. Seal-like creatures +there were with long necks stretching ten and more feet above their +enormous bodies and whose snake heads were split with gaping mouths +bristling with countless fangs. There were huge tortoises too, paddling +about among these other reptiles, which Perry said were Plesiosaurs of +the Lias. I didn’t question his veracity—they might have been most +anything. + +Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that the +other, and more fearsome reptiles, which occasionally rose from the +deep to do battle with them, were azdyryths, or sea-dyryths—Perry +called them Ichthyosaurs. They resembled a whale with the head of an +alligator. + +I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at school—about all +that remained was an impression of horror that the illustrations of +restored prehistoric monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined +belief that any man with a pig’s shank and a vivid imagination could +“restore” most any sort of paleolithic monster he saw fit, and take +rank as a first class paleontologist. But when I saw these sleek, shiny +carcasses shimmering in the sunlight as they emerged from the ocean, +shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll from their +sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided hither and +thither, now upon the surface, now half submerged; as I saw them meet, +open-mouthed, hissing and snorting, in their titanic and interminable +warring I realized how futile is man’s poor, weak imagination by +comparison with Nature’s incredible genius. + +And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so himself. + +“David,” he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside that +awful sea. “David, I used to teach geology, and I thought that I +believed what I taught; but now I see that I did not believe it—that it +is impossible for man to believe such things as these unless he sees +them with his own eyes. We take things for granted, perhaps, because we +are told them over and over again, and have no way of disproving +them—like religions, for example; but we don’t believe them, we only +think we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you will find that +the geologists and paleontologists will be the first to set you down a +liar, for they know that no such creatures as they restore ever +existed. It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an equally +imaginary epoch—but now? poof!” + +At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack chain +to permit him to worm himself back quite close to Dian. We were all +standing, and as he edged near the girl she turned her back upon him in +such a truly earthly feminine manner that I could scarce repress a +smile; but it was a short-lived smile for on the instant the Sly One’s +hand fell upon the girl’s bare arm, jerking her roughly toward him. + +I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics which +prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need the appealing +look which the girl shot to me from her magnificent eyes to influence +my subsequent act. What the Sly One’s intention was I paused not to +inquire; but instead, before he could lay hold of her with his other +hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw that felled him in his +tracks. + +A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and the +Sagoths who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I later learned, +because I had championed the girl, but for the neat and, to them, +astounding method by which I had bested Hooja. + +And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering eyes, and +then she dropped her head, her face half averted, and a delicate flush +suffused her cheek. For a moment she stood thus in silence, and then +her head went high, and she turned her back upon me as she had upon +Hooja. Some of the prisoners laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak the +Hairy One go very black as he looked at me searchingly. And what I +could see of Dian’s cheek went suddenly from red to white. + +Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that in +some way I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could not prevail upon her +to talk with me that I might learn wherein I had erred—in fact I might +quite as well have been addressing a sphinx for all the attention I +got. At last my own foolish pride stepped in and prevented my making +any further attempts, and thus a companionship that without my +realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me was cut off. +Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not renew his +advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture near me. + +Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became a perfect +nightmare of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed became the +realization that the girl’s friendship had meant so much to me, the +more I came to miss it; and the more impregnable the barrier of silly +pride. But I was very young and would not ask Ghak for the explanation +which I was sure he could give, and that might have made everything all +right again. + +On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice +me—when her eyes wandered in my direction she looked either over my +head or directly through me. At last I became desperate, and determined +to swallow my self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me how I had +offended, and how I might make reparation. I made up my mind that I +should do this at the next halt. We were approaching another range of +mountains at the time, and when we reached them, instead of winding +across them through some high-flung pass we entered a mighty natural +tunnel—a series of labyrinthine grottoes, dark as Erebus. + +The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we had +seen no artificial light or sign of fire since we had entered +Pellucidar. In a land of perpetual noon there is no need of light above +ground, yet I marveled that they had no means of lighting their way +through these dark, subterranean passages. So we crept along at a +snail’s pace, with much stumbling and falling—the guards keeping up a +singsong chant ahead of us, interspersed with certain high notes which +I found always indicated rough places and turns. + +Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian until +I could see from the expression of her face how she was receiving my +apologies. At last a faint glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the +tunnel, for which I for one was devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden +turn we emerged into the full light of the noonday sun. + +But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a real +catastrophe—Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen other prisoners. +The guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to +behold. Their awesome, bestial faces were contorted in the most +diabolical expressions, as they accused each other of responsibility +for the loss. Finally they fell upon us, beating us with their spear +shafts, and hatchets. They had already killed two near the head of the +line, and were like to have finished the balance of us when their +leader finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. Never in all my life +had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of bestial rage—I thanked +God that Dian had not been one of those left to endure it. + +Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each alternate +one had been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja was gone. Ghak remained. +What could it mean? How had it been accomplished? The commander of the +guards was investigating. Soon he discovered that the rude locks which +had held the neckbands in place had been deftly picked. + +“Hooja the Sly One,” murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. “He +has taken the girl that you would not have,” he continued, glancing at +me. + +“That I would not have!” I cried. “What do you mean?” + +He looked at me closely for a moment. + +“I have doubted your story that you are from another world,” he said at +last, “but yet upon no other grounds could your ignorance of the ways +of Pellucidar be explained. Do you really mean that you do not know +that you offended the Beautiful One, and how?” + +“I do not know, Ghak,” I replied. + +“Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes between +another man and the woman the other man would have, the woman belongs +to the victor. Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have +claimed her or released her. Had you taken her hand, it would have +indicated your desire to make her your mate, and had you raised her +hand above her head and then dropped it, it would have meant that you +did not wish her for a mate and that you released her from all +obligation to you. By doing neither you have put upon her the greatest +affront that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No man +will take her as mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall have +overcome you in combat, and men do not choose slave women as their +mates—at least not the men of Pellucidar.” + +“I did not know, Ghak,” I cried. “I did not know. Not for all +Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, or look, or +act of mine. I do not want her as my slave. I do not want her as my—” +but here I stopped. The vision of that sweet and innocent face floated +before me amidst the soft mists of imagination, and where I had on the +second believed that I clung only to the memory of a gentle friendship +I had lost, yet now it seemed that it would have been disloyalty to her +to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as my mate. I had +not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a strange, cruel +world. Even now I did not think that I loved her. + +I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than in +my words, for presently he laid his hand upon my shoulder. + +“Man of another world,” he said, “I believe you. Lips may lie, but when +the heart speaks through the eyes it tells only the truth. Your heart +has spoken to me. I know now that you meant no affront to Dian the +Beautiful. She is not of my tribe; but her mother is my sister. She +does not know it—her mother was stolen by Dian’s father who came with +many others of the tribe of Amoz to battle with us for our women—the +most beautiful women of Pellucidar. Then was her father king of Amoz, +and her mother was daughter of the king of Sari—to whose power I, his +son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, though her father +is no longer king since the sadok tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One +wrested his kingship from him. Because of her lineage the wrong you did +her was greatly magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never +forgive you.” + +I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the +girl from the bondage and ignominy I had unwittingly placed upon her. + +“If ever you find her, yes,” he answered. “Merely to raise her hand +above her head and drop it in the presence of others is sufficient to +release her; but how may you ever find her, you who are doomed to a +life of slavery yourself in the buried city of Phutra?” + +“Is there no escape?” I asked. + +“Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him,” replied Ghak. +“But there are no more dark places on the way to Phutra, and once there +it is not so easy—the Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from +Phutra there are the thipdars—they would find you, and then—” the Hairy +One shuddered. “No, you will never escape the Mahars.” + +It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought about it; but +he only shrugged his shoulders and continued a longwinded prayer he had +been at for some time. He was wont to say that the only redeeming +feature of our captivity was the ample time it gave him for the +improvisation of prayers—it was becoming an obsession with him. The +Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of declaiming throughout +entire marches. One of them asked him what he was saying—to whom he was +talking. The question gave me an idea, so I answered quickly before +Perry could say anything. + +“Do not interrupt him,” I said. “He is a very holy man in the world +from which we come. He is speaking to spirits which you cannot see—do +not interrupt him or they will spring out of the air upon you and rend +you limb from limb—like that,” and I jumped toward the great brute with +a loud “Boo!” that sent him stumbling backward. + +I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital out +of Perry’s harmless mania I wanted to make it while the making was +prime. It worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with marked +respect during the balance of the journey, and then passed the word +along to their masters, the Mahars. + +Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The +entrance to it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, which guarded +a flight of steps leading to the buried city. Sagoths were on guard +here as well as at a hundred or more other towers scattered about over +a large plain. + + + + +V +SLAVES + + +As we descended the broad staircase which led to the main avenue of +Phutra I caught my first sight of the dominant race of the inner world. +Involuntarily I shrank back as one of the creatures approached to +inspect us. A more hideous thing it would be impossible to imagine. The +all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar are great reptiles, some six or eight +feet in length, with long narrow heads and great round eyes. Their +beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, and the backs of +their huge, lizard bodies are serrated into bony ridges from their +necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are equipped with +three webbed toes, while from the fore feet membranous wings, which are +attached to their bodies just in front of the hind legs, protrude at an +angle of 45 degrees toward the rear, ending in sharp points several +feet above their bodies. + +I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. The old man +was gazing at the horrid creature with wide astonished eyes. When it +passed on, he turned to me. + +“A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David,” he said, “but, gad, +how enormous! The largest remains we ever have discovered have never +indicated a size greater than that attained by an ordinary crow.” + +As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw many +thousand of the creatures coming and going upon their daily duties. +They paid but little attention to us. Phutra is laid out underground +with a regularity that indicates remarkable engineering skill. It is +hewn from solid limestone strata. The streets are broad and of a +uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals tubes pierce the roof of +this underground city, and by means of lenses and reflectors transmit +the sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would otherwise be +Cimmerian darkness. In like manner air is introduced. + +Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, where +one of the Sagoths who had formed our guard explained to a Maharan +official the circumstances surrounding our capture. The method of +communication between these two was remarkable in that no spoken words +were exchanged. They employed a species of sign language. As I was to +learn later, the Mahars have no ears, not any spoken language. Among +themselves they communicate by means of what Perry says must be a sixth +sense which is cognizant of a fourth dimension. + +I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain it to me +upon numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, but he said no, that it +was not telepathy since they could only communicate when in each +others’ presence, nor could they talk with the Sagoths or the other +inhabitants of Pellucidar by the same method they used to converse with +one another. + +“What they do,” said Perry, “is to project their thoughts into the +fourth dimension, when they become appreciable to the sixth sense of +their listener. Do I make myself quite clear?” + +“You do not, Perry,” I replied. He shook his head in despair, and +returned to his work. They had set us to carrying a great accumulation +of Maharan literature from one apartment to another, and there +arranging it upon shelves. I suggested to Perry that we were in the +public library of Phutra, but later, as he commenced to discover the +key to their written language, he assured me that we were handling the +ancient archives of the race. + +During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian the +Beautiful. I was, of course, glad that she had escaped the Mahars, and +the fate that had been suggested by the Sagoth who had threatened to +purchase her upon our arrival at Phutra. I often wondered if the little +party of fugitives had been overtaken by the guards who had returned to +search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but that I should have +been more contented to know that Dian was here in Phutra, than to think +of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. Ghak, Perry, and I often +talked together of possible escape, but the Sarian was so steeped in +his lifelong belief that no one could escape from the Mahars except by +a miracle, that he was not much aid to us—his attitude was of one who +waits for the miracle to come to him. + +At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps of iron +which we discovered among some rubbish in the cells where we slept, for +we were permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action within the +limits of the building to which we had been assigned. So great were the +number of slaves who waited upon the inhabitants of Phutra that none of +us was apt to be overburdened with work, nor were our masters unkind to +us. + +We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and +then Perry conceived the idea of making bows and arrows—weapons +apparently unknown within Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these I +found it easier to steal from the walls of the outer guardroom of the +building. + +We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving +Phutra when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture the escaped +prisoners returned with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian and +two others had eluded them. It so happened that Hooja was confined in +the same building with us. He told Ghak that he had not seen Dian or +the others after releasing them within the dark grotto. What had become +of them he had not the faintest conception—they might be wandering yet, +lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not dead from starvation. + +I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at +this time, I imagine, came the first realization that my affection for +the girl might be prompted by more than friendship. During my waking +hours she was constantly the subject of my thoughts, and when I slept +her dear face haunted my dreams. More than ever was I determined to +escape the Mahars. + +“Perry,” I confided to the old man, “if I have to search every inch of +this diminutive world I am going to find Dian the Beautiful and right +the wrong I unintentionally did her.” That was the excuse I made for +Perry’s benefit. + +“Diminutive world!” he scoffed. “You don’t know what you are talking +about, my boy,” and then he showed me a map of Pellucidar which he had +recently discovered among the manuscript he was arranging. + +“Look,” he cried, pointing to it, “this is evidently water, and all +this land. Do you notice the general configuration of the two areas? +Where the oceans are upon the outer crust, is land here. These +relatively small areas of ocean follow the general lines of the +continents of the outer world. + +“We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; then +the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 miles, and the +superficial area 165,480,000 square miles. Three-fourths of this is +land. Think of it! A land area of 124,110,000 square miles! Our own +world contains but 53,000,000 square miles of land, the balance of its +surface being covered by water. Just as we often compare nations by +their relative land areas, so if we compare these two worlds in the +same way we have the strange anomaly of a larger world within a smaller +one! + +“Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your Dian? Without +stars, or moon, or changing sun how could you find her even though you +knew where she might be found?” + +The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; but I found +that it left me all the more determined to attempt it. + +“If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it,” I suggested. + +Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight to him. + +“Ghak,” I said, “we are determined to escape from this bondage. Will +you accompany us?” + +“They will set the thipdars upon us,” he said, “and then we shall be +killed; but—” he hesitated—“I would take the chance if I thought that I +might possibly escape and return to my own people.” + +“Could you find your way back to your own land?” asked Perry. “And +could you aid David in his search for Dian?” + +“Yes.” + +“But how,” persisted Perry, “could you travel to strange country +without heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?” + +Ghak didn’t know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a compass, but +he assured us that you might blindfold any man of Pellucidar and carry +him to the farthermost corner of the world, yet he would be able to +come directly to his own home again by the shortest route. He seemed +surprised to think that we found anything wonderful in it. Perry said +it must be some sort of homing instinct such as is possessed by certain +breeds of earthly pigeons. I didn’t know, of course, but it gave me an +idea. + +“Then Dian could have found her way directly to her own people?” I +asked. + +“Surely,” replied Ghak, “unless some mighty beast of prey killed her.” + +I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry and Ghak +counseled waiting for some propitious accident which would insure us +some small degree of success. I didn’t see what accident could befall a +whole community in a land of perpetual daylight where the inhabitants +had no fixed habits of sleep. Why, I am sure that some of the Mahars +never sleep, while others may, at long intervals, crawl into the dark +recesses beneath their dwellings and curl up in protracted slumber. +Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for three years he will make up +all his lost sleep in a long year’s snooze. That may be all true, but I +never saw but three of them asleep, and it was the sight of these three +that gave me a suggestion for our means of escape. + +I had been searching about far below the levels that we slaves were +supposed to frequent—possibly fifty feet beneath the main floor of the +building—among a network of corridors and apartments, when I came +suddenly upon three Mahars curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I +thought they were dead, but later their regular breathing convinced me +of my error. Like a flash the thought came to me of the marvelous +opportunity these sleeping reptiles offered as a means of eluding the +watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth guards. + +Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, to me, +meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. To my surprise +he was horrified. + +“It would be murder, David,” he cried. + +“Murder to kill a reptilian monster?” I asked in astonishment. + +“Here they are not monsters, David,” he replied. “Here they are the +dominant race—we are the ‘monsters’—the lower orders. In Pellucidar +evolution has progressed along different lines than upon the outer +earth. These terrible convulsions of nature time and time again wiped +out the existing species—but for this fact some monster of the +Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own world. We see here what +might well have occurred in our own history had conditions been what +they have been here. + +“Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. Here +man has but reached a stage analogous to the Stone Age of our own +world’s history, but for countless millions of years these reptiles +have been progressing. Possibly it is the sixth sense which I am sure +they possess that has given them an advantage over the other and more +frightfully armed of their fellows; but this we may never know. They +look upon us as we look upon the beasts of our fields, and I learn from +their written records that other races of Mahars feed upon men—they +keep them in great droves, as we keep cattle. They breed them most +carefully, and when they are quite fat, they kill and eat them.” + +I shuddered. + +“What is there horrible about it, David?” the old man asked. “They +understand us no better than we understand the lower animals of our own +world. Why, I have come across here very learned discussions of the +question as to whether gilaks, that is men, have any means of +communication. One writer claims that we do not even reason—that our +every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race of +Pellucidar, David, have not yet learned that men converse among +themselves, or reason. Because we do not converse as they do it is +beyond them to imagine that we converse at all. It is thus that we +reason in relation to the brutes of our own world. They know that the +Sagoths have a spoken language, but they cannot comprehend it, or how +it manifests itself, since they have no auditory apparatus. They +believe that the motions of the lips alone convey the meaning. That the +Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible to them. + +“Yes, David,” he concluded, “it would entail murder to carry out your +plan.” + +“Very well then, Perry.” I replied. “I shall become a murderer.” + +He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for some reason +which was not at the time clear to me insisted upon a very careful +description of the apartments and corridors I had just explored. + +“I wonder, David,” he said at length, “as you are determined to carry +out your wild scheme, if we could not accomplish something of very real +and lasting benefit for the human race of Pellucidar at the same time. +Listen, I have learned much of a most surprising nature from these +archives of the Mahars. That you may appreciate my plan I shall briefly +outline the history of the race. + +“Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, little by +little, assumed the mastery. For other ages no noticeable change took +place in the race of Mahars. It continued to progress under the +intelligent and beneficent rule of the ladies. Science took vast +strides. This was especially true of the sciences which we know as +biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female scientist announced the +fact that she had discovered a method whereby eggs might be fertilized +by chemical means after they were laid—all true reptiles, you know, are +hatched from eggs. + +“What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased to exist—the +race was no longer dependent upon them. More ages elapsed until at the +present time we find a race consisting exclusively of females. But here +is the point. The secret of this chemical formula is kept by a single +race of Mahars. It is in the city of Phutra, and unless I am greatly in +error I judge from your description of the vaults through which you +passed today that it lies hidden in the cellar of this building. + +“For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. First, +because upon it depends the very life of the race of Mahars, and +second, owing to the fact that when it was public property as at first +so many were experimenting with it that the danger of over-population +became very grave. + +“David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us this great +secret what will we not have accomplished for the human race within +Pellucidar!” The very thought of it fairly overpowered me. Why, we two +would be the means of placing the men of the inner world in their +rightful place among created things. Only the Sagoths would then stand +between them and absolute supremacy, and I was not quite sure but that +the Sagoths owed all their power to the greater intelligence of the +Mahars—I could not believe that these gorilla-like beasts were the +mental superiors of the human race of Pellucidar. + +“Why, Perry,” I exclaimed, “you and I may reclaim a whole world! +Together we can lead the races of men out of the darkness of ignorance +into the light of advancement and civilization. At one step we may +carry them from the Age of Stone to the twentieth century. It’s +marvelous—absolutely marvelous just to think about it.” + +“David,” said the old man, “I believe that God sent us here for just +that purpose—it shall be my life work to teach them His word—to lead +them into the light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and +hands in the ways of culture and civilization.” + +“You are right, Perry,” I said, “and while you are teaching them to +pray I’ll be teaching them to fight, and between us we’ll make a race +of men that will be an honor to us both.” + +Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded our +conversation, and now he wanted to know what we were so excited about. +Perry thought we had best not tell him too much, and so I only +explained that I had a plan for escape. When I had outlined it to him, +he seemed about as horror-struck as Perry had been; but for a different +reason. The Hairy One only considered the horrible fate that would be +ours were we discovered; but at last I prevailed upon him to accept my +plan as the only feasible one, and when I had assured him that I would +take all the responsibility for it were we captured, he accorded a +reluctant assent. + + + + +VI +THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + + +Within Pellucidar one time is as good as another. There were no nights +to mask our attempted escape. All must be done in broad daylight—all +but the work I had to do in the apartment beneath the building. So we +determined to put our plan to an immediate test lest the Mahars who +made it possible should awake before I reached them; but we were doomed +to disappointment, for no sooner had we reached the main floor of the +building on our way to the pits beneath, than we encountered hurrying +bands of slaves being hastened under strong Sagoth guard out of the +edifice to the avenue beyond. + +Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of other +slaves, and the moment that we appeared we were pounced upon and +hustled into the line of marching humans. + +What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not know, but +presently through the line of captives ran the rumor that two escaped +slaves had been recaptured—a man and a woman—and that we were marching +to witness their punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth of the +detachment that had pursued and overtaken them. + +At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was sure that +the two were of those who escaped in the dark grotto with Hooja the Sly +One, and that Dian must be the woman. Ghak thought so too, as did +Perry. + +“Is there naught that we may do to save her?” I asked Ghak. + +“Naught,” he replied. + +Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing unusual cruelty +toward us, as though we, too, had been implicated in the murder of +their fellow. The occasion was to serve as an object-lesson to all +other slaves of the danger and futility of attempted escape, and the +fatal consequences of taking the life of a superior being, and so I +imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making the entire +proceeding as uncomfortable and painful to us as possible. + +They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets at +the least provocation, and at no provocation at all. It was a most +uncomfortable half-hour that we spent before we were finally herded +through a low entrance into a huge building the center of which was +given up to a good-sized arena. Benches surrounded this open space upon +three sides, and along the fourth were heaped huge bowlders which rose +in receding tiers toward the roof. + +At first I couldn’t make out the purpose of this mighty pile of rock, +unless it were intended as a rough and picturesque background for the +scenes which were enacted in the arena before it, but presently, after +the wooden benches had been pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, I +discovered the purpose of the bowlders, for then the Mahars began to +file into the enclosure. + +They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon the +opposite side, where, spreading their bat-like wings, they rose above +the high wall of the pit, settling down upon the bowlders above. These +were the reserved seats, the boxes of the elect. + +Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone is to them +as plush as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, blinking their hideous +eyes, and doubtless conversing with one another in their +sixth-sense-fourth-dimension language. + +For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from the others +in no feature that was appreciable to my earthly eyes, in fact all +Mahars look alike to me: but when she crossed the arena after the +balance of her female subjects had found their bowlders, she was +preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, the largest I ever had seen, and +on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, while behind came another +score of Sagoth guardsmen. + +At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly +apelike agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose upon her +wings with her two frightful dragons close beside her, and settled down +upon the largest bowlder of them all in the exact center of that side +of the amphitheater which is reserved for the dominant race. Here she +squatted, a most repulsive and uninteresting queen; though doubtless +quite as well assured of her beauty and divine right to rule as the +proudest monarch of the outer world. + +And then the music started—music without sound! The Mahars cannot hear, +so the drums and fifes and horns of earthly bands are unknown among +them. The “band” consists of a score or more Mahars. It filed out in +the center of the arena where the creatures upon the rocks might see +it, and there it performed for fifteen or twenty minutes. + +Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their heads in +a regular succession of measured movements resulting in a cadence which +evidently pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence of our own +instrumental music pleases our ears. Sometimes the band took measured +steps in unison to one side or the other, or backward and again +forward—it all seemed very silly and meaningless to me, but at the end +of the first piece the Mahars upon the rocks showed the first +indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by the dominant +race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up and down, and smote +their rocky perches with their mighty tails until the ground shook. +Then the band started another piece, and all was again as silent as the +grave. That was one great beauty about Mahar music—if you didn’t happen +to like a piece that was being played all you had to do was shut your +eyes. + +When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and settled upon +the rocks above and behind the queen. Then the business of the day was +on. A man and woman were pushed into the arena by a couple of Sagoth +guardsmen. I leaned forward in my seat to scrutinize the female—hoping +against hope that she might prove to be another than Dian the +Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a while, and the sight of the +great mass of raven hair piled high upon her head filled me with alarm. + +Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to admit a +huge, shaggy, bull-like creature. + +“A Bos,” whispered Perry, excitedly. “His kind roamed the outer crust +with the cave bear and the mammoth ages and ages ago. We have been +carried back a million years, David, to the childhood of a planet—is it +not wondrous?” + +But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, and my heart stood +still in dumb misery at the sight of her, nor had I any eyes for the +wonders of natural history. But for Perry and Ghak I should have leaped +to the floor of the arena and shared whatever fate lay in store for +this priceless treasure of the Stone Age. + +With the advent of the Bos—they call the thing a thag within +Pellucidar—two spears were tossed into the arena at the feet of the +prisoners. It seemed to me that a bean shooter would have been as +effective against the mighty monster as these pitiful weapons. + +As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the ground with +the strength of many earthly bulls, another door directly beneath us +was opened, and from it issued the most terrific roar that ever had +fallen upon my outraged ears. I could not at first see the beast from +which emanated this fearsome challenge, but the sound had the effect of +bringing the two victims around with a sudden start, and then I saw the +girl’s face—she was not Dian! I could have wept for relief. + +And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of that +fearsome sound creeping stealthily into view. It was a huge tiger—such +as hunted the great Bos through the jungles primeval when the world was +young. In contour and markings it was not unlike the noblest of the +Bengals of our own world, but as its dimensions were exaggerated to +colossal proportions so too were its colorings exaggerated. Its vivid +yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites were as eider down; its +blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its coat long and +shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful animal there is no +gainsaying, but if its size and colors are magnified here within +Pellucidar, so is the ferocity of its disposition. It is not the +occasional member of its species that is a man hunter—all are man +hunters; but they do not confine their foraging to man alone, for there +is no flesh or fish within Pellucidar that they will not eat with +relish in the constant efforts which they make to furnish their huge +carcasses with sufficient sustenance to maintain their mighty thews. + +Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and advanced, and +upon the other tarag, the frightful, crept toward them with gaping +mouth and dripping fangs. + +The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. At the +sound of the roaring of the tiger the bull’s bellowing became a +veritable frenzy of rageful noise. Never in my life had I heard such an +infernal din as the two brutes made, and to think it was all lost upon +the hideous reptiles for whom the show was staged! + +The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from the other. +The two puny things standing between them seemed already lost, but at +the very moment that the beasts were upon them the man grasped his +companion by the arm and together they leaped to one side, while the +frenzied creatures came together like locomotives in collision. + +There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful ferocity +transcends the power of imagination or description. Time and again the +colossal bull tossed the enormous tiger high into the air, but each +time that the huge cat touched the ground he returned to the encounter +with apparently undiminished strength, and seemingly increased ire. + +For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with keeping out +of the way of the two creatures, but finally I saw them separate and +each creep stealthily toward one of the combatants. The tiger was now +upon the bull’s broad back, clinging to the huge neck with powerful +fangs while its long, strong talons ripped the heavy hide into shreds +and ribbons. + +For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with pain and rage, +its cloven hoofs widespread, its tail lashing viciously from side to +side, and then, in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening about the +arena in frenzied attempt to unseat its rending rider. It was with +difficulty that the girl avoided the first mad rush of the wounded +animal. + +All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, until in +desperation it threw itself upon the ground, rolling over and over. A +little of this so disconcerted the tiger, knocking its breath from it I +imagine, that it lost its hold and then, quick as a cat, the great thag +was up again and had buried those mighty horns deep in the tarag’s +abdomen, pinning him to the floor of the arena. + +The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears were gone, +and naught but a few strips of ragged, bloody flesh remained upon the +skull. Yet through all the agony of that fearful punishment the thag +still stood motionless pinning down his adversary, and then the man +leaped in, seeing that the blind bull would be the least formidable +enemy, and ran his spear through the tarag’s heart. + +As the animal’s fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his gory, +sightless head, and with a horrid roar ran headlong across the arena. +With great leaps and bounds he came, straight toward the arena wall +directly beneath where we sat, and then accident carried him, in one of +his mighty springs, completely over the barrier into the midst of the +slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. Swinging his bloody horns from +side to side the beast cut a wide swath before him straight upward +toward our seats. Before him slaves and gorilla-men fought in mad +stampede to escape the menace of the creature’s death agonies, for such +only could that frightful charge have been. + +Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for the exits, +many of which pierced the wall of the amphitheater behind us. Perry, +Ghak, and I became separated in the chaos which reigned for a few +moments after the beast cleared the wall of the arena, each intent upon +saving his own hide. + +I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the fear mad mob +that were battling to escape. One would have thought that an entire +herd of thags was loose behind them, rather than a single blinded, +dying beast; but such is the effect of panic upon a crowd. + + + + +VII +FREEDOM + + +Once out of the direct path of the animal, fear of it left me, but +another emotion as quickly gripped me—hope of escape that the +demoralized condition of the guards made possible for the instant. + +I thought of Perry, and but for the hope that I might better encompass +his release if myself free I should have put the thought of freedom +from me at once. As it was I hastened on toward the right searching for +an exit toward which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found it—a +low, narrow aperture leading into a dark corridor. + +Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into the shadows +of the tunnel, feeling my way along through the gloom for some +distance. The noises of the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter +until now all was as silent as the tomb about me. Faint light filtered +from above through occasional ventilating and lighting tubes, but it +was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes to cope with the +darkness, and so I was forced to move with extreme care, feeling my way +along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside me. + +Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my delight, I came +upon a flight of steps leading upward, at the top of which the +brilliant light of the noonday sun shone through an opening in the +ground. + +Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel’s end, and peering out +saw the broad plain of Phutra before me. The numerous lofty, granite +towers which mark the several entrances to the subterranean city were +all in front of me—behind, the plain stretched level and unbroken to +the nearby foothills. I had come to the surface, then, beyond the city, +and my chances for escape seemed much enhanced. + +My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to cross the +plain, so deeply implanted are habits of thought; but of a sudden I +recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance which envelops Pellucidar, +and with a smile I stepped forth into the daylight. + +Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of Phutra—the gorgeous +flowering grass of the inner world, each particular blade of which is +tipped with a tiny, five-pointed blossom—brilliant little stars of +varying colors that twinkle in the green foliage to add still another +charm to the weird, yet lovely, landscape. + +But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant hills in +which I hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, trampling the +myriad beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force of +gravity is less upon the surface of the inner world than upon that of +the outer. He explained it all to me once, but I was never particularly +brilliant in such matters and so most of it has escaped me. As I recall +it the difference is due in some part to the counter-attraction of that +portion of the earth’s crust directly opposite the spot upon the face +of Pellucidar at which one’s calculations are being made. Be that as it +may, it always seemed to me that I moved with greater speed and agility +within Pellucidar than upon the outer surface—there was a certain airy +lightness of step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily +detachment which I can only compare with that occasionally experienced +in dreams. + +And as I crossed Phutra’s flower-bespangled plain that time I seemed +almost to fly, though how much of the sensation was due to Perry’s +suggestion and how much to actuality I am sure I do not know. The more +I thought of Perry the less pleasure I took in my new-found freedom. +There could be no liberty for me within Pellucidar unless the old man +shared it with me, and only the hope that I might find some way to +encompass his release kept me from turning back to Phutra. + +Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that +some fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. It was +quite evident however that little less than a miracle could aid me, for +what could I accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed? It +was even doubtful that I could retrace my steps to Phutra should I once +pass beyond view of the plain, and even were that possible, what aid +could I bring to Perry no matter how far I wandered? + +The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, yet with +a stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward the foothills. Behind me +no sign of pursuit developed, before me I saw no living thing. It was +as though I moved through a dead and forgotten world. + +I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the limit of +the plain, but at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty +little canyon upward toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a +laughing brooklet, hurrying upon its noisy way down to the silent sea. +In its quieter pools I discovered many small fish, of four-or +five-pound weight I should imagine. In appearance, except as to size +and color, they were not unlike the whale of our own seas. As I watched +them playing about I discovered, not only that they suckled their +young, but that at intervals they rose to the surface to breathe as +well as to feed upon certain grasses and a strange, scarlet lichen +which grew upon the rocks just above the water line. + +It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved to capture +one of these herbivorous cetaceans—that is what Perry calls them—and +make as good a meal as one can on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had +become rather used, by this time, to the eating of food in its natural +state, though I still balked on the eyes and entrails, much to the +amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed these delicacies. + +Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive purple +whales rose to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water, and +then, like the beast of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my +victim, appeasing my hunger while he yet wriggled to escape. + +Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands and face +continued my flight. Above the source of the brook I encountered a +rugged climb to the summit of a long ridge. Beyond was a steep +declivity to the shore of a placid, inland sea, upon the quiet surface +of which lay several beautiful islands. + +The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast was to be +seen that might threaten my new-found liberty, I slid over the edge of +the bluff, and half sliding, half falling, dropped into the delightful +valley, the very aspect of which seemed to offer a haven of peace and +security. + +The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with +strangely shaped, colored shells; some empty, others still housing as +varied a multitude of mollusks as ever might have drawn out their +sluggish lives along the silent shores of the antediluvian seas of the +outer crust. As I walked I could not but compare myself with the first +man of that other world, so complete the solitude which surrounded me, +so primal and untouched the virgin wonders and beauties of adolescent +nature. I felt myself a second Adam wending my lonely way through the +childhood of a world, searching for my Eve, and at the thought there +rose before my mind’s eye the exquisite outlines of a perfect face +surmounted by a loose pile of wondrous, raven hair. + +As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not until +I had come quite upon it that I discovered that which shattered all my +beautiful dream of solitude and safety and peace and primal +overlordship. The thing was a hollowed log drawn upon the sands, and in +the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. + +The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new form +of danger was still upon me when I heard a rattling of loose stones +from the direction of the bluff, and turning my eyes in that direction +I beheld the author of the disturbance, a great copper-colored man, +running rapidly toward me. + +There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite +sufficiently menacing, so that I did not need the added evidence of +brandishing spear and scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe +position, but whither to flee was indeed a momentous question. + +The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility of escaping +him upon the open beach. There was but a single alternative—the rude +skiff—and with a celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into +the sea and as it floated gave a final shove and clambered in over the +end. + +A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an +instant later his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed my shoulder and +buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. Then I grasped the paddle, +and with feverish haste urged the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the +surface of the sea. + +A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored one had +plunged in after me and was swimming rapidly in pursuit. His mighty +strokes bade fair to close up the distance between us in short order, +for at best I could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, +which nosed stubbornly in every direction but that which I desired to +follow, so that fully half my energy was expended in turning its blunt +prow back into the course. + +I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident that +my pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff within the next half-dozen +strokes. In a frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all +paddles in a hopeless effort to escape, and still the copper giant +behind me gained and gained. + +His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, sinuous +body shoot from the depths below. The man saw it too, and the look of +terror that overspread his face assured me that I need have no further +concern as to him, for the fear of certain death was in his look. + +And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster +of that prehistoric deep—a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws, +and darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protuberances +upon head and snout that formed short, stout horns. + +As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the doomed +man, and I could have sworn that in his I saw an expression of hopeless +appeal. But whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden +compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brother-man, and that he +might have killed me with pleasure had he caught me was forgotten in +the extremity of his danger. + +Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to engage my +pursuer, so now the skiff still drifted close beside the two. The +monster seemed to be but playing with his victim before he closed his +awful jaws upon him and dragged him down to his dark den beneath the +surface to devour him. The huge, snakelike body coiled and uncoiled +about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws snapped in the victim’s face. +The forked tongue, lightning-like, ran in and out upon the copper skin. + +Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet +against the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass; but for all +the damage he inflicted he might as well have struck with his open +palm. + +At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a fellowman +was dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile. +Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the spear that had been cast +after me by him whom I suddenly desired to save. With a wrench I tore +it loose, and standing upright in the wobbly log drove it with all the +strength of my two arms straight into the gaping jaws of the +hydrophidian. + +With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but +the spear, imbedded in its throat, prevented it from seizing me though +it came near to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me. + + + + +VIII +THE MAHAR TEMPLE + + +The aborigine, apparently uninjured, climbed quickly into the skiff, +and seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the infuriated +creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the waters +about us and soon from the weakening struggles it became evident that I +had inflicted a death wound upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us +ceased entirely, and with a few convulsive movements it turned upon its +back quite dead. + +And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament in +which I had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of the +savage man whose skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the spear I +looked into his face to find him scrutinizing me intently, and there we +stood for some several minutes, each clinging tenaciously to the weapon +the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at each other. + +What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely the +question as to how soon the fellow would recommence hostilities. + +Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable to +translate. I shook my head in an effort to indicate my ignorance of his +language, at the same time addressing him in the bastard tongue that +the Sagoths use to converse with the human slaves of the Mahars. + +To my delight he understood and answered me in the same jargon. + +“What do you want of my spear?” he asked. + +“Only to keep you from running it through me,” I replied. + +“I would not do that,” he said, “for you have just saved my life,” and +with that he released his hold upon it and squatted down in the bottom +of the skiff. + +“Who are you,” he continued, “and from what country do you come?” + +I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to explain how I +came to Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it was as impossible for him to +grasp or believe the strange tale I told him as I fear it is for you +upon the outer crust to believe in the existence of the inner world. To +him it seemed quite ridiculous to imagine that there was another world +far beneath his feet peopled by beings similar to himself, and he +laughed uproariously the more he thought upon it. But it was ever thus. +That which has never come within the scope of our really pitifully +meager world-experience cannot be—our finite minds cannot grasp that +which may not exist in accordance with the conditions which obtain +about us upon the outside of the insignificant grain of dust which +wends its tiny way among the bowlders of the universe—the speck of +moist dirt we so proudly call the World. + +So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a Mezop, +and that his name was Ja. + +“Who are the Mezops?” I asked. “Where do they live?” + +He looked at me in surprise. + +“I might indeed believe that you were from another world,” he said, +“for who of Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The Mezops live upon the +islands of the seas. In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop lives +elsewhere, and no others than Mezops dwell upon islands, but of course +it may be different in other far-distant lands. I do not know. At any +rate in this sea and those near by it is true that only people of my +race inhabit the islands. + +“We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going to +the mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon all but the +larger islands. And we are warriors also,” he added proudly. “Even the +Sagoths of the Mahars fear us. Once, when Pellucidar was young, the +Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves as they do the other men of +Pellucidar, it is handed down from father to son among us that this is +so; but we fought so desperately and slew so many Sagoths, and those of +us that were captured killed so many Mahars in their own cities that at +last they learned that it were better to leave us alone, and later came +the time that the Mahars became too indolent even to catch their own +fish, except for amusement, and then they needed us to supply their +wants, and so a truce was made between the races. Now they give us +certain things which we are unable to produce in return for the fish +that we catch, and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace. + +“The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far from the +prying eyes of their own Sagoths, that they practice their religious +rites in the temples they have builded there with our assistance. If +you live among us you will doubtless see the manner of their worship, +which is strange indeed, and most unpleasant for the poor slaves they +bring to take part in it.” + +As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him more +closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I should say six feet six or +seven inches, well developed and of a coppery red not unlike that of +our own North American Indian, nor were his features dissimilar to +theirs. He had the aquiline nose found among many of the higher tribes, +the prominent cheek bones, and black hair and eyes, but his mouth and +lips were better molded. All in all, Ja was an impressive and handsome +creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable makeshift +language we were compelled to use. + +During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was propelling the +skiff with vigorous strokes toward a large island that lay some +half-mile from the mainland. The skill with which he handled his crude +and awkward craft elicited my deepest admiration, since it had been so +short a time before that I had made such pitiful work of it. + +As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I followed him. +Together we dragged the skiff far up into the bushes that grew beyond +the sand. + +“We must hide our canoes,” explained Ja, “for the Mezops of Luana are +always at war with us and would steal them if they found them,” he +nodded toward an island farther out at sea, and at so great a distance +that it seemed but a blur hanging in the distant sky. The upward curve +of the surface of Pellucidar was constantly revealing the impossible to +the surprised eyes of the outer-earthly. To see land and water curving +upward in the distance until it seemed to stand on edge where it melted +into the distant sky, and to feel that seas and mountains hung +suspended directly above one’s head required such a complete reversal +of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to stupefy one. + +No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the jungle, +presently emerging into a narrow but well-defined trail which wound +hither and thither much after the manner of the highways of all +primitive folk, but there was one peculiarity about this Mezop trail +which I was later to find distinguished them from all other trails that +I ever have seen within or without the earth. + +It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end suddenly in +the midst of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja would turn directly +back in his tracks for a little distance, spring into a tree, climb +through it to the other side, drop onto a fallen log, leap over a low +bush and alight once more upon a distinct trail which he would follow +back for a short distance only to turn directly about and retrace his +steps until after a mile or less this new pathway ended as suddenly and +mysteriously as the former section. Then he would pass again across +some media which would reveal no spoor, to take up the broken thread of +the trail beyond. + +As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I could not but +admire the native shrewdness of the ancient progenitor of the Mezops +who hit upon this novel plan to throw his enemies from his track and +delay or thwart them in their attempts to follow him to his deep-buried +cities. + +To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous method of +traveling through the jungle, but were you of Pellucidar you would +realize that time is no factor where time does not exist. So +labyrinthine are the windings of these trails, so varied the connecting +links and the distances which one must retrace one’s steps from the +paths’ ends to find them that a Mezop often reaches man’s estate before +he is familiar even with those which lead from his own city to the sea. + +In fact three-fourths of the education of the young male Mezop consists +in familiarizing himself with these jungle avenues, and the status of +an adult is largely determined by the number of trails which he can +follow upon his own island. The females never learn them, since from +birth to death they never leave the clearing in which the village of +their nativity is situated except they be taken to mate by a male from +another village, or captured in war by the enemies of their tribe. + +After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been upward of +five miles we emerged suddenly into a large clearing in the exact +center of which stood as strange an appearing village as one might well +imagine. + +Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet above the +ground, and upon the tops of them spherical habitations of woven twigs, +mud covered, had been built. Each ball-like house was surmounted by +some manner of carven image, which Ja told me indicated the identity of +the owner. + +Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet wide, served to +admit light and ventilation. The entrances to the house were through +small apertures in the bases of the trees and thence upward by rude +ladders through the hollow trunks to the rooms above. The houses varied +in size from two to several rooms. The largest that I entered was +divided into two floors and eight apartments. + +All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay beautifully +cultivated fields in which the Mezops raised such cereals, fruits, and +vegetables as they required. Women and children were working in these +gardens as we crossed toward the village. At sight of Ja they saluted +deferentially, but to me they paid not the slightest attention. Among +them and about the outer verge of the cultivated area were many +warriors. These too saluted Ja, by touching the points of their spears +to the ground directly before them. + +Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the village—the house +with eight rooms—and taking me up into it gave me food and drink. There +I met his mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in her arms. Ja told +her of how I had saved his life, and she was thereafter most kind and +hospitable toward me, even permitting me to hold and amuse the tiny +bundle of humanity whom Ja told me would one day rule the tribe, for +Ja, it seemed, was the chief of the community. + +We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja’s amusement, for +it seemed that he seldom if ever did so, and then the red man proposed +that I accompany him to the temple of the Mahars which lay not far from +his village. “We are not supposed to visit it,” he said; “but the great +ones cannot hear and if we keep well out of sight they need never know +that we have been there. For my part I hate them and always have, but +the other chieftains of the island think it best that we continue to +maintain the amicable relations which exist between the two races; +otherwise I should like nothing better than to lead my warriors amongst +the hideous creatures and exterminate them—Pellucidar would be a better +place to live were there none of them.” + +I wholly concurred in Ja’s belief, but it seemed that it might be a +difficult matter to exterminate the dominant race of Pellucidar. Thus +conversing we followed the intricate trail toward the temple, which we +came upon in a small clearing surrounded by enormous trees similar to +those which must have flourished upon the outer crust during the +carboniferous age. + +Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of a rough +oval with rounded roof in which were several large openings. No doors +or windows were visible in the sides of the structure, nor was there +need of any, except one entrance for the slaves, since, as Ja +explained, the Mahars flew to and from their place of ceremonial, +entering and leaving the building by means of the apertures in the +roof. + +“But,” added Ja, “there is an entrance near the base of which even the +Mahars know nothing. Come,” and he led me across the clearing and about +the end to a pile of loose rock which lay against the foot of the wall. +Here he removed a couple of large bowlders, revealing a small opening +which led straight within the building, or so it seemed, though as I +entered after Ja I discovered myself in a narrow place of extreme +darkness. + +“We are within the outer wall,” said Ja. “It is hollow. Follow me +closely.” + +The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend a +primitive ladder similar to that which leads from the ground to the +upper stories of his house. We ascended for some forty feet when the +interior of the space between the walls commenced to grow lighter and +presently we came opposite an opening in the inner wall which gave us +an unobstructed view of the entire interior of the temple. + +The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous +hideous Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of granite +rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon several of them I saw men and +women like myself. + +“What are the human beings doing here?” I asked. + +“Wait and you shall see,” replied Ja. “They are to take a leading part +in the ceremonies which will follow the advent of the queen. You may be +thankful that you are not upon the same side of the wall as they.” + +Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above +and a moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of +Pellucidar winged slowly and majestically through the large central +opening in the roof and circled in stately manner about the temple. + +There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty awe-inspiring +pterodactyls—thipdars, they are called within Pellucidar. Behind these +came the queen, flanked by other thipdars as she had been when she +entered the amphitheater at Phutra. + +Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber, to +settle finally upon the damp, cold bowlders that fringe the outer edge +of the pool. In the center of one side the largest rock was reserved +for the queen, and here she took her place surrounded by her terrible +guard. + +All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. One +might have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor slaves upon the +diminutive islands watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. The +men, for the most part, stood erect and stately with folded arms, +awaiting their doom; but the women and children clung to one another, +hiding behind the males. They are a noble-looking race, these cave men +of Pellucidar, and if our progenitors were as they, the human race of +the outer crust has deteriorated rather than improved with the march of +the ages. All they lack is opportunity. We have opportunity, and little +else. + +Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking about; then very +slowly she crawled to the edge of her throne and slid noiselessly into +the water. Up and down the long tank she swam, turning at the ends as +you have seen captive seals turn in their tiny tanks, turning upon +their backs and diving below the surface. + +Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she remained at +rest before the largest, which was directly opposite her throne. +Raising her hideous head from the water she fixed her great, round eyes +upon the slaves. They were fat and sleek, for they had been brought +from a distant Mahar city where human beings are kept in droves, and +bred and fattened, as we breed and fatten beef cattle. + +The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her victim tried to +turn away, hiding her face in her hands and kneeling behind a woman; +but the reptile, with unblinking eyes, stared on with such fixity that +I could have sworn her vision penetrated the woman, and the girl’s arms +to reach at last the very center of her brain. + +Slowly the reptile’s head commenced to move to and fro, but the eyes +never ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, and then the victim +responded. She turned wide, fear-haunted eyes toward the Mahar queen, +slowly she rose to her feet, and then as though dragged by some unseen +power she moved as one in a trance straight toward the reptile, her +glassy eyes fixed upon those of her captor. To the water’s edge she +came, nor did she even pause, but stepped into the shallows beside the +little island. On she moved toward the Mahar, who now slowly retreated +as though leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl’s knees, +and still she advanced, chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was +at her waist; now her armpits. Her fellows upon the island looked on in +horror, helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast of +their own. + +The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were exposed +above the surface of the water, and the girl had advanced until the end +of that repulsive beak was but an inch or two from her face, her +horror-filled eyes riveted upon those of the reptile. + +Now the water passed above the girl’s mouth and nose—her eyes and +forehead all that showed—yet still she walked on after the retreating +Mahar. The queen’s head slowly disappeared beneath the surface and +after it went the eyes of her victim—only a slow ripple widened toward +the shores to mark where the two vanished. + +For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves were +motionless in terror. The Mahars watched the surface of the water for +the reappearance of their queen, and presently at one end of the tank +her head rose slowly into view. She was backing toward the surface, her +eyes fixed before her as they had been when she dragged the helpless +girl to her doom. + +And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes of the +maiden come slowly out of the depths, following the gaze of the reptile +just as when she had disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came +the girl until she stood in water that reached barely to her knees, and +though she had been beneath the surface sufficient time to have drowned +her thrice over there was no indication, other than her dripping hair +and glistening body, that she had been submerged at all. + +Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and out again, +until the uncanny weirdness of the thing got on my nerves so that I +could have leaped into the tank to the child’s rescue had I not taken a +firm hold of myself. + +Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came to the +surface I was horrified to see that one of the girl’s arms was +gone—gnawed completely off at the shoulder—but the poor thing gave no +indication of realizing pain, only the horror in her set eyes seemed +intensified. + +The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then the +breasts, and then a part of the face—it was awful. The poor creatures +on the islands awaiting their fate tried to cover their eyes with their +hands to hide the fearful sight, but now I saw that they too were under +the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that they could only crouch in +terror with their eyes fixed upon the terrible thing that was +transpiring before them. + +Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, and when she +rose she came alone and swam sleepily toward her bowlder. The moment +she mounted it seemed to be the signal for the other Mahars to enter +the tank, and then commenced, upon a larger scale, a repetition of the +uncanny performance through which the queen had led her victim. + +Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars—they being the +weakest and most tender—and when they had satisfied their appetite for +human flesh, some of them devouring two and three of the slaves, there +were only a score of full-grown men left, and I thought that for some +reason these were to be spared, but such was far from the case, for as +the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen’s thipdars darted into the +air, circled the temple once and then, hissing like steam engines, +swooped down upon the remaining slaves. + +There was no hypnotism here—just the plain, brutal ferocity of the +beast of prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat, but at that it +was less horrible than the uncanny method of the Mahars. By the time +the thipdars had disposed of the last of the slaves the Mahars were all +asleep upon their rocks, and a moment later the great pterodactyls +swung back to their posts beside the queen, and themselves dropped into +slumber. + +“I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept,” I said to Ja. + +“They do many things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere,” he +replied. “The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat human flesh, yet +slaves are brought here by thousands and almost always you will find +Mahars on hand to consume them. I imagine that they do not bring their +Sagoths here, because they are ashamed of the practice, which is +supposed to obtain only among the least advanced of their race; but I +would wager my canoe against a broken paddle that there is no Mahar but +eats human flesh whenever she can get it.” + +“Why should they object to eating human flesh,” I asked, “if it is true +that they look upon us as lower animals?” + +“It is not because they consider us their equals that they are supposed +to look with abhorrence upon those who eat our flesh,” replied Ja; “it +is merely that we are warm-blooded animals. They would not think of +eating the meat of a thag, which we consider such a delicacy, any more +than I would think of eating a snake. As a matter of fact it is +difficult to explain just why this sentiment should exist among them.” + +“I wonder if they left a single victim,” I remarked, leaning far out of +the opening in the rocky wall to inspect the temple better. Directly +below me the water lapped the very side of the wall, there being a +break in the bowlders at this point as there was at several other +places about the side of the temple. + +My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed a part +of the wall, and all my weight upon it proved too much for it. It +slipped and I lunged forward. There was nothing to save myself and I +plunged headforemost into the water below. + +Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered no injury +from the fall, but as I was rising to the surface my mind filled with +the horrors of my position as I thought of the terrible doom which +awaited me the moment the eyes of the reptiles fell upon the creature +that had disturbed their slumber. + +As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly in +the direction of the islands that I might prolong my life to the +utmost. At last I was forced to rise for air, and as I cast a terrified +glance in the direction of the Mahars and the thipdars I was almost +stunned to see that not a single one remained upon the rocks where I +had last seen them, nor as I searched the temple with my eyes could I +discern any within it. + +For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I realized +that the reptiles, being deaf, could not have been disturbed by the +noise my body made when it hit the water, and that as there is no such +thing as time within Pellucidar there was no telling how long I had +been beneath the surface. It was a difficult thing to attempt to figure +out by earthly standards—this matter of elapsed time—but when I set +myself to it I began to realize that I might have been submerged a +second or a month or not at all. You have no conception of the strange +contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all methods of +measuring time, as we know them upon earth, are non-existent. + +I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved me +for the moment, when the memory of the hypnotic powers of the Mahars +filled me with apprehension lest they be practicing their uncanny art +upon me to the end that I merely imagined that I was alone in the +temple. At the thought cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore, +and as I crawled from the water onto one of the tiny islands I was +trembling like a leaf—you cannot imagine the awful horror which even +the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar induces in the +human mind, and to feel that you are in their power—that they are +crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to drag you down beneath the waters and +devour you! It is frightful. + +But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that I was +indeed alone within the temple. How long I should be alone was the next +question to assail me as I swam frantically about once more in search +of a means to escape. + +Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled +into the tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless he had +felt as certain of my doom when he saw me topple from our hiding place +as I had, and lest he too should be discovered, had hastened from the +temple and back to his village. + +I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the +doorways in the roof, for it did not seem reasonable to believe that +the thousands of slaves which were brought here to feed the Mahars the +human flesh they craved would all be carried through the air, and so I +continued my search until at last it was rewarded by the discovery of +several loose granite blocks in the masonry at one end of the temple. + +A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones to +permit me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later I had +scurried across the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond. + +Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath the +giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the grinning fangs of +death out of the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers lay hidden in +this island jungle, there could be none so fearsome as those which I +had just escaped. I knew that I could meet death bravely enough if it +but came in the form of some familiar beast or man—anything other than +the hideous and uncanny Mahars. + + + + +IX +THE FACE OF DEATH + + +I must have fallen asleep from exhaustion. When I awoke I was very +hungry, and after busying myself searching for fruit for a while, I set +off through the jungle to find the beach. I knew that the island was +not so large but that I could easily find the sea if I did but move in +a straight line, but there came the difficulty as there was no way in +which I could direct my course and hold it, the sun, of course, being +always directly above my head, and the trees so thickly set that I +could see no distant object which might serve to guide me in a straight +line. + +As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four +times and slept twice before I reached the sea, but at last I did so, +and my pleasure at the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the chance +discovery of a hidden canoe among the bushes through which I had +stumbled just prior to coming upon the beach. + +I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft +down to the water and shove it far out from shore. My experience with +Ja had taught me that if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick +about it and get far beyond the owner’s reach as soon as possible. + +I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that at +which Ja and I had entered it, for the mainland was nowhere in sight. +For a long time I paddled around the shore, though well out, before I +saw the mainland in the distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in +directing my course toward it, for I had long since made up my mind to +return to Phutra and give myself up that I might be once more with +Perry and Ghak the Hairy One. + +I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, +especially in view of the fact that our plans were already well +formulated to make a break for freedom together. Of course I realized +that the chances of the success of our proposed venture were slim +indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy freedom without Perry so +long as the old man lived, and I had learned that the probability that +I might find him was less than slight. + +Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and wit +against the savage and primordial world in which I found myself. I +could have lived in seclusion within some rocky cave until I had found +the means to outfit myself with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, and +then set out in search of her whose image had now become the constant +companion of my waking hours, and the central and beloved figure of my +dreams. + +But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my duty +and wish to be again with him, that we might share the dangers and +vicissitudes of the strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; the +great, shaggy man had found a place in the hearts of us both, for he +was indeed every inch a man and king. Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, +too, if judged too harshly by the standards of effete twentieth-century +civilization, but withal noble, dignified, chivalrous, and loveable. + +Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered Ja’s +canoe, and a short time later I was scrambling up the steep bank to +retrace my steps from the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I +entered the canyon beyond the summit, for here I found that several of +them centered at the point where I crossed the divide, and which one I +had traversed to reach the pass I could not for the life of me +remember. + +It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which seemed +the easiest going, and in this I made the same mistake that many of us +do in selecting the path along which we shall follow out the course of +our lives, and again learned that it is not always best to follow the +line of least resistance. + +By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced +that I was upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra and the inland sea +I had not slept at all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps to +the summit of the divide and explore another canyon seemed the only +solution of my problem, but a sudden widening and levelness of the +canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it was about to open into +a level country, and with the lure of discovery strong upon me I +decided to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned back. + +The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before me I +saw a narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my right the side of +the canyon continued to the water’s edge, the valley lying to my left, +and the foot of it running gradually into the sea, where it formed a +broad level beach. + +Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost to +the water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. From the nature of +the vegetation I was convinced that the land between the ocean and the +foothills was swampy, though directly before me it seemed dry enough +all the way to the sandy strip along which the restless waters advanced +and retreated. + +Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene was very +beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and tangled vegetation of +the swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, but +though I stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, and if anything +lay hid there my eyes could not penetrate the dense foliage to discern +it. + +Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and lonely +sea across whose forbidding bosom no human being had yet ventured, to +discover what strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its +invisible islands held of riches, wonders, or adventure. What savage +faces, what fierce and formidable beasts were this very instant +watching the lapping of the waves upon its farther shore! How far did +it extend? Perry had told me that the seas of Pellucidar were small in +comparison with those of the outer crust, but even so this great ocean +might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For countless +ages it had rolled up and down its countless miles of shore, and yet +today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip that was visible +from its beaches. + +The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as though I +had been carried back to the birth time of our own outer world to look +upon its lands and seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was +a new world, all untouched. It called to me to explore it. I was +dreaming of the excitement and adventure which lay before us could +Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when something, a slight noise I +imagine, drew my attention behind me. + +As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took +wing before the terrible embodiment of all three in concrete form that +I beheld advancing upon me. + +A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the mighty jaws +of an alligator. Its immense carcass must have weighed tons, and yet it +moved swiftly and silently toward me. Upon one hand was the bluff that +ran from the canyon to the sea, on the other the fearsome swamp from +which the creature had sneaked upon me, behind lay the mighty untracked +sea, and before me in the center of the narrow way that led to safety +stood this huge mountain of terrible and menacing flesh. + +A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I was +facing one of those long-extinct, prehistoric creatures whose +fossilized remains are found within the outer crust as far back as the +Triassic formation, a gigantic labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, +and, with the exception of a loin cloth, as naked as I had come into +the world. I could imagine how my first ancestor felt that distant, +prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first time the terrifying +progenitor of the thing that had me cornered now beside the restless, +mysterious sea. + +Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within +Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at that moment that he had handed +down to me with the various attributes that I presumed I have inherited +from him, the specific application of the instinct of self-preservation +which saved him from the fate which loomed so close before me today. + +To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar to +jumping into a den of lions to escape one upon the outside. The sea and +swamp both were doubtless alive with these mighty, carnivorous +amphibians, and if not, the individual that menaced me would pursue me +into either the sea or the swamp with equal facility. + +There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. I +thought of Perry—how he would wonder what had become of me. I thought +of my friends of the outer world, and of how they all would go on +living their lives in total ignorance of the strange and terrible fate +that had overtaken me, or unguessing the weird surroundings which had +witnessed the last frightful agony of my extinction. And with these +thoughts came a realization of how unimportant to the life and +happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We may be +snuffed out without an instant’s warning, and for a brief day our +friends speak of us with subdued voices. The following morning, while +the first worm is busily engaged in testing the construction of our +coffin, they are teeing up for the first hole to suffer more acute +sorrow over a sliced ball than they did over our, to us, untimely +demise. The labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. He seemed to +realize that escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn that +his huge, fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of my +predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy morsel which would +so soon be pulp between those formidable teeth? + +He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to me from +the direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and could have shouted +in delight at the sight that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving +frantically to me, and urging me to run for it to the cliff’s base. + +I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked me for +his breakfast, but at least I should not die alone. Human eyes would +watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some +slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it. + +To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable +cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, agile as a monkey, +crawl down the precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small +projections, and the tough creepers that had found root-hold here and +there. + +The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double his +portion of human flesh, so he was in no haste to pursue me to the cliff +and frighten away this other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted along +behind me. + +As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, but +I doubted if the thing would prove successful. He had come down to +within twenty feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with one hand to +a small ledge, and with his feet resting precariously upon tiny bushes +that grew from the solid face of the rock, he lowered the point of his +long spear until it hung some six feet above the ground. + +To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and +precipitating both to the same doom from which the copper-colored one +was attempting to save me seemed utterly impossible, and as I came near +the spear I told Ja so, and that I could not risk him to try to save +myself. + +But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no danger +himself. + +“The danger is still yours,” he called, “for unless you move much more +rapidly than you are now, the sithic will be upon you and drag you back +before ever you are halfway up the spear—he can rear up and reach you +with ease anywhere below where I stand.” + +Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped the +spear and clambered up toward the red man as rapidly as I could—being +so far removed from my simian ancestors as I am. I imagine the +slow-witted sithic, as Ja called him, suddenly realized our intentions +and that he was quite likely to lose all his meal instead of having it +doubled as he had hoped. + +When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss that fairly +shook the ground, and came charging after me at a terrific rate. I had +reached the top of the spear by this time, or almost; another six +inches would give me a hold on Ja’s hand, when I felt a sudden wrench +from below and glancing fearfully downward saw the mighty jaws of the +monster close on the sharp point of the weapon. + +I made a frantic effort to reach Ja’s hand, the sithic gave a +tremendous tug that came near to jerking Ja from his frail hold on the +surface of the rock, the spear slipped from his fingers, and still +clinging to it I plunged feet foremost toward my executioner. + +At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja’s hand the +creature must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, for when I came +down, still clinging to the butt end of the weapon, the point yet +rested in his mouth and the result was that the sharpened end +transfixed his lower jaw. + +With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, lost +my hold upon the spear, rolled the length of his face and head, across +his short neck onto his broad back and from there to the ground. + +Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing madly +for the path by which I had entered this horrible valley. A glance over +my shoulder showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear stuck +through his lower jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in this +occupation that I had gained the safety of the cliff top before he was +ready to take up the pursuit. When he did not discover me in sight +within the valley he dashed, hissing, into the rank vegetation of the +swamp and that was the last I saw of him. + + + + +X +PHUTRA AGAIN + + +I hastened to the cliff edge above Ja and helped him to a secure +footing. He would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to save me, +which had come so near miscarrying. + +“I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple,” +he said, “for not even I could save you from their clutches, and you +may imagine my surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon the +beach of the mainland I discovered your own footprints in the sand +beside it. + +“I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you must +be entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers which lurk +upon the mainland both in the form of savage beasts and reptiles, and +men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you to this point. It is +well that I arrived when I did.” + +“But why did you do it?” I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship on +the part of a man of another world and a different race and color. + +“You saved my life,” he replied; “from that moment it became my duty to +protect and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop had I evaded +my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this instance for I like you. I +wish that you would come and live with me. You shall become a member of +my tribe. Among us there is the best of hunting and fishing, and you +shall have, to choose a mate from, the most beautiful girls of +Pellucidar. Will you come?” + +I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty +was to them first. Afterward I should return and visit him—if I could +ever find his island. + +“Oh, that is easy, my friend,” he said. “You need merely to come to the +foot of the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds. There you will +find a river which flows into the Lural Az. Directly opposite the mouth +of the river you will see three large islands far out, so far that they +are barely discernible, the one to the extreme left as you face them +from the mouth of the river is Anoroc, where I rule the tribe of +Anoroc.” + +“But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?” I asked. “Men say +that they are visible from half Pellucidar,” he replied. + +“How large is Pellucidar?” I asked, wondering what sort of theory these +primitive men had concerning the form and substance of their world. + +“The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell,” he +answered, “but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, we should fall +back were we to travel far in any direction, and all the waters of +Pellucidar would run to one spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite +flat and extends no man knows how far in all directions. At the edges, +so my ancestors have reported and handed down to me, is a great wall +that prevents the earth and waters from escaping over into the burning +sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never have been so far from Anoroc +as to have seen this wall with my own eyes. However, it is quite +reasonable to believe that this is true, whereas there is no reason at +all in the foolish belief of the Mahars. According to them +Pellucidarians who live upon the opposite side walk always with their +heads pointed downward!” and Ja laughed uproariously at the very +thought. + +It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had not +advanced far in learning, and the thought that the ugly Mahars had so +outstripped them was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered how many +ages it would take to lift these people out of their ignorance even +were it given to Perry and me to attempt it. Possibly we would be +killed for our pains as were those men of the outer world who dared +challenge the dense ignorance and superstitions of the earth’s younger +days. But it was worth the effort if the opportunity ever presented +itself. + +And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity—that I might +make a small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, and thus note the +effect of my teaching upon a Pellucidarian. + +“Ja,” I said, “what would you say were I to tell you that in so far as +the Mahars’ theory of the shape of Pellucidar is concerned it is +correct?” + +“I would say,” he replied, “that either you are a fool, or took me for +one.” + +“But, Ja,” I insisted, “if their theory is incorrect how do you account +for the fact that I was able to pass through the earth from the outer +crust to Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a sea of flame +beneath us, wherein no peoples could exist, and yet I come from a great +world that is covered with human beings, and beasts, and birds, and +fishes in mighty oceans.” + +“You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with your +head pointed downward?” he scoffed. “And were I to believe that, my +friend, I should indeed be mad.” + +I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means of +the dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it would be for a body +to fall off the earth under any circumstances. He listened so intently +that I thought I had made an impression, and started the train of +thought that would lead him to a partial understanding of the truth. +But I was mistaken. + +“Your own illustration,” he said finally, “proves the falsity of your +theory.” He dropped a fruit from his hand to the ground. “See,” he +said, “without support even this tiny fruit falls until it strikes +something that stops it. If Pellucidar were not supported upon the +flaming sea it too would fall as the fruit falls—you have proven it +yourself!” He had me, that time—you could see it in his eye. + +It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for +when I contemplated the necessity explanation of our solar system and +the universe I realized how futile it would be to attempt to picture to +Ja or any other Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the planets, and the +countless stars. Those born within the inner world could no more +conceive of such things than can we of the outer crust reduce to +factors appreciable to our finite minds such terms as space and +eternity. + +“Well, Ja,” I laughed, “whether we be walking with our feet up or down, +here we are, and the question of greatest importance is not so much +where we came from as where we are going now. For my part I wish that +you could guide me to Phutra where I may give myself up to the Mahars +once more that my friends and I may work out the plan of escape which +the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us together and drove us to +the arena to witness the punishment of the slaves who killed the +guardsman. I wish now that I had not left the arena for by this time my +friends and I might have made good our escape, whereas this delay may +mean the wrecking of all our plans, which depended for their +consummation upon the continued sleep of the three Mahars who lay in +the pit beneath the building in which we were confined.” + +“You would return to captivity?” cried Ja. + +“My friends are there,” I replied, “the only friends I have in +Pellucidar, except yourself. What else may I do under the +circumstances?” + +He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head sorrowfully. + +“It is what a brave man and a good friend should do,” he said; “yet it +seems most foolish, for the Mahars will most certainly condemn you to +death for running away, and so you will be accomplishing nothing for +your friends by returning. Never in all my life have I heard of a +prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free will. There are but +few who escape them, though some do, and these would rather die than be +recaptured.” + +“I see no other way, Ja,” I said, “though I can assure you that I would +rather go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. However, Perry is much +too pious to make the probability at all great that I should ever be +called upon to rescue him from the former locality.” + +Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could, he +said, “You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea upon which +Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried in the ground go there. +Piece by piece they are carried down to Molop Az by the little demons +who dwell there. We know this because when graves are opened we find +that the bodies have been partially or entirely borne off. That is why +we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees where the birds may find them +and bear them bit by bit to the Dead World above the Land of Awful +Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground that it may +go to Molop Az.” + +As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come to +the great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to dissuade me from +returning to Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to do so, he +consented to guide me to a point from which I could see the plain where +lay the city. To my surprise the distance was but short from the beach +where I had again met Ja. It was evident that I had spent much time +following the windings of a tortuous canyon, while just beyond the +ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which I must have come several +times. + +As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the +flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final effort to persuade me to +abandon my mad purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was firm in +my resolve, and at last he bid me good-bye, assured in his own mind +that he was looking upon me for the last time. + +I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much +indeed. With his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as a base, and +his savage warriors as escort Perry and I could have accomplished much +in the line of exploration, and I hoped that were we successful in our +effort to escape we might return to Anoroc later. + +There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished first—at least +it was the great thing to me—the finding of Dian the Beautiful. I +wanted to make amends for the affront I had put upon her in my +ignorance, and I wanted to—well, I wanted to see her again, and to be +with her. + +Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers, and +then across the rolling land toward the shadowless columns that guard +the ways to buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile from the nearest entrance +I was discovered by the Sagoth guard, and in an instant four of the +gorilla-men were dashing toward me. + +Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches +I paid not the slightest attention to them, walking quietly toward them +as though unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect upon +them that I had hoped, and as we came quite near together they ceased +their savage shouting. It was evident that they had expected me to turn +and flee at sight of them, thus presenting that which they most +enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast their spears. + +“What do you here?” shouted one, and then as he recognized me, “Ho! It +is the slave who claims to be from another world—he who escaped when +the thag ran amuck within the amphitheater. But why do you return, +having once made good your escape?” + +“I did not ‘escape’,” I replied. “I but ran away to avoid the thag, as +did others, and coming into a long passage I became confused and lost +my way in the foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my way +back.” + +“And you come of your free will back to Phutra!” exclaimed one of the +guardsmen. + +“Where else might I go?” I asked. “I am a stranger within Pellucidar +and know no other where than Phutra. Why should I not desire to be in +Phutra? Am I not well fed and well treated? Am I not happy? What better +lot could man desire?” + +The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them, and so +being stupid brutes they took me to their masters whom they felt would +be better fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for riddle they +still considered it. + +I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing them +off the scent of my purposed attempt at escape. If they thought that I +was so satisfied with my lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily +return when I had once had so excellent an opportunity to escape, they +would never for an instant imagine that I could be occupied in +arranging another escape immediately upon my return to the city. + +So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within +the large room that was the thing’s office. With cold, reptilian eyes +the creature seemed to bore through the thin veneer of my deceit and +read my inmost thoughts. It heeded the story which the Sagoths told of +my return to Phutra, watching the gorilla-men’s lips and fingers during +the recital. Then it questioned me through one of the Sagoths. + +“You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because you +think yourself better off here than elsewhere—do you not know that you +may be the next chosen to give up your life in the interests of the +wonderful scientific investigations that our learned ones are +continually occupied with?” + +I hadn’t heard of anything of that nature, but I thought best not to +admit it. + +“I could be in no more danger here,” I said, “than naked and unarmed in +the savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar. I was +fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I barely +escaped death within the jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am sure that I am +safer in the hands of intelligent creatures such as rule Phutra. At +least such would be the case in my own world, where human beings like +myself rule supreme. There the higher races of man extend protection +and hospitality to the stranger within their gates, and being a +stranger here I naturally assumed that a like courtesy would be +accorded me.” + +The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased speaking +and the Sagoth had translated my words to his master. The creature +seemed deep in thought. Presently he communicated some message to the +Sagoth. The latter turned, and motioning me to follow him, left the +presence of the reptile. Behind and on either side of me marched the +balance of the guard. + +“What are they going to do with me?” I asked the fellow at my right. + +“You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you +regarding this strange world from which you say you come.” + +After a moment’s silence he turned to me again. + +“Do you happen to know,” he asked, “what the Mahars do to slaves who +lie to them?” + +“No,” I replied, “nor does it interest me, as I have no intention of +lying to the Mahars.” + +“Then be careful that you don’t repeat the impossible tale you told +Sol-to-to just now—another world, indeed, where human beings rule!” he +concluded in fine scorn. + +“But it is the truth,” I insisted. “From where else then did I come? I +am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could see that.” + +“It is your misfortune then,” he remarked dryly, “that you may not be +judged by one with but half an eye.” + +“What will they do with me,” I asked, “if they do not have a mind to +believe me?” + +“You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used in +research work by the learned ones,” he replied. + +“And what will they do with me there?” I persisted. + +“No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with them, +but as the latter never return, their knowledge does them but little +good. It is said that the learned ones cut up their subjects while they +are yet alive, thus learning many useful things. However I should not +imagine that it would prove very useful to him who was being cut up; +but of course this is all but conjecture. The chances are that ere long +you will know much more about it than I,” and he grinned as he spoke. +The Sagoths have a well-developed sense of humor. + +“And suppose it is the arena,” I continued; “what then?” + +“You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you +escaped?” he said. + +“Yes.” + +“Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for them,” +he explained, “though of course the same kinds of animals might not be +employed.” + +“It is sure death in either event?” I asked. + +“What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not +know, nor does any other,” he replied; “but those who go to the arena +may come out alive and thus regain their liberty, as did the two whom +you saw.” + +“They gained their liberty? And how?” + +“It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive +within the arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it has +happened that several mighty warriors from far distant lands, whom we +have captured on our slave raids, have battled the brutes turned in +upon them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom. In the +instance which you witnessed the beasts killed each other, but the +result was the same—the man and woman were liberated, furnished with +weapons, and started on their homeward journey. Upon the left shoulder +of each a mark was burned—the mark of the Mahars—which will forever +protect these two from slaving parties.” + +“There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena, and +none at all if the learned ones drag me to the pits?” + +“You are quite right,” he replied; “but do not felicitate yourself too +quickly should you be sent to the arena, for there is scarce one in a +thousand who comes out alive.” + +To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which I had +been confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. At the doorway I +was turned over to the guards there. + +“He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly,” said he +who had brought me back, “so have him in readiness.” + +The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I had +returned of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt that it would be +safe to give me liberty within the building as had been the custom +before I had escaped, and so I was told to return to whatever duty had +been mine formerly. + +My first act was to hunt up Perry, whom I found poring as usual over +the great tomes that he was supposed to be merely dusting and +rearranging upon new shelves. + +As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me, only +to resume his work as though I had never been away at all. I was both +astonished and hurt at his indifference. And to think that I was +risking death to return to him purely from a sense of duty and +affection! + +“Why, Perry!” I exclaimed, “haven’t you a word for me after my long +absence?” + +“Long absence!” he repeated in evident astonishment. “What do you +mean?” + +“Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed me +since that time we were separated by the charging thag within the +arena?” + +“‘That time’,” he repeated. “Why man, I have but just returned from the +arena! You reached here almost as soon as I. Had you been much later I +should indeed have been worried, and as it is I had intended asking you +about how you escaped the beast as soon as I had completed the +translation of this most interesting passage.” + +“Perry, you ARE mad,” I exclaimed. “Why, the Lord only knows how long I +have been away. I have been to other lands, discovered a new race of +humans within Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their worship in their +hidden temple, and barely escaped with my life from them and from a +great labyrinthodon that I met afterward, following my long and tedious +wanderings across an unknown world. I must have been away for months, +Perry, and now you barely look up from your work when I return and +insist that we have been separated but a moment. Is that any way to +treat a friend? I’m surprised at you, Perry, and if I’d thought for a +moment that you cared no more for me than this I should not have +returned to chance death at the hands of the Mahars for your sake.” + +The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There was a +puzzled expression upon his wrinkled face, and a look of hurt sorrow in +his eyes. + +“David, my boy,” he said, “how could you for a moment doubt my love for +you? There is something strange here that I cannot understand. I know +that I am not mad, and I am equally sure that you are not; but how in +the world are we to account for the strange hallucinations that each of +us seems to harbor relative to the passage of time since last we saw +each other. You are positive that months have gone by, while to me it +seems equally certain that not more than an hour ago I sat beside you +in the amphitheater. Can it be that both of us are right and at the +same time both are wrong? First tell me what time is, and then maybe I +can solve our problem. Do you catch my meaning?” + +I didn’t and said so. + +“Yes,” continued the old man, “we are both right. To me, bent over my +book here, there has been no lapse of time. I have done little or +nothing to waste my energies and so have required neither food nor +sleep, but you, on the contrary, have walked and fought and wasted +strength and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by nutriment and food, +and so, having eaten and slept many times since last you saw me you +naturally measure the lapse of time largely by these acts. As a matter +of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction that there is no +such thing as time—surely there can be no time here within Pellucidar, +where there are no means for measuring or recording time. Why, the +Mahars themselves take no account of such a thing as time. I find here +in all their literary works but a single tense, the present. There +seems to be neither past nor future with them. Of course it is +impossible for our outer-earthly minds to grasp such a condition, but +our recent experiences seem to demonstrate its existence.” + +It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to +enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it, and after listening with +interest to my account of the adventures through which I had passed he +returned once more to the subject, which he was enlarging upon with +considerable fluency when he was interrupted by the entrance of a +Sagoth. + +“Come!” commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. “The investigators +would speak with you.” + +“Good-bye, Perry!” I said, clasping the old man’s hand. “There may be +nothing but the present and no such thing as time, but I feel that I am +about to take a trip into the hereafter from which I shall never +return. If you and Ghak should manage to escape I want you to promise +me that you will find Dian the Beautiful and tell her that with my last +words I asked her forgiveness for the unintentional affront I put upon +her, and that my one wish was to be spared long enough to right the +wrong that I had done her.” + +Tears came to Perry’s eyes. + +“I cannot believe but that you will return, David,” he said. “It would +be awful to think of living out the balance of my life without you +among these hateful and repulsive creatures. If you are taken away I +shall never escape, for I feel that I am as well off here as I should +be anywhere within this buried world. Good-bye, my boy, good-bye!” and +then his old voice faltered and broke, and as he hid his face in his +hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by the shoulder and +hustled me from the chamber. + + + + +XI +FOUR DEAD MAHARS + + +A moment later I was standing before a dozen Mahars—the social +investigators of Phutra. They asked me many questions, through a Sagoth +interpreter. I answered them all truthfully. They seemed particularly +interested in my account of the outer earth and the strange vehicle +which had brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. I thought that I had +convinced them, and after they had sat in silence for a long time +following my examination, I expected to be ordered returned to my +quarters. + +During this apparent silence they were debating through the medium of +strange, unspoken language the merits of my tale. At last the head of +the tribunal communicated the result of their conference to the officer +in charge of the Sagoth guard. + +“Come,” he said to me, “you are sentenced to the experimental pits for +having dared to insult the intelligence of the mighty ones with the +ridiculous tale you have had the temerity to unfold to them.” + +“Do you mean that they do not believe me?” I asked, totally astonished. + +“Believe you!” he laughed. “Do you mean to say that you expected any +one to believe so impossible a lie?” + +It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard down +through the dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom. At a low +level we came upon a number of lighted chambers in which we saw many +Mahars engaged in various occupations. To one of these chambers my +guard escorted me, and before leaving they chained me to a side wall. +There were other humans similarly chained. Upon a long table lay a +victim even as I was ushered into the room. Several Mahars stood about +the poor creature holding him down so that he could not move. Another, +grasping a sharp knife with her three-toed fore foot, was laying open +the victim’s chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered and +the shrieks and groans of the tortured man were terrible to hear. This, +indeed, was vivisection with a vengeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me +as I realized that soon my turn would come. And to think that where +there was no such thing as time I might easily imagine that my +suffering was enduring for months before death finally released me! + +The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I had been +brought into the room. So deeply immersed were they in their work that +I am sure they did not even know that the Sagoths had entered with me. +The door was close by. Would that I could reach it! But those heavy +chains precluded any such possibility. I looked about for some means of +escape from my bonds. Upon the floor between me and the Mahars lay a +tiny surgical instrument which one of them must have dropped. It looked +not unlike a button-hook, but was much smaller, and its point was +sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood days had I picked locks with a +buttonhook. Could I but reach that little bit of polished steel I might +yet effect at least a temporary escape. + +Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching one hand as +far out as I could my fingers still fell an inch short of the coveted +instrument. It was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber of my being as I +would, I could not quite make it. + +At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the object. My +heart came to my throat! I could just touch the thing! But suppose that +in my effort to drag it toward me I should accidentally shove it still +farther away and thus entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke out upon +me from every pore. Slowly and cautiously I made the effort. My toes +dropped upon the cold metal. Gradually I worked it toward me until I +felt that it was within reach of my hand and a moment later I had +turned about and the precious thing was in my grasp. + +Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my chain. It +was pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and a moment later +I was free. The Mahars were now evidently completing their work at the +table. One already turned away and was examining other victims, +evidently with the intention of selecting the next subject. + +Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the creature +walking toward us I might have escaped that moment. Slowly the thing +approached me, when its attention was attracted by a huge slave chained +a few yards to my right. Here the reptile stopped and commenced to go +over the poor devil carefully, and as it did so its back turned toward +me for an instant, and in that instant I gave two mighty leaps that +carried me out of the chamber into the corridor beyond, down which I +raced with all the speed I could command. + +Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only thought was to +place as much distance as possible between me and that frightful +chamber of torture. + +Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later realizing the +danger of running into some new predicament, were I not careful, I +moved still more slowly and cautiously. After a time I came to a +passage that seemed in some mysterious way familiar to me, and +presently, chancing to glance within a chamber which led from the +corridor I saw three Mahars curled up in slumber upon a bed of skins. I +could have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the same corridor +and the same Mahars that I had intended to have lead so important a +role in our escape from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, +for the reptiles still slept. + +My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels in search +of Perry and Ghak, but there was nothing else to be done, and so I +hastened upward. When I came to the frequented portions of the +building, I found a large burden of skins in a corner and these I +lifted to my head, carrying them in such a way that ends and corners +fell down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. Thus disguised +I found Perry and Ghak together in the chamber where we had been wont +to eat and sleep. + +Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of course they +had known nothing of the fate that had been meted out to me by my +judges. It was decided that no time should now be lost before +attempting to put our plan of escape to the test, as I could not hope +to remain hidden from the Sagoths long, nor could I forever carry that +bale of skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion. However it +seemed likely that it would carry me once more safely through the +crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels, and so I set out +with Perry and Ghak—the stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking +me. + +Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the main +floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak halted to await me. The +buildings are cut out of the solid limestone formation. There is +nothing at all remarkable about their architecture. The rooms are +sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular, and again oval in shape. The +corridors which connect them are narrow and not always straight. The +chambers are lighted by diffused sunlight reflected through tubes +similar to those by which the avenues are lighted. The lower the tiers +of chambers, the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely unlighted. +The Mahars can see quite well in semidarkness. + +Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, and slaves; +but no attention was paid to us as we had become a part of the domestic +life of the building. There was but a single entrance leading from the +place into the avenue and this was well guarded by Sagoths—this doorway +alone were we forbidden to pass. It is true that we were not supposed +to enter the deeper corridors and apartments except on special +occasions when we were instructed to do so; but as we were considered a +lower order without intelligence there was little reason to fear that +we could accomplish any harm by so doing, and so we were not hindered +as we entered the corridor which led below. + +Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, and the +arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. As many slaves bore +skin-wrapped burdens to and fro my load attracted no comment. Where I +left Ghak and Perry there were no other creatures in sight, and so I +withdrew one sword from the package, and leaving the balance of the +weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the lower levels. + +Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept I entered +silently on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures were without the +sense of hearing. With a quick thrust through the heart I disposed of +the first but my second thrust was not so fortunate, so that before I +could kill the next of my victims it had hurled itself against the +third, who sprang quickly up, facing me with wide-distended jaws. But +fighting is not the occupation which the race of Mahars loves, and when +the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of its companions, and +that my sword was red with their blood, it made a dash to escape me. +But I was too quick for it, and so, half hopping, half flying, it +scurried down another corridor with me close upon its heels. + +Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all probability my +instant death. This thought lent wings to my feet; but even at my best +I could do no more than hold my own with the leaping thing before me. + +Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the corridor, +and an instant later as I rushed in I found myself facing two of the +Mahars. The one who had been there when we entered had been occupied +with a number of metal vessels, into which had been put powders and +liquids as I judged from the array of flasks standing about upon the +bench where it had been working. In an instant I realized what I had +stumbled upon. It was the very room for the finding of which Perry had +given me minute directions. It was the buried chamber in which was +hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. And on the bench beside +the flasks lay the skin-bound book which held the only copy of the +thing I was to have sought, after dispatching the three Mahars in their +sleep. + +There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in which I now +stood facing the two frightful reptiles. Cornered, I knew that they +would fight like demons, and they were well equipped to fight if fight +they must. Together they launched themselves upon me, and though I ran +one of them through the heart on the instant, the other fastened its +gleaming fangs about my sword arm above the elbow, and then with her +sharp talons commenced to rake me about the body, evidently intent upon +disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope that I might +release my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which seemed to be +severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered was intense, but it +only served to spur me to greater efforts to overcome my antagonist. + +Back and forth across the floor we struggled—the Mahar dealing me +terrific, cutting blows with her fore feet, while I attempted to +protect my body with my left hand, at the same time watching for an +opportunity to transfer my blade from my now useless sword hand to its +rapidly weakening mate. At last I was successful, and with what seemed +to me my last ounce of strength I ran the blade through the ugly body +of my foe. + +Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from pain and +loss of blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant pride that I +stepped across its convulsively stiffening corpse to snatch up the most +potent secret of a world. A single glance assured me it was the very +thing that Perry had described to me. + +And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the human race of +Pellucidar—did there flash through my mind the thought that countless +generations of my own kind yet unborn would have reason to worship me +for the thing that I had accomplished for them? I did not. I thought of +a beautiful oval face, gazing out of limpid eyes, through a waving mass +of jet-black hair. I thought of red, red lips, God-made for kissing. +And of a sudden, apropos of nothing, standing there alone in the secret +chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, I realized that I loved Dian the +Beautiful. + + + + +XII +PURSUIT + + +For an instant I stood there thinking of her, and then, with a sigh, I +tucked the book in the thong that supported my loin cloth, and turned +to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which leads aloft +from the lower chambers I whistled in accordance with the prearranged +signal which was to announce to Perry and Ghak that I had been +successful. A moment later they stood beside me, and to my surprise I +saw that Hooja the Sly One accompanied them. + +“He joined us,” explained Perry, “and would not be denied. The fellow +is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than be thwarted of our chance +now I told him that I would bring him to you, and let you decide +whether he might accompany us.” + +I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if +he thought it would profit him he would betray us; but I saw no way out +of it now, and the fact that I had killed four Mahars instead of only +the three I had expected to, made it possible to include the fellow in +our scheme of escape. + +“Very well,” I said, “you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first +intimation of treachery I shall run my sword through you. Do you +understand?” + +He said that he did. + +Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and so +succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves that there seemed an +excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an +easy thing to fasten the hides together where we had split them along +the belly to remove them from their carcasses, but by remaining out +until the others had all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving +an aperture in the breast of Perry’s skin through which he could pass +his hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design to +really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the +heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and by the same +means were enabled to move them about in a life-like manner. We had our +greatest difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that problem was +finally solved, so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. +Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats into which our heads were +thrust permitted us to see well enough to guide our progress. + +Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak headed +the strange procession, then came Perry, followed by Hooja, while I +brought up the rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my +sword that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise into his +vitals were he to show any indication of faltering. + +As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy +corridors of the main level, my heart came up into my mouth. It is with +no sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened—never before in my +life, nor since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing fear +and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I sweat +it then. + +Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when +they are not using their wings, we crept through throngs of busy +slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we reached +the outer door which leads into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths +loitered near the opening. They glanced at Ghak as he padded between +them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. Now it was my turn, and then +in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that the warm blood from +my wounded arm was trickling down through the dead foot of the Mahar +skin I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement, for I saw +a Sagoth call a companion’s attention to it. + +The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to +me in the sign language which these two races employ as a means of +communication. Even had I known what he was saying I could not have +replied with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen a great +Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look. It seemed my only hope, +and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I moved my sword so that it +made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the gorilla-man. +For a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow with those +dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started slowly on. For a moment +all hung in the balance, but before I touched him the guard stepped to +one side, and I passed on out into the avenue. + +On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very +numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. Fortunately, +there was a great concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake +which lies a mile or more from the city. They go there to indulge their +amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and enjoying the cool +depths of the water. It is a fresh-water lake, shallow, and free from +the larger reptiles which make the use of the great seas of Pellucidar +impossible for any but their own kind. + +In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the +plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the stream that was +traveling toward the lake, but finally, at the bottom of a little gully +he halted, and there we remained until all had passed and we were +alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set off directly away from +Phutra. + +The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible +prisons unbearable, so that after passing a low divide, and entering a +sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had +brought us thus far in safety. + +I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling +flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped in our tracks. +How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped +the cruel fangs of lions and tigers the size of which would dwarf into +pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world. + +On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between +ourselves and Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us to his own +land—the land of Sari. No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we +were sure that somewhere behind us relentless Sagoths were dogging our +tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt down their quarry until +they had captured it or themselves been turned back by a superior +force. + +Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite +strong enough in their mountain fastness to beat off any number of +Sagoths. + +At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have been +years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment which buttressed the +foothills of Sari. At almost the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever +quite as much behind as before, announced that he could see a body of +men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake. It was the +long-expected pursuit. + +I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them. + +“We may,” he replied; “but you will find that the Sagoths can move with +incredible swiftness, and as they are almost tireless they are +doubtless much fresher than we. Then—” he paused, glancing at Perry. + +I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the period +of our flight either Ghak or I had half supported him on the march. +With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily +overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights which confronted +us. + +“You and Hooja go on ahead,” I said. “Perry and I will make it if we +are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, and there is no +reason why all should be lost because of that. It can’t be helped—we +have simply to face it.” + +“I will not desert a companion,” was Ghak’s simple reply. I hadn’t +known that this great, hairy, primeval man had any such nobility of +character stowed away inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my +liking was added honor and respect. Yes, and love. + +But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach +his people he might be able to bring out a sufficient force to drive +off the Sagoths and rescue Perry and myself. + +No, he wouldn’t leave us, and that was all there was to it, but he +suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn the Sarians of the king’s +danger. It didn’t require much urging to start Hooja—the naked idea was +enough to send him leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we +now had reached. + +Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak’s life and mine and the +old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him, although I knew that +he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling +into the hands of the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in +part, by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying him. While the +act cut down Ghak’s speed he still could travel faster thus than when +half supporting the stumbling old man. + + + + +XIII +THE SLY ONE + + +The Sagoths were gaining on us rapidly, for once they had sighted us +they had greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up the +narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the heights of Sari. On +either side rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, parti-colored rock, +while beneath our feet a thick mountain grass formed a soft and +noiseless carpet. Since we had entered the canyon we had had no glimpse +of our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope that they had lost our +trail and that we would reach the now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to +scale them before we should be overtaken. + +Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the success +of Hooja’s mission. By now he should have reached the outposts of the +Sarians, and we should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmen +as they swarmed to arms in answer to their king’s appeal for succor. In +another moment the frowning cliffs ahead should be black with primeval +warriors. But nothing of the kind happened—as a matter of fact the Sly +One had betrayed us. At the moment that we expected to see Sarian +spearmen charging to our relief at Hooja’s back, the craven traitor was +sneaking around the outskirts of the nearest Sarian village, that he +might come up from the other side when it was too late to save us, +claiming that he had become lost among the mountains. + +Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had +struck in Dian’s protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal to +sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon me. + +As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians +appeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the sound +of rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me over +his shoulder that we were lost. + +A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at the +far end of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we had just +passed, and then a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view; +but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence +that the gorilla-man had sighted us. + +Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another +branch ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so that +appeared more like the main canyon than the lefthand branch. The +Sagoths were now not over two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I +saw that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape other than by a +ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, and as I +reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance. + +Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghak +and Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon, and as +the Sagoth’s savage yell announced that he had seen me I turned and +fled up the right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entire +party of man-hunters raced headlong after me up one canyon while Ghak +bore Perry to safety up the other. + +Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when my +very life depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I ran any +better than on the occasions when my pitiful base running had called +down upon my head the rooter’s raucous and reproachful cries of “Ice +Wagon,” and “Call a cab.” + +The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular, +fleeter than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon had +become a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed +a pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could not even +guess—possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of feet into the corresponding +valley upon the other side. Could it be that I had plunged into a +cul-de-sac? + +Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the top +of the canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to check them +temporarily, and to this end had unslung my rudely made bow and plucked +an arrow from the skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. As I +fitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped and wheeled toward the +gorilla-man. + +In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our +escape from Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game by +means of my arrows, and so, through necessity, had developed a fair +degree of accuracy. During our flight from Phutra I had restrung my bow +with a piece of heavy gut taken from a huge tiger which Ghak and I had +worried and finally dispatched with arrows, spear, and sword. The hard +wood of the bow was extremely tough and this, with the strength and +elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted confidence in my weapon. + +Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then—never were my +nerves and muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully and +deliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had never before +seen a bow and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over his dull +intellect that the thing I held toward him was some sort of engine of +destruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously swinging his +hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods in which they employ +this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they achieve, even under the +most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous. + +My shaft was drawn back its full length—my eye had centered its sharp +point upon the left breast of my adversary; and then he launched his +hatchet and I released my arrow. At the instant that our missiles flew +I leaped to one side, but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his +attack with a spear thrust. I felt the swish of the hatchet as it +grazed my head, and at the same instant my shaft pierced the Sagoth’s +savage heart, and with a single groan he lunged almost at my feet—stone +dead. Close behind him were two more—fifty yards perhaps—but the +distance gave me time to snatch up the dead guardsman’s shield, for the +close call his hatchet had just given me had borne in upon me the +urgent need I had for one. Those which I had purloined at Phutra we had +not been able to bring along because their size precluded our +concealing them within the skins of the Mahars which had brought us +safely from the city. + +With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with another +arrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his fellow’s +hatchet sped toward me I caught it upon the shield, and fitted another +shaft for him; but he did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned +and retreated toward the main body of gorilla-men. Evidently he had +seen enough of me for the moment. + +Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently +overanxious to press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested I +reached the top of the canyon where I found a sheer drop of two or +three hundred feet to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the left a +narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff. Along this +I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond the canyon’s +end, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening to a large +cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight about +another projecting buttress of the mountain. + +Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could +advance upon me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting him +until he came full upon me around the corner of the turn. About me lay +scattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were of various +sizes and shapes, but enough were of handy dimensions for use as +ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering a number of stones +into a little pile beside the mouth of the cave I waited the advance of +the Sagoths. + +As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint sound +that should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight noise from +within the cave’s black depths attracted my attention. It might have +been produced by the moving of the great body of some huge beast rising +from the rock floor of its lair. At almost the same instant I thought +that I caught the scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond the +turn. For the next few seconds my attention was considerably divided. + +And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes +glaring into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet above my +head. It is true that the beast who owned them might be standing upon a +ledge within the cave, or that it might be rearing up upon its hind +legs; but I had seen enough of the monsters of Pellucidar to know that +I might be facing some new and frightful Titan whose dimensions and +ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen before. + +Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the cave, +and now, deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and ominous growl. I +waited no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with the thing +which owned that voice. The noise had not been loud—I doubt if the +Sagoths heard it at all—but the suggestion of latent possibilities +behind it was such that I knew it would only emanate from a gigantic +and ferocious beast. + +As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the cave, +where I no longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but an instant +later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warily +advanced beyond the cliff’s turn on the far side of the cave’s mouth. +As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge in pursuit, and after +him came as many of his companions as could crowd upon each other’s +heels. At the same time the beast emerged from the cave, so that he and +the Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge. + +The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully +eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the end +of its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sighted +the Sagoths it emitted a most frightful roar, and with open mouth +charged full upon them. With a cry of terror the foremost gorilla-man +turned to escape, but behind him he ran full upon his on-rushing +companions. + +The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth +nearest the cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and leaped +deliberately to an awful death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feet +below. Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered in the next—there +was a sickening sound of crushing bones, and the mangled corpse was +dropped over the cliff’s edge. Nor did the mighty beast even pause in +his steady advance along the ledge. + +Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to escape +him, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing the +demoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long time I could hear +the horrid roaring of the brute intermingled with the screams and +shrieks of his victims, until finally the awful sounds dwindled and +disappeared in the distance. + +Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen and +returned with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is called, +pursued the Sagoths until it had exterminated the entire band. Ghak +was, of course, positive that I had fallen prey to the terrible +creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of beasts. + +Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall prey +either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along the ledge, +believing that by following around the mountain I could reach the land +of Sari from another direction. But I evidently became confused by the +twisting and turning of the canyons and gullies, for I did not come to +the land of Sari then, nor for a long time thereafter. + + + + +XIV +THE GARDEN OF EDEN + + +With no heavenly guide, it is little wonder that I became confused and +lost in the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. What, in reality, +I did was to pass entirely through them and come out above the valley +upon the farther side. I know that I wandered for a long time, until +tired and hungry I came upon a small cave in the face of the limestone +formation which had taken the place of the granite farther back. + +The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous side of a +lofty cliff. The way to it was such that I knew no extremely formidable +beast could frequent it, nor was it large enough to make a comfortable +habitat for any but the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet it was with +the utmost caution that I crawled within its dark interior. + +Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft in the +rock above which let the sunlight filter in in sufficient quantities +partially to dispel the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave +was entirely empty, nor were there any signs of its having been +recently occupied. The opening was comparatively small, so that after +considerable effort I was able to lug up a bowlder from the valley +below which entirely blocked it. + +Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and on +this trip was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, the diminutive +horse of Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of a fox terrier, +which abounds in all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food and +bedding I returned to my lair, where after a meal of raw meat, to which +I had now become quite accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the +entrance and curled myself upon a bed of grasses—a naked, primeval, +cave man, as savagely primitive as my prehistoric progenitors. + +I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled out +upon the little rocky shelf which was my front porch. Before me spread +a small but beautiful valley, through the center of which a clear and +sparkling river wound its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters of +which were just visible between the two mountain ranges which embraced +this little paradise. The sides of the opposite hills were green with +verdure, for a great forest clothed them to the foot of the red and +yellow and copper green of the towering crags which formed their +summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, while +here and there patches of wild flowers made great splashes of vivid +color against the prevailing green. + +Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike +trees—three or four together as a rule. Beneath these stood antelope, +while others grazed in the open, or wandered gracefully to a nearby +ford to drink. There were several species of this beautiful animal, the +most magnificent somewhat resembling the giant eland of Africa, except +that their spiral horns form a complete curve backward over their ears +and then forward again beneath them, ending in sharp and formidable +points some two feet before the face and above the eyes. In size they +remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet they are very agile and +fast. The broad yellow bands that stripe the dark roan of their coats +made me take them for zebra when I first saw them. All in all they are +handsome animals, and added the finishing touch to the strange and +lovely landscape that spread before my new home. + +I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with it as a +base make a systematic exploration of the surrounding country in search +of the land of Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcass of +the orthopi I had killed before my last sleep. Then I hid the Great +Secret in a deep niche at the back of my cave, rolled the bowlder +before my front door, and with bow, arrows, sword, and shield scrambled +down into the peaceful valley. + +The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, the +little orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and galloping to safest +distances. All the animals stopped feeding as I approached, and after +moving to what they considered a safe distance stood contemplating me +with serious eyes and up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bull +antelopes of the striped species lowered his head and bellowed +angrily—even taking a few steps in my direction, so that I thought he +meant to charge; but after I had passed, he resumed feeding as though +nothing had disturbed him. + +Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, and +across the river saw a great sadok, the enormous double-horned +progenitor of the modern rhinoceros. At the valley’s end the cliffs +upon the left ran out into the sea, so that to pass around them as I +desired to do it was necessary to scale them in search of a ledge along +which I might continue my journey. Some fifty feet from the base I came +upon a projection which formed a natural path along the face of the +cliff, and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff’s end. + +Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the cliffs—the +stratum which formed it evidently having been forced up at this steep +angle when the mountains behind it were born. As I climbed carefully up +the ascent my attention suddenly was attracted aloft by the sound of +strange hissing, and what resembled the flapping of wings. + +And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision the most +frightful thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. It was a giant +dragon such as is pictured in the legends and fairy tales of earth +folk. Its huge body must have measured forty feet in length, while the +batlike wings that supported it in midair had a spread of fully thirty. +Its gaping jaws were armed with long, sharp teeth, and its claw +equipped with horrible talons. + +The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was issuing +from its throat, and seemed to be directed at something beyond and +below me which I could not see. The ledge upon which I stood terminated +abruptly a few paces farther on, and as I reached the end I saw the +cause of the reptile’s agitation. + +Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at this +point, so that beyond the spot where I stood the strata had slipped +down a matter of twenty feet. The result was that the continuation of +my ledge lay twenty feet below me, where it ended as abruptly as did +the end upon which I stood. + +And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable break in +the ledge, stood the object of the creature’s attack—a girl cowering +upon the narrow platform, her face buried in her arms, as though to +shut out the sight of the frightful death which hovered just above her. + +The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in upon its +prey. There was no time to be lost, scarce an instant in which to weigh +the possible chances that I had against the awfully armed creature; but +the sight of that frightened girl below me called out to all that was +best in me, and the instinct for protection of the other sex, which +nearly must have equaled the instinct of self-preservation in primeval +man, drew me to the girl’s side like an irresistible magnet. + +Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the end of the +ledge upon which I stood, for the tiny shelf twenty feet below. At the +same instant the dragon darted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent +upon the scene must have startled him for he veered to one side, and +then rose above us once more. + +The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl that the end +had come, for she thought I was the dragon; but finally when no cruel +fangs closed upon her she raised her eyes in astonishment. As they fell +upon me the expression that came into them would be difficult to +describe; but her feelings could scarcely have been one whit more +complicated than my own—for the wide eyes that looked into mine were +those of Dian the Beautiful. + +“Dian!” I cried. “Dian! Thank God that I came in time.” + +“You?” she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor could I tell +whether she were glad or angry that I had come. + +Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly that I had +no time to unsling my bow. All that I could do was to snatch up a rock, +and hurl it at the thing’s hideous face. Again my aim was true, and +with a hiss of pain and rage the reptile wheeled once more and soared +away. + +Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the next attack, +and as I did so I looked down at the girl, so that I surprised her in a +surreptitious glance which she was stealing at me; but immediately, she +again covered her face with her hands. + +“Look at me, Dian,” I pleaded. “Are you not glad to see me?” + +She looked straight into my eyes. + +“I hate you,” she said, and then, as I was about to beg for a fair +hearing she pointed over my shoulder. “The thipdar comes,” she said, +and I turned again to meet the reptile. + +So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel bloodhound of +the Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl of the outer world. But this +time I met it with a weapon it never had faced before. I had selected +my longest arrow, and with all my strength had bent the bow until the +very tip of the shaft rested upon the thumb of my left hand, and then +as the great creature darted toward us I let drive straight for that +tough breast. + +Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty creature +fell turning and twisting into the sea below, my arrow buried +completely in its carcass. I turned toward the girl. She was looking +past me. It was evident that she had seen the thipdar die. + +“Dian,” I said, “won’t you tell me that you are not sorry that I have +found you?” + +“I hate you,” was her only reply; but I imagined that there was less +vehemence in it than before—yet it might have been but my imagination. + +“Why do you hate me, Dian?” I asked, but she did not answer me. + +“What are you doing here?” I asked, “and what has happened to you since +Hooja freed you from the Sagoths?” + +At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, but +finally she thought better of it. + +“I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she said. “After I +escaped from the Sagoths I made my way alone back to my own land; but +on account of Jubal I did not dare enter the villages or let any of my +friends know that I had returned for fear that Jubal might find out. By +watching for a long time I found that my brother had not yet returned, +and so I continued to live in a cave beside a valley which my race +seldom frequents, awaiting the time that he should come back and free +me from Jubal. + +“But at last one of Jubal’s hunters saw me as I was creeping toward my +father’s cave to see if my brother had yet returned and he gave the +alarm and Jubal set out after me. He has been pursuing me across many +lands. He cannot be far behind me now. When he comes he will kill you +and carry me back to his cave. He is a terrible man. I have gone as far +as I can go, and there is no escape,” and she looked hopelessly up at +the continuation of the ledge twenty feet above us. + +“But he shall not have me,” she suddenly cried, with great vehemence. +“The sea is there”—she pointed over the edge of the cliff—“and the sea +shall have me rather than Jubal.” + +“But I have you now Dian,” I cried; “nor shall Jubal, nor any other +have you, for you are mine,” and I seized her hand, nor did I lift it +above her head and let it fall in token of release. + +She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my eyes with +level gaze. + +“I do not believe you,” she said, “for if you meant it you would have +done this when the others were present to witness it—then I should +truly have been your mate; now there is no one to see you do it, for +you know that without witnesses your act does not bind you to me,” and +she withdrew her hand from mine and turned away. + +I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply couldn’t +forget the humiliation that I had put upon her on that other occasion. + +“If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to prove it,” +she said, “if Jubal does not catch and kill you. I am in your power, +and the treatment you accord me will be the best proof of your +intentions toward me. I am not your mate, and again I tell you that I +hate you, and that I should be glad if I never saw you again.” + +Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In fact I +found candor and directness to be quite a marked characteristic of the +cave men of Pellucidar. Finally I suggested that we make some attempt +to gain my cave, where we might escape the searching Jubal, for I am +free to admit that I had no considerable desire to meet the formidable +and ferocious creature, of whose mighty prowess Dian had told me when I +first met her. He it was who, armed with a puny knife, had met and +killed a cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was Jubal who could +cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass of the sadok at +fifty paces. It was he who had crushed the skull of a charging dyryth +with a single blow of his war club. No, I was not pining to meet the +Ugly One—and it was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for +him; but the matter was taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often +the way, and I did meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face. + +This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge the way +she had come, searching for a path that would lead us to the top of the +cliff, for I knew that we could then cross over to the edge of my own +little valley, where I felt certain we should find a means of ingress +from the cliff top. As we proceeded along the ledge I gave Dian minute +directions for finding my cave against the chance of something +happening to me. I knew that she would be quite safely hidden away from +pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, and the valley would +afford her ample means of sustenance. + +Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My heart was sad +and heavy, and I wanted to make her feel badly by suggesting that +something terrible might happen to me—that I might, in fact, be killed. +But it didn’t work worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive. +Dian simply shrugged those magnificent shoulders of hers, and murmured +something to the effect that one was not rid of trouble so easily as +that. + +For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to think that I +had twice protected her from attack—the last time risking my life to +save hers. It was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Age +could be so ungrateful—so heartless; but maybe her heart partook of the +qualities of her epoch. + +Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened and +extended by the action of the water draining through it from the +plateau above. It gave us a rather rough climb to the summit, but +finally we stood upon the level mesa which stretched back for several +miles to the mountain range. Behind us lay the broad inland sea, +curving upward in the horizonless distance to merge into the blue of +the sky, so that for all the world it looked as though the sea lapped +back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond the distant +mountains at our backs—the weird and uncanny aspect of the seascapes of +Pellucidar balk description. + +At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country was open +and clear to the plateau’s farther verge. It was in this direction that +our way led, and we had turned to resume our journey when Dian touched +my arm. I turned to her, thinking that she was about to make peace +overtures; but I was mistaken. + +“Jubal,” she said, and nodded toward the forest. + +I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a perfect whale +of a man. He must have been seven feet tall, and proportioned +accordingly. He still was too far off to distinguish his features. + +“Run,” I said to Dian. “I can engage him until you get a good start. +Maybe I can hold him until you have gotten entirely away,” and then, +without a backward glance, I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had hoped +that Dian would have a kind word to say to me before she went, for she +must have known that I was going to my death for her sake; but she +never even so much as bid me good-bye, and it was with a heavy heart +that I strode through the flower-bespangled grass to my doom. + +When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his features I +understood how it was that he had earned the sobriquet of Ugly One. +Apparently some fearful beast had ripped away one entire side of his +face. The eye was gone, the nose, and all the flesh, so that his jaws +and all his teeth were exposed and grinning through the horrible scar. + +Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others of his +handsome race, and it may be that the terrible result of this encounter +had tended to sour an already strong and brutal character. However this +may be it is quite certain that he was not a pretty sight, and now that +his features, or what remained of them, were distorted in rage at the +sight of Dian with another male, he was indeed most terrible to see—and +much more terrible to meet. + +He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised his mighty +spear, while I halted and fitting an arrow to my bow took as steady aim +as I could. I was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess that +the sight of this awful man had wrought upon my nerves to such an +extent that my knees were anything but steady. What chance had I +against this mighty warrior for whom even the fiercest cave bear had no +terrors! Could I hope to best one who slaughtered the sadok and dyryth +singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself, my fear was more +for Dian than for my own fate. + +And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped spear, and I +raised my shield to break the force of its terrific velocity. The +impact hurled me to my knees, but the shield had deflected the missile +and I was unscathed. Jubal was rushing upon me now with the only +remaining weapon that he carried—a murderous-looking knife. He was too +close for a careful bowshot, but I let drive at him as he came, without +taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part of his thigh, inflicting a +painful but not disabling wound. And then he was upon me. + +My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his raised arm, +and when he wheeled to come at me again he found a sword’s point in his +face. And a moment later he felt an inch or two of it in the muscles of +his knife arm, so that thereafter he went more warily. + +It was a duel of strategy now—the great, hairy man maneuvering to get +inside my guard where he could bring those giant thews to play, while +my wits were directed to the task of keeping him at arm’s length. +Thrice he rushed me, and thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield. +Each time my sword found his body—once penetrating to his lung. He was +covered with blood by this time, and the internal hemorrhage induced +paroxysms of coughing that brought the red stream through the hideous +mouth and nose, covering his face and breast with bloody froth. He was +a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead. + +As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be perfectly +candid, I had not expected to survive the first rush of that monstrous +engine of ungoverned rage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from +utter contempt of me, began to change to a feeling of respect, and then +in his primitive mind there evidently loomed the thought that perhaps +at last he had met his master, and was facing his end. + +At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can account for his +next act, which was in the nature of a last resort—a sort of forlorn +hope, which could only have been born of the belief that if he did not +kill me quickly I should kill him. It happened on the occasion of his +fourth charge, when, instead of striking at me with his knife, he +dropped that weapon, and seizing my sword blade in both his hands +wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily as from a babe. + +Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an instant +glaring into my face with such a horrid leer of malignant triumph as to +almost unnerve me—then he sprang for me with his bare hands. But it was +Jubal’s day to learn new methods of warfare. For the first time he had +seen a bow and arrows, never before that duel had he beheld a sword, +and now he learned what a man who knows may do with his bare fists. + +As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath his +outstretched arm, and as I came up planted as clean a blow upon his jaw +as ever you have seen. Down went that great mountain of flesh sprawling +upon the ground. He was so surprised and dazed that he lay there for +several seconds before he made any attempt to rise, and I stood over +him with another dose ready when he should gain his knees. + +Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; but +he didn’t stay up—I let him have a left fair on the point of the jaw +that sent him tumbling over on his back. By this time I think Jubal had +gone mad with hate, for no sane man would have come back for more as +many times as he did. Time after time I bowled him over as fast as he +could stagger up, until toward the last he lay longer on the ground +between blows, and each time came up weaker than before. + +He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, and +presently a terrific blow over the heart sent him reeling heavily to +the ground, where he lay very still, and somehow I knew at once that +Jubal the Ugly One would never get up again. But even as I looked upon +that massive body lying there so grim and terrible in death, I could +not believe that I, single-handed, had bested this slayer of fearful +beasts—this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age. + +Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the dead body of +my foeman, and as I thought of the battle I had just fought and won a +great idea was born in my brain—the outcome of this and the suggestion +that Perry had made within the city of Phutra. If skill and science +could render a comparative pygmy the master of this mighty brute, what +could not the brute’s fellows accomplish with the same skill and +science. Why all Pellucidar would be at their feet—and I would be their +king and Dian their queen. + +Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite within the +possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even were I king. She was +quite the most superior person I ever had met—with the most convincing +way of letting you know that she was superior. Well, I could go to the +cave, and tell her that I had killed Jubal, and then she might feel +more kindly toward me, since I had freed her of her tormentor. I hoped +that she had found the cave easily—it would be terrible had I lost her +again, and I turned to gather up my shield and bow to hurry after her, +when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten paces behind me. + +“Girl!” I cried, “what are you doing here? I thought that you had gone +to the cave, as I told you to do.” + +Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the majesty +out of me, and left me feeling more like the palace janitor—if palaces +have janitors. + +“As you told me to do!” she cried, stamping her little foot. “I do as I +please. I am the daughter of a king, and furthermore, I hate you.” + +I was dumbfounded—this was my thanks for saving her from Jubal! I +turned and looked at the corpse. “May be that I saved you from a worse +fate, old man,” I said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she never +seemed to notice it at all. + +“Let us go to my cave,” I said, “I am tired and hungry.” + +She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. I was too +angry, and she evidently didn’t care to converse with the lower orders. +I was mad all the way through, as I had certainly felt that at least a +word of thanks should have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own +standards, I must have done a very wonderful thing to have killed the +redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand encounter. + +We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went down into the +valley and bowled over a small antelope, which I dragged up the steep +ascent to the ledge before the door. Here we ate in silence. +Occasionally I glanced at her, thinking that the sight of her tearing +at raw flesh with her hands and teeth like some wild animal would cause +a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; but to my surprise I found +that she ate quite as daintily as the most civilized woman of my +acquaintance, and finally I found myself gazing in foolish rapture at +the beauties of her strong, white teeth. Such is love. + +After our repast we went down to the river together and bathed our +hands and faces, and then after drinking our fill went back to the +cave. Without a word I crawled into the farthest corner and, curling +up, was soon asleep. + +When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out across the +valley. As I came out she moved to one side to let me pass, but she had +no word for me. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn’t. Every time I +looked at her something came up in my throat, so that I nearly choked. +I had never been in love before, but I did not need any aid in +diagnosing my case—I certainly had it and had it bad. God, how I loved +that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl! + +After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended returning to her +tribe now that Jubal was dead, but she shook her head sadly, and said +that she did not dare, for there was still Jubal’s brother to be +considered—his oldest brother. + +“What has he to do with it?” I asked. “Does he too want you, or has the +option on you become a family heirloom, to be passed on down from +generation to generation?” + +She was not quite sure as to what I meant. + +“It is probable,” she said, “that they all will want revenge for the +death of Jubal—there are seven of them—seven terrible men. Someone may +have to kill them all, if I am to return to my people.” + +It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too large for +me—about seven sizes, in fact. + +“Had Jubal any cousins?” I asked. It was just as well to know the worst +at once. + +“Yes,” replied Dian, “but they don’t count—they all have mates. Jubal’s +brothers have no mates because Jubal could get none for himself. He was +so ugly that women ran away from him—some have even thrown themselves +from the cliffs of Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the +Ugly One.” + +“But what had that to do with his brothers?” I asked. + +“I forget that you are not of Pellucidar,” said Dian, with a look of +pity mixed with contempt, and the contempt seemed to be laid on a +little thicker than the circumstance warranted—as though to make quite +certain that I shouldn’t overlook it. “You see,” she continued, “a +younger brother may not take a mate until all his older brothers have +done so, unless the older brother waives his prerogative, which Jubal +would not do, knowing that as long as he kept them single they would be +all the keener in aiding him to secure a mate.” + +Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began to entertain +hopes that she might be warming up toward me a bit, although upon what +slender thread I hung my hopes I soon discovered. + +“As you dare not return to Amoz,” I ventured, “what is to become of you +since you cannot be happy here with me, hating me as you do?” + +“I shall have to put up with you,” she replied coldly, “until you see +fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace, then I shall get along very +well alone.” + +I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible that even a +prehistoric woman could be so cold and heartless and ungrateful. Then I +arose. + +“I shall leave you NOW,” I said haughtily, “I have had quite enough of +your ingratitude and your insults,” and then I turned and strode +majestically down toward the valley. I had taken a hundred steps in +absolute silence, and then Dian spoke. + +“I hate you!” she shouted, and her voice broke—in rage, I thought. + +I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn’t gone too far when I began to +realize that I couldn’t leave her alone there without protection, to +hunt her own food amid the dangers of that savage world. She might hate +me, and revile me, and heap indignity after indignity upon me, as she +already had, until I should have hated her; but the pitiful fact +remained that I loved her, and I couldn’t leave her there alone. + +The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the time I +reached the valley I was furious, and the result of it was that I +turned right around and went up that cliff again as fast as I had come +down. I saw that Dian had left the ledge and gone within the cave, but +I bolted right in after her. She was lying upon her face on the pile of +grasses I had gathered for her bed. When she heard me enter she sprang +to her feet like a tigress. + +“I hate you!” she cried. + +Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the +semidarkness of the cave I could not see her features, and I was rather +glad, for I disliked to think of the hate that I should have read +there. + +I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across the cave and +grasped her by the wrists, and when she struggled, I put my arm around +her so as to pinion her hands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, +but I took my free hand and pushed her head back—I imagine that I had +suddenly turned brute, that I had gone back a thousand million years, +and was again a veritable cave man taking my mate by force—and then I +kissed that beautiful mouth again and again. + +“Dian,” I cried, shaking her roughly, “I love you. Can’t you understand +that I love you? That I love you better than all else in this world or +my own? That I am going to have you? That love like mine cannot be +denied?” + +I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my eyes became +accustomed to the light I saw that she was smiling—a very contented, +happy smile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, +she was trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened my grip upon them +so that she could do so. Slowly they came up and stole about my neck, +and then she drew my lips down to hers once more and held them there +for a long time. At last she spoke. + +“Why didn’t you do this at first, David? I have been waiting so long.” + +“What!” I cried. “You said that you hated me!” + +“Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I loved you +before I knew that you loved me?” she asked. + +“But I have told you right along that I love you,” I said. “Love speaks +in acts,” she replied. “You could have made your mouth say what you +wished it to say, but just now when you came and took me in your arms +your heart spoke to mine in the language that a woman’s heart +understands. What a silly man you are, David.” + +“Then you haven’t hated me at all, Dian?” I asked. + +“I have loved you always,” she whispered, “from the first moment that I +saw you, although I did not know it until that time you struck down +Hooja the Sly One, and then spurned me.” + +“But I didn’t spurn you, dear,” I cried. “I didn’t know your ways—I +doubt if I do now. It seems incredible that you could have reviled me +so, and yet have cared for me all the time.” + +“You might have known,” she said, “when I did not run away from you +that it was not hate which chained me to you. While you were battling +with Jubal, I could have run to the edge of the forest, and when I +learned the outcome of the combat it would have been a simple thing to +have eluded you and returned to my own people.” + +“But Jubal’s brothers—and cousins—” I reminded her, “how about them?” + +She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder. + +“I had to tell you SOMETHING, David,” she whispered. “I must needs have +SOME excuse for remaining near you.” + +“You little sinner!” I exclaimed. “And you have caused me all this +anguish for nothing!” + +“I have suffered even more,” she answered simply, “for I thought that +you did not love me, and I was helpless. I couldn’t come to you and +demand that my love be returned, as you have just come to me. Just now +when you went away hope went with you. I was wretched, terrified, +miserable, and my heart was breaking. I wept, and I have not done that +before since my mother died,” and now I saw that there was the moisture +of tears about her eyes. It was near to making me cry myself when I +thought of all that poor child had been through. Motherless and +unprotected; hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideous +brute of a man; exposed to the attacks of the countless fearsome +denizens of its mountains, its plains, and its jungles—it was a miracle +that she had survived it all. + +To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears must have +endured that the human race of the outer crust might survive. It made +me very proud to think that I had won the love of such a woman. Of +course she couldn’t read or write; there was nothing cultured or +refined about her as you judge culture and refinement; but she was the +essence of all that is best in woman, for she was good, and brave, and +noble, and virtuous. And she was all these things in spite of the fact +that their observance entailed suffering and danger and possible death. + +How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in the first +place! She would have been his lawful mate. She would have been queen +in her own land—and it meant just as much to the cave woman to be a +queen in the Stone Age as it does to the woman of today to be a queen +now; it’s all comparative glory any way you look at it, and if there +were only half-naked savages on the outer crust today, you’d find that +it would be considerable glory to be the wife of a Dahomey chief. + +I couldn’t help but compare Dian’s action with that of a splendid young +woman I had known in New York—I mean splendid to look at and to talk +to. She had been head over heels in love with a chum of mine—a clean, +manly chap—but she had married a broken-down, disreputable old +debauchee because he was a count in some dinky little European +principality that was not even accorded a distinctive color by Rand +McNally. + +Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian. + +After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious to see +Perry, and to know that all was right with him. I had told Dian about +our plan of emancipating the human race of Pellucidar, and she was +fairly wild over it. She said that if Dacor, her brother, would only +return he could easily be king of Amoz, and that then he and Ghak could +form an alliance. That would give us a flying start, for the Sarians +and the Amozites were both very powerful tribes. Once they had been +armed with swords, and bows and arrows, and trained in their use we +were confident that they could overcome any tribe that seemed +disinclined to join the great army of federated states with which we +were planning to march upon the Mahars. + +I explained the various destructive engines of war which Perry and I +could construct after a little experimentation—gunpowder, rifles, +cannon, and the like, and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms +about my neck, and tell me what a wonderful thing I was. She was +beginning to think that I was omnipotent although I really hadn’t done +anything but talk—but that is the way with women when they love. Perry +used to say that if a fellow was one-tenth as remarkable as his wife or +mother thought him, he would have the world by the tail with a +down-hill drag. + +The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of poisonous +vipers before we reached the valley. A little fellow stung me on the +ankle, and Dian made me come back to the cave. She said that I mustn’t +exercise, or it might prove fatal—if it had been a full-grown snake +that struck me she said, I wouldn’t have moved a single pace from the +nest—I’d have died in my tracks, so virulent is the poison. As it was I +must have been laid up for quite a while, though Dian’s poultices of +herbs and leaves finally reduced the swelling and drew out the poison. + +The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an idea which +added a thousand-fold to the value of my arrows as missiles of offense +and defense. As soon as I was able to be about again, I sought out some +adult vipers of the species which had stung me, and having killed them, +I extracted their virus, smearing it upon the tips of several arrows. +Later I shot a hyaenodon with one of these, and though my arrow +inflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beast crumpled in death +almost immediately after he was hit. + +We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it was with +feelings of sincere regret that we bade good-bye to our beautiful +Garden of Eden, in the comparative peace and harmony of which we had +lived the happiest moments of our lives. How long we had been there I +did not know, for as I have told you, time had ceased to exist for me +beneath that eternal noonday sun—it may have been an hour, or a month +of earthly time; I do not know. + + + + +XV +BACK TO EARTH + + +We crossed the river and passed through the mountains beyond, and +finally we came out upon a great level plain which stretched away as +far as the eye could reach. I cannot tell you in what direction it +stretched even if you would care to know, for all the while that I was +within Pellucidar I never discovered any but local methods of +indicating direction—there is no north, no south, no east, no west. UP +is about the only direction which is well defined, and that, of course, +is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun neither rises nor sets +there is no method of indicating direction beyond visible objects such +as high mountains, forests, lakes, and seas. + +The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the Darel Az +upon the shore nearest the Mountains of the Clouds is about as near to +any direction as any Pellucidarian can come. If you happen not to have +heard of the Darel Az, or the white cliffs, or the Mountains of the +Clouds you feel that there is something lacking, and long for the good +old understandable northeast and southwest of the outer world. + +We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two enormous +animals approaching us from a great distance. So far were they that we +could not distinguish what manner of beasts they might be, but as they +came closer, I saw that they were enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a +hundred feet long, with tiny heads perched at the top of very long +necks. Their heads must have been quite forty feet from the ground. The +beasts moved very slowly—that is their action was slow—but their +strides covered such a great distance that in reality they traveled +considerably faster than a man walks. + +As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back of each sat +a human being. Then Dian knew what they were, though she never before +had seen one. + +“They are lidis from the land of the Thorians,” she cried. “Thoria lies +at the outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. The Thorians alone of +all the races of Pellucidar ride the lidi, for nowhere else than beside +the dark country are they found.” + +“What is the Land of Awful Shadow?” I asked. + +“It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World,” replied Dian; “the +Dead World which hangs forever between the sun and Pellucidar above the +Land of Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World which makes the great shadow +upon this portion of Pellucidar.” + +I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure that I do yet, +for I have never been to that part of Pellucidar from which the Dead +World is visible; but Perry says that it is the moon of Pellucidar—a +tiny planet within a planet—and that it revolves around the earth’s +axis coincidently with the earth, and thus is always above the same +spot within Pellucidar. + +I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him about this +Dead World, for he seemed to think that it explained the hitherto +inexplicable phenomena of nutation and the precession of the equinoxes. + +When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we saw that one +was a man and the other a woman. The former had held up his two hands, +palms toward us, in sign of peace, and I had answered him in kind, when +he suddenly gave a cry of astonishment and pleasure, and slipping from +his enormous mount ran forward toward Dian, throwing his arms about +her. + +In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an instant; since +Dian quickly drew the man toward me, telling him that I was David, her +mate. + +“And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David,” she said to me. + +It appeared that the woman was Dacor’s mate. He had found none to his +liking among the Sari, nor farther on until he had come to the land of +the Thoria, and there he had found and fought for this very lovely +Thorian maiden whom he was bringing back to his own people. + +When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to accompany +us to Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come to an agreement relative to +an alliance, as Dacor was quite as enthusiastic about the proposed +annihilation of the Mahars and Sagoths as either Dian or I. + +After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, we came to +the first of the Sarian villages which consists of between one and two +hundred artificial caves cut into the face of a great cliff. Here to +our immense delight, we found both Perry and Ghak. The old man was +quite overcome at sight of me for he had long since given me up as +dead. + +When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn’t quite know what to say, +but he afterward remarked that with the pick of two worlds I could not +have done better. + +Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it was at a +council of the head men of the various tribes of the Sari that the +eventual form of government was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, the +various kingdoms were to remain virtually independent, but there was to +be one great overlord, or emperor. It was decided that I should be the +first of the dynasty of the emperors of Pellucidar. + +We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, and poison +pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which provided the virus, and +it was they who mined the iron ore, and fashioned the swords under +Perry’s direction. Rapidly the fever spread from one tribe to another +until representatives from nations so far distant that the Sarians had +never even heard of them came in to take the oath of allegiance which +we required, and to learn the art of making the new weapons and using +them. + +We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of the +federation, and the movement had reached colossal proportions before +the Mahars discovered it. The first intimation they had was when three +of their great slave caravans were annihilated in rapid succession. +They could not comprehend that the lower orders had suddenly developed +a power which rendered them really formidable. + +In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our Sarians took a +number of Sagoth prisoners, and among them were two who had been +members of the guards within the building where we had been confined at +Phutra. They told us that the Mahars were frantic with rage when they +discovered what had taken place in the cellars of the buildings. The +Sagoths knew that something very terrible had befallen their masters, +but the Mahars had been most careful to see that no inkling of the true +nature of their vital affliction reached beyond their own race. How +long it would take for the race to become extinct it was impossible +even to guess; but that this must eventually happen seemed inevitable. + +The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of any one of +us alive, and at the same time had threatened to inflict the direst +punishment upon whomever should harm us. The Sagoths could not +understand these seemingly paradoxical instructions, though their +purpose was quite evident to me. The Mahars wanted the Great Secret, +and they knew that we alone could deliver it to them. + +Perry’s experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the fashioning +of rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we had hoped—there was a +whole lot about these two arts which Perry didn’t know. We were both +assured that the solution of these problems would advance the cause of +civilization within Pellucidar thousands of years at a single stroke. +Then there were various other arts and sciences which we wished to +introduce, but our combined knowledge of them did not embrace the +mechanical details which alone could render them of commercial, or +practical value. + +“David,” said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to produce +gunpowder that would even burn, “one of us must return to the outer +world and bring back the information we lack. Here we have all the +labor and materials for reproducing anything that ever has been +produced above—what we lack is knowledge. Let us go back and get that +knowledge in the shape of books—then this world will indeed be at our +feet.” + +And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, which +still lay upon the edge of the forest at the point where we had first +penetrated to the surface of the inner world. Dian would not listen to +any arrangement for my going which did not include her, and I was not +sorry that she wished to accompany me, for I wanted her to see my +world, and I wanted my world to see her. + +With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, which +Perry soon had hoisted into position with its nose pointed back toward +the outer crust. He went over all the machinery carefully. He +replenished the air tanks, and manufactured oil for the engine. At last +everything was ready, and we were about to set out when our pickets, a +long, thin line of which had surrounded our camp at all times, reported +that a great body of what appeared to be Sagoths and Mahars were +approaching from the direction of Phutra. + +Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to witness the first +clash between two fair-sized armies of the opposing races of +Pellucidar. I realized that this was to mark the historic beginning of +a mighty struggle for possession of a world, and as the first emperor +of Pellucidar I felt that it was not alone my duty, but my right, to be +in the thick of that momentous struggle. + +As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many Mahars with +the Sagoth troops—an indication of the vast importance which the +dominant race placed upon the outcome of this campaign, for it was not +customary with them to take active part in the sorties which their +creatures made for slaves—the only form of warfare which they waged +upon the lower orders. + +Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to view the +prospector. I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians on the right of our +battle line. Dacor took the left, while I commanded the center. Behind +us I stationed a sufficient reserve under one of Ghak’s head men. The +Sagoths advanced steadily with menacing spears, and I let them come +until they were within easy bowshot before I gave the word to fire. + +At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front ranks of the +gorilla-men crumpled to the ground; but those behind charged over the +prostrate forms of their comrades in a wild, mad rush to be upon us +with their spears. A second volley stopped them for an instant, and +then my reserve sprang through the openings in the firing line to +engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy spears of the Sagoths +were no match for the swords of the Sarian and Amozite, who turned the +spear thrusts aside with their shields and leaped to close quarters +with their lighter, handier weapons. + +Ghak took his archers along the enemy’s flank, and while the swordsmen +engaged them in front, he poured volley after volley into their +unprotected left. The Mahars did little real fighting, and were more in +the way than otherwise, though occasionally one of them would fasten +its powerful jaw upon the arm or leg of a Sarian. + +The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I led our men +in upon the Sagoth’s right with naked swords they were already so +demoralized that they turned and fled before us. We pursued them for +some time, taking many prisoners and recovering nearly a hundred +slaves, among whom was Hooja the Sly One. + +He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his own land; +but that his life had been spared in hope that through him the Mahars +would learn the whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak and I were +inclined to think that the Sly One had been guiding this expedition to +the land of Sari, where he thought that the book might be found in +Perry’s possession; but we had no proof of this and so we took him in +and treated him as one of us, although none liked him. And how he +rewarded my generosity you will presently learn. + +There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so fearful were +our own people of them that they would not approach them unless +completely covered from the sight of the reptiles by a piece of skin. +Even Dian shared the popular superstition regarding the evil effects of +exposure to the eyes of angry Mahars, and though I laughed at her fears +I was willing enough to humor them if it would relieve her apprehension +in any degree, and so she sat apart from the prospector, near which the +Mahars had been chained, while Perry and I again inspected every +portion of the mechanism. + +At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to one of the +men without to fetch Dian. It happened that Hooja stood quite close to +the doorway of the prospector, so that it was he who, without my +knowledge, went to bring her; but how he succeeded in accomplishing the +fiendish thing he did, I cannot guess, unless there were others in the +plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, since all my people were loyal +to me and would have made short work of Hooja had he suggested the +heartless scheme, even had he had time to acquaint another with it. It +was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it was the result +of sudden impulse, aided by a number of, to Hooja, fortuitous +circumstances occurring at precisely the right moment. + +All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the prospector, +still wrapped from head to toe in the skin of an enormous cave lion +which covered her since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into camp. +He deposited his burden in the seat beside me. I was all ready to get +under way. The good-byes had been said. Perry had grasped my hand in +the last, long farewell. I closed and barred the outer and inner doors, +took my seat again at the driving mechanism, and pulled the starting +lever. + +As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our first trial of +the iron monster, there was a frightful roaring beneath us—the giant +frame trembled and vibrated—there was a rush of sound as the loose +earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner and outer +jackets to be deposited in our wake. Once more the thing was off. + +But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my seat by the +sudden lurching of the prospector. At first I did not realize what had +happened, but presently it dawned upon me that just before entering the +crust the towering body had fallen through its supporting scaffolding, +and that instead of entering the ground vertically we were plunging +into it at a different angle. Where it would bring us out upon the +upper crust I could not even conjecture. And then I turned to note the +effect of this strange experience upon Dian. She still sat shrouded in +the great skin. + +“Come, come,” I cried, laughing, “come out of your shell. No Mahar eyes +can reach you here,” and I leaned over and snatched the lion skin from +her. And then I shrank back upon my seat in utter horror. + +The thing beneath the skin was not Dian—it was a hideous Mahar. +Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja had played upon me, and the +purpose of it. Rid of me, forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would +be at his mercy. Frantically I tore at the steering wheel in an effort +to turn the prospector back toward Pellucidar; but, as on that other +occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair. + +It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of that journey. +It varied but little from the former one which had brought us from the +outer to the inner world. Because of the angle at which we had entered +the ground the trip required nearly a day longer, and brought me out +here upon the sand of the Sahara instead of in the United States as I +had hoped. + +For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. I dared +not leave the prospector for fear I should never be able to find it +again—the shifting sands of the desert would soon cover it, and then my +only hope of returning to my Dian and her Pellucidar would be gone +forever. + +That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, for how +may I know upon what part of Pellucidar my return journey may +terminate—and how, without a north or south or an east or a west may I +hope ever to find my way across that vast world to the tiny spot where +my lost love lies grieving for me? + +That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the goat-skin tent +upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. The next day he took me out to +see the prospector—it was precisely as he had described it. So huge was +it that it could have been brought to this inaccessible part of the +world by no means of transportation that existed there—it could only +have come in the way that David Innes said it came—up through the crust +of the earth from the inner world of Pellucidar. + +I spent a week with him, and then, abandoning my lion hunt, returned +directly to the coast and hurried to London where I purchased a great +quantity of stuff which he wished to take back to Pellucidar with him. +There were books, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, cameras, chemicals, +telephones, telegraph instruments, wire, tools and more books—books +upon every subject under the sun. He said he wanted a library with +which they could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth century in the +Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I got it for him. + +I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied them to the +end of the railroad; but from here I was recalled to America upon +important business. However, I was able to employ a very trustworthy +man to take charge of the caravan—the same guide, in fact, who had +accompanied me on the previous trip into the Sahara—and after writing a +long letter to Innes in which I gave him my American address, I saw the +expedition head south. + +Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five hundred +miles of double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. I had it packed +on a special reel at his suggestion, as it was his idea that he could +fasten one end here before he left and by paying it out through the end +of the prospector lay a telegraph line between the outer and inner +worlds. In my letter I told him to be sure to mark the terminus of the +line very plainly with a high cairn, in case I was not able to reach +him before he set out, so that I might easily find and communicate with +him should he be so fortunate as to reach Pellucidar. + +I received several letters from him after I returned to America—in fact +he took advantage of every northward-passing caravan to drop me word of +some sort. His last letter was written the day before he intended to +depart. Here it is. + +MY DEAR FRIEND: + + +Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. That is if +the Arabs don’t get me. They have been very nasty of late. I don’t know +the cause, but on two occasions they have threatened my life. One, more +friendly than the rest, told me today that they intended attacking me +tonight. It would be unfortunate should anything of that sort happen +now that I am so nearly ready to depart. + +However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the hour +approaches, the slenderer my chances for success appear. + +Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north for me, so +good-bye, and God bless you for your kindness to me. + +The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand to the south—he +thinks it is the party coming to murder me, and he doesn’t want to be +found with me. So good-bye again. + +Yours, +DAVID INNES. + + +A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, headed for +the spot where I had left Innes. My first disappointment was when I +discovered that my old guide had died within a few weeks of my return, +nor could I find any member of my former party who could lead me to the +same spot. + +For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing countless +desert sheiks in the hope that at last I might find one who had heard +of Innes and his wonderful iron mole. Constantly my eyes scanned the +blinding waste of sand for the rocky cairn beneath which I was to find +the wires leading to Pellucidar—but always was I unsuccessful. + +And always do these awful questions harass me when I think of David +Innes and his strange adventures. + +Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? +Or, did he again turn the nose of his iron monster toward the inner +world? Did he reach it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of the +great crust? And if he did come again to Pellucidar was it to break +through into the bottom of one of her great island seas, or among some +savage race far, far from the land of his heart’s desire? + +Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, at +the end of two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost cairn? I wonder. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 123 *** diff --git a/123-h/123-h.htm b/123-h/123-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf760ad --- /dev/null +++ b/123-h/123-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6413 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of At the Earth’s Core, by Edgar Rice Burroughs</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 123 ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>At the Earth’s Core</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap00">PROLOG</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. A STRANGE WORLD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. A CHANGE OF MASTERS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. SLAVES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. THE BEGINNING OF HORROR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. FREEDOM</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. THE MAHAR TEMPLE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. THE FACE OF DEATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. PHUTRA AGAIN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. FOUR DEAD MAHARS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. PURSUIT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE SLY ONE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE GARDEN OF EDEN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. BACK TO EARTH</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a>PROLOG</h2> + +<p> +In the first place please bear in mind that I do not expect you to believe this +story. Nor could you wonder had you witnessed a recent experience of mine when, +in the armor of blissful and stupendous ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of +it to a Fellow of the Royal Geological Society on the occasion of my last trip +to London. +</p> + +<p> +You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no less a heinous +crime than the purloining of the Crown Jewels from the Tower, or putting poison +in the coffee of His Majesty the King. +</p> + +<p> +The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I was half +through!—it is all that saved him from exploding—and my dreams of an Honorary +Fellowship, gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame faded into the thin, +cold air of his arctic atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the learned Fellow of +the Royal Geological Society, had you and he heard it from the lips of the man +who told it to me. Had you seen, as I did, the fire of truth in those gray +eyes; had you felt the ring of sincerity in that quiet voice; had you realized +the pathos of it all—you, too, would believe. You would not have needed the +final ocular proof that I had—the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature which he +had brought back with him from the inner world. +</p> + +<p> +I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the rim of the +great Sahara Desert. He was standing before a goat-skin tent amidst a clump of +date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by was an Arab douar of some eight or ten +tents. +</p> + +<p> +I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted of a dozen +children of the desert—I was the only “white” man. As we approached the little +clump of verdure I saw the man come from his tent and with hand-shaded eyes +peer intently at us. At sight of me he advanced rapidly to meet us. +</p> + +<p> +“A white man!” he cried. “May the good Lord be praised! I have been watching +you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS time there would be a white man. +Tell me the date. What year is it?” +</p> + +<p> +And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck full in the +face, so that he was compelled to grasp my stirrup leather for support. +</p> + +<p> +“It cannot be!” he cried after a moment. “It cannot be! Tell me that you are +mistaken, or that you are but joking.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am telling you the truth, my friend,” I replied. “Why should I deceive a +stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a matter as the date?” +</p> + +<p> +For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head. +</p> + +<p> +“Ten years!” he murmured, at last. “Ten years, and I thought that at the most +it could be scarce more than one!” That night he told me his story—the story +that I give you here as nearly in his own words as I can recall them. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>I<br/> +TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES </h2> + +<p> +I was born in Connecticut about thirty years ago. My name is David Innes. My +father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen he died. All his property +was to be mine when I had attained my majority—provided that I had devoted the +two years intervening in close application to the great business I was to +inherit. +</p> + +<p> +I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent—not because of the +inheritance, but because I loved and honored my father. For six months I toiled +in the mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to know every minute +detail of the business. +</p> + +<p> +Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow who had devoted +the better part of a long life to the perfection of a mechanical subterranean +prospector. As relaxation he studied paleontology. I looked over his plans, +listened to his arguments, inspected his working model—and then, convinced, I +advanced the funds necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. +</p> + +<p> +I shall not go into the details of its construction—it lies out there in the +desert now—about two miles from here. Tomorrow you may care to ride out and see +it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred feet long, and jointed so that it +may turn and twist through solid rock if need be. At one end is a mighty +revolving drill operated by an engine which Perry said generated more power to +the cubic inch than any other engine did to the cubic foot. I remember that he +used to claim that that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy—we +were going to make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our +first secret trial—but Perry never returned from that trial trip, and I only +after ten years. +</p> + +<p> +I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous occasion upon +which we were to test the practicality of that wondrous invention. It was near +midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry had constructed his +“iron mole” as he was wont to call the thing. The great nose rested upon the +bare earth of the floor. We passed through the doors into the outer jacket, +secured them, and then passing on into the cabin, which contained the +controlling mechanism within the inner tube, switched on the electric lights. +</p> + +<p> +Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the life-giving +chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air to replace that which we +consumed in breathing; to his instruments for recording temperatures, speed, +distance, and for examining the materials through which we were to pass. +</p> + +<p> +He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which transmitted +its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose of his strange craft. +</p> + +<p> +Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon transverse +bars that we would be upright whether the craft were ploughing her way downward +into the bowels of the earth, or running horizontally along some great seam of +coal, or rising vertically toward the surface again. +</p> + +<p> +At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a moment we were +silent, and then the old man’s hand grasped the starting lever. There was a +frightful roaring beneath us—the giant frame trembled and vibrated—there was a +rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through the hollow space between the +inner and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. We were off! +</p> + +<p> +The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full minute neither +of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial desperation of the drowning +man to the handrails of our swinging seats. Then Perry glanced at the +thermometer. +</p> + +<p> +“Gad!” he cried, “it cannot be possible—quick! What does the distance meter +read?” +</p> + +<p> +That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as I turned to +take a reading from the former I could see Perry muttering. +</p> + +<p> +“Ten degrees rise—it cannot be possible!” and then I saw him tug frantically +upon the steering wheel. +</p> + +<p> +As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated Perry’s +evident excitement, and my heart sank within me. But when I spoke I hid the +fear which haunted me. “It will be seven hundred feet, Perry,” I said, “by the +time you can turn her into the horizontal.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better lend me a hand then, my boy,” he replied, “for I cannot budge her +out of the vertical alone. God give that our combined strength may be equal to +the task, for else we are lost.” +</p> + +<p> +I wormed my way to the old man’s side with never a doubt but that the great +wheel would yield on the instant to the power of my young and vigorous muscles. +Nor was my belief mere vanity, for always had my physique been the envy and +despair of my fellows. And for that very reason it had waxed even greater than +nature had intended, since my natural pride in my great strength had led me to +care for and develop my body and my muscles by every means within my power. +What with boxing, football, and baseball, I had been in training since +childhood. +</p> + +<p> +And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of the huge iron rim; +but though I threw every ounce of my strength into it, my best effort was as +unavailing as Perry’s had been—the thing would not budge—the grim, insensate, +horrible thing that was holding us upon the straight road to death! +</p> + +<p> +At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word returned to my +seat. There was no need for words—at least none that I could imagine, unless +Perry desired to pray. And I was quite sure that he would, for he never left an +opportunity neglected where he might sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when he +arose in the morning, he prayed before he ate, he prayed when he had finished +eating, and before he went to bed at night he prayed again. In between he often +found excuses to pray even when the provocation seemed far-fetched to my +worldly eyes—now that he was about to die I felt positive that I should witness +a perfect orgy of prayer—if one may allude with such a simile to so solemn an +act. +</p> + +<p> +But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring him in the face +Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. From his lips there flowed—not +prayer—but a clear and limpid stream of undiluted profanity, and it was all +directed at that quietly stubborn piece of unyielding mechanism. +</p> + +<p> +“I should think, Perry,” I chided, “that a man of your professed religiousness +would rather be at his prayers than cursing in the presence of imminent death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Death!” he cried. “Death is it that appalls you? That is nothing by comparison +with the loss the world must suffer. Why, David within this iron cylinder we +have demonstrated possibilities that science has scarce dreamed. We have +harnessed a new principle, and with it animated a piece of steel with the power +of ten thousand men. That two lives will be snuffed out is nothing to the world +calamity that entombs in the bowels of the earth the discoveries that I have +made and proved in the successful construction of the thing that is now +carrying us farther and farther toward the eternal central fires.” +</p> + +<p> +I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more concerned with our own +immediate future than with any problematic loss which the world might be about +to suffer. The world was at least ignorant of its bereavement, while to me it +was a real and terrible actuality. +</p> + +<p> +“What can we do?” I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath the mask of a low and +level voice. +</p> + +<p> +“We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere tanks are +empty,” replied Perry, “or we may continue on with the slight hope that we may +later sufficiently deflect the prospector from the vertical to carry us along +the arc of a great circle which must eventually return us to the surface. If we +succeed in so doing before we reach the higher internal temperature we may even +yet survive. There would seem to me to be about one chance in several million +that we shall succeed—otherwise we shall die more quickly but no more surely +than as though we sat supinely waiting for the torture of a slow and horrible +death.” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. While we were talking +the mighty iron mole had bored its way over a mile into the rock of the earth’s +crust. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us continue on, then,” I replied. “It should soon be over at this rate. +You never intimated that the speed of this thing would be so high, Perry. +Didn’t you know it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he answered. “I could not figure the speed exactly, for I had no +instrument for measuring the mighty power of my generator. I reasoned, however, +that we should make about five hundred yards an hour.” +</p> + +<p> +“And we are making seven miles an hour,” I concluded for him, as I sat with my +eyes upon the distance meter. “How thick is the Earth’s crust, Perry?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there are geologists,” was +his answer. “One estimates it thirty miles, because the internal heat, +increasing at the rate of about one degree to each sixty to seventy feet depth, +would be sufficient to fuse the most refractory substances at that distance +beneath the surface. Another finds that the phenomena of precession and +nutation require that the earth, if not entirely solid, must at least have a +shell not less than eight hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. So there +you are. You may take your choice.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if it should prove solid?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“It will be all the same to us in the end, David,” replied Perry. “At the best +our fuel will suffice to carry us but three or four days, while our atmosphere +cannot last to exceed three. Neither, then, is sufficient to bear us in safety +through eight thousand miles of rock to the antipodes.” +</p> + +<p> +“If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a final stop between +six and seven hundred miles beneath the earth’s surface; but during the last +hundred and fifty miles of our journey we shall be corpses. Am I correct?” I +asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce believe that either +of us realizes the real terrors of our position. I feel that I should be +reduced to panic; but yet I am not. I imagine that the shock has been so great +as to partially stun our sensibilities.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising with less rapidity. +It was now but 140 degrees, although we had penetrated to a depth of nearly +four miles. I told Perry, and he smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“We have shattered one theory at least,” was his only comment, and then he +returned to his self-assumed occupation of fluently cursing the steering wheel. +I once heard a pirate swear, but his best efforts would have seemed like those +of a tyro alongside of Perry’s masterful and scientific imprecations. +</p> + +<p> +Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well have essayed to +swing the earth itself. At my suggestion Perry stopped the generator, and as we +came to rest I again threw all my strength into a supreme effort to move the +thing even a hair’s breadth—but the results were as barren as when we had been +traveling at top speed. +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. Perry pulled it +toward him, and once again we were plunging downward toward eternity at the +rate of seven miles an hour. I sat with my eyes glued to the thermometer and +the distance meter. The mercury was rising very slowly now, though even at 145 +degrees it was almost unbearable within the narrow confines of our metal +prison. +</p> + +<p> +About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this unfortunate journey, we +had bored to a depth of eighty-four miles, at which point the mercury +registered 153 degrees F. +</p> + +<p> +Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager food he sustained +his optimism I could not conjecture. From cursing he had turned to singing—I +felt that the strain had at last affected his mind. For several hours we had +not spoken except as he asked me for the readings of the instruments from time +to time, and I announced them. My thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I +recalled numerous acts of my past life which I should have been glad to have +had a few more years to live down. There was the affair in the Latin Commons at +Andover when Calhoun and I had put gunpowder in the stove—and nearly killed one +of the masters. And then—but what was the use, I was about to die and atone for +all these things and several more. Already the heat was sufficient to give me a +foretaste of the hereafter. A few more degrees and I felt that I should lose +consciousness. +</p> + +<p> +“What are the readings now, David?” Perry’s voice broke in upon my somber +reflections. +</p> + +<p> +“Ninety miles and 153 degrees,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Gad, but we’ve knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory into a cocked hat!” he +cried gleefully. +</p> + +<p> +“Precious lot of good it will do us,” I growled back. +</p> + +<p> +“But my boy,” he continued, “doesn’t that temperature reading mean anything to +you? Why it hasn’t gone up in six miles. Think of it, son!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I’m thinking of it,” I answered; “but what difference will it make when +our air supply is exhausted whether the temperature is 153 degrees or 153,000? +We’ll be just as dead, and no one will know the difference, anyhow.” But I must +admit that for some unaccountable reason the stationary temperature did renew +my waning hope. What I hoped for I could not have explained, nor did I try. The +very fact, as Perry took pains to explain, of the blasting of several very +exact and learned scientific hypotheses made it apparent that we could not know +what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, and so we might continue to +hope for the best, at least until we were dead—when hope would no longer be +essential to our happiness. It was very good, and logical reasoning, and so I +embraced it. +</p> + +<p> +At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 DEGREES! When I +announced it Perry reached over and hugged me. +</p> + +<p> +From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to drop until it became +as uncomfortably cold as it had been unbearably hot before. At the depth of two +hundred and forty miles our nostrils were assailed by almost overpowering +ammonia fumes, and the temperature had dropped to TEN BELOW ZERO! We suffered +nearly two hours of this intense and bitter cold, until at about two hundred +and forty-five miles from the surface of the earth we entered a stratum of +solid ice, when the mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees. During the next three +hours we passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging into another +series of ammonia-impregnated strata, where the mercury again fell to ten +degrees below zero. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at last we were nearing +the molten interior of the earth. At four hundred miles the temperature had +reached 153 degrees. Feverishly I watched the thermometer. Slowly it rose. +Perry had ceased singing and was at last praying. +</p> + +<p> +Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually increasing heat +seemed to our distorted imaginations much greater than it really was. For +another hour I saw that pitiless column of mercury rise and rise until at four +hundred and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. Now it was that we began to hang +upon those readings in almost breathless anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum temperature above the +ice stratum. Would it stop at this point again, or would it continue its +merciless climb? We knew that there was no hope, and yet with the persistence +of life itself we continued to hope against practical certainty. +</p> + +<p> +Already the air tanks were at low ebb—there was barely enough of the precious +gases to sustain us for another twelve hours. But would we be alive to know or +care? It seemed incredible. +</p> + +<p> +At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading. +</p> + +<p> +“Perry!” I shouted. “Perry, man! She’s going down! She’s going down! She’s 152 +degrees again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gad!” he cried. “What can it mean? Can the earth be cold at the center?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Perry,” I answered; “but thank God, if I am to die it shall not +be by fire—that is all that I have feared. I can face the thought of any death +but that.” +</p> + +<p> +Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had seven miles from +the surface of the earth, and then of a sudden the realization broke upon us +that death was very near. Perry was the first to discover it. I saw him fussing +with the valves that regulate the air supply. And at the same time I +experienced difficulty in breathing. My head felt dizzy—my limbs heavy. +</p> + +<p> +I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and sat erect again. +Then he turned toward me. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye, David,” he said. “I guess this is the end,” and then he smiled and +closed his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you,” I answered, smiling back at him. But I +fought off that awful lethargy. I was very young—I did not want to die. +</p> + +<p> +For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death that surrounded me +upon all sides. At first I found that by climbing high into the framework above +me I could find more of the precious life-giving elements, and for a while +these sustained me. It must have been an hour after Perry had succumbed that I +at last came to the realization that I could no longer carry on this unequal +struggle against the inevitable. +</p> + +<p> +With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned mechanically toward the +distance meter. It stood at exactly five hundred miles from the earth’s +surface—and then of a sudden the huge thing that bore us came to a stop. The +rattle of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket ceased. The wild racing of +the giant drill betokened that it was running loose in AIR—and then another +truth flashed upon me. The point of the prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it +dawned on me that since passing through the ice strata it had been above. We +had turned in the ice and sped upward toward the earth’s crust. Thank God! We +were safe! +</p> + +<p> +I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were to have been taken +during the passage of the prospector through the earth, and my fondest hopes +were realized—a flood of fresh air was pouring into the iron cabin. The +reaction left me in a state of collapse, and I lost consciousness. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>II<br/> +A STRANGE WORLD </h2> + +<p> +I was unconscious little more than an instant, for as I lunged forward from the +crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floor of +the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. +</p> + +<p> +My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought that upon the +very threshold of salvation he might be dead. Tearing open his shirt I placed +my ear to his breast. I could have cried with relief—his heart was beating +quite regularly. +</p> + +<p> +At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly across his +forehead and face several times. In a moment I was rewarded by the raising of +his lids. For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite uncomprehending. Then his +scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he sat up sniffing the air with an +expression of wonderment upon his face. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, David,” he cried at last, “it’s air, as sure as I live. Why—why what does +it mean? Where in the world are we? What has happened?” +</p> + +<p> +“It means that we’re back at the surface all right, Perry,” I cried; “but +where, I don’t know. I haven’t opened her up yet. Been too busy reviving you. +Lord, man, but you had a close squeak!” +</p> + +<p> +“You say we’re back at the surface, David? How can that be? How long have I +been unconscious?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don’t you recall the sudden whirling +of our seats? After that the drill was above you instead of below. We didn’t +notice it at the time; but I recall it now.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, David? That is not +possible. The prospector cannot turn unless its nose is deflected from the +outside—by some external force or resistance—the steering wheel within would +have moved in response. The steering wheel has not budged, David, since we +started. You know that.” +</p> + +<p> +I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in pure air, and copious +volumes of it pouring into the cabin. +</p> + +<p> +“We couldn’t have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know as well as you,” I +replied; “but the fact remains that we did, for here we are this minute at the +surface of the earth again, and I am going out to see just where.” +</p> + +<p> +“Better wait till morning, David—it must be midnight now.” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced at the chronometer. +</p> + +<p> +“Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, so it must be midnight. +Nevertheless I am going to have a look at the blessed sky that I had given up +all hope of ever seeing again,” and so saying I lifted the bars from the inner +door, and swung it open. There was quite a quantity of loose material in the +jacket, and this I had to remove with a shovel to get at the opposite door in +the outer shell. +</p> + +<p> +In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock to the floor of the +cabin to expose the door beyond. Perry was directly behind me as I threw it +open. The upper half was above the surface of the ground. With an expression of +surprise I turned and looked at Perry—it was broad daylight without! +</p> + +<p> +“Something seems to have gone wrong either with our calculations or the +chronometer,” I said. Perry shook his head—there was a strange expression in +his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s have a look beyond that door, David,” he cried. +</p> + +<p> +Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a landscape at once +weird and beautiful. Before us a low and level shore stretched down to a silent +sea. As far as the eye could reach the surface of the water was dotted with +countless tiny isles—some of towering, barren, granitic rock—others resplendent +in gorgeous trappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred with the +magnificent splendor of vivid blooms. +</p> + +<p> +Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns +intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest. Huge +creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense under-brush overgrew +a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. Upon the outer verge we could see +the same splendid coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands, +but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. +</p> + +<p> +And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays out of a cloudless sky. +</p> + +<p> +“Where on earth can we be?” I asked, turning to Perry. +</p> + +<p> +For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with bowed head, buried in +deep thought. But at last he spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” he said, “I am not so sure that we are ON earth.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean, Perry?” I cried. “Do you think that we are dead, and this is +heaven?” He smiled, and turning, pointing to the nose of the prospector +protruding from the ground at our backs. +</p> + +<p> +“But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed come to the country +beyond the Styx. The prospector renders that theory untenable—it, certainly, +could never have gone to heaven. However I am willing to concede that we +actually may be in another world from that which we have always known. If we +are not ON earth, there is every reason to believe that we may be IN it.” +</p> + +<p> +“We may have quartered through the earth’s crust and come out upon some +tropical island of the West Indies,” I suggested. Again Perry shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us wait and see, David,” he replied, “and in the meantime suppose we do a +bit of exploring up and down the coast—we may find a native who can enlighten +us.” +</p> + +<p> +As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly across the water. +Evidently he was wrestling with a mighty problem. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” he said abruptly, “do you perceive anything unusual about the +horizon?” +</p> + +<p> +As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the strangeness of the +landscape that had haunted me from the first with an illusive suggestion of the +bizarre and unnatural—THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as the eye could reach out +the sea continued and upon its bosom floated tiny islands, those in the +distance reduced to mere specks; but ever beyond them was the sea, until the +impression became quite real that one was LOOKING UP at the most distant point +that the eyes could fathom—the distance was lost in the distance. That was +all—there was no clear-cut horizontal line marking the dip of the globe below +the line of vision. +</p> + +<p> +“A great light is commencing to break on me,” continued Perry, taking out his +watch. “I believe that I have partially solved the riddle. It is now two +o’clock. When we emerged from the prospector the sun was directly above us. +Where is it now?” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the center of the +heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely noticed it before. Fully thrice the size +of the sun I had known throughout my life, and apparently so near that the +sight of it carried the conviction that one might almost reach up and touch it. +</p> + +<p> +“My God, Perry, where are we?” I exclaimed. “This thing is beginning to get on +my nerves.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think that I may state quite positively, David,” he commenced, “that we +are—” but he got no further. From behind us in the vicinity of the prospector +there came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever had fallen upon my +ears. With one accord we turned to discover the author of that fearsome noise. +</p> + +<p> +Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the sight that met my +eyes would quite entirely have banished it. Emerging from the forest was a +colossal beast which closely resembled a bear. It was fully as large as the +largest elephant and with great forepaws armed with huge claws. Its nose, or +snout, depended nearly a foot below its lower jaw, much after the manner of a +rudimentary trunk. The giant body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair. +</p> + +<p> +Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling trot. I turned to +Perry to suggest that it might be wise to seek other surroundings—the idea had +evidently occurred to Perry previously, for he was already a hundred paces +away, and with each second his prodigious bounds increased the distance. I had +never guessed what latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed. +</p> + +<p> +I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest which ran out +toward the sea not far from where we had been standing, and as the mighty +creature, the sight of which had galvanized him into such remarkable action, +was forging steadily toward me, I set off after Perry, though at a somewhat +more decorous pace. It was evident that the massive beast pursuing us was not +built for speed, so all that I considered necessary was to gain the trees +sufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safety of some great +branch before it came up. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at Perry’s frantic capers +as he essayed to gain the safety of the lower branches of the trees he now had +reached. The stems were bare for a distance of some fifteen feet—at least on +those trees which Perry attempted to ascend, for the suggestion of safety +carried by the larger of the forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. +A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back to +the ground once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over his +shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken shrieks +that awoke the echoes of the grim forest. +</p> + +<p> +At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of one’s wrist, and +when I reached the trees he was racing madly up it, hand over hand. He had +almost reached the lowest branch of the tree from which the creeper depended +when the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell sprawling at my feet. +</p> + +<p> +The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was already too close +to us for comfort. Seizing Perry by the shoulder I dragged him to his feet, and +rushing to a smaller tree—one that he could easily encircle with his arms and +legs—I boosted him as far up as I could, and then left him to his fate, for a +glance over my shoulder revealed the awful beast almost upon me. +</p> + +<p> +It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous bulk +rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with the agility of my young +muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of its way and run completely behind +it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit. +</p> + +<p> +The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged in the +branches of a tree a few paces from that in which Perry had at last found a +haven. +</p> + +<p> +Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, and so did +Perry. He was praying—raising his voice in thanksgiving at our deliverance—and +had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that the thing couldn’t climb a +tree when without warning it reared up beneath him on its enormous tail and +hind feet, and reached those fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon +which he crouched. +</p> + +<p> +The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry’s scream of fright, and he +came near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws beneath him, so precipitate +was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. It was with a deep sigh +of relief that I saw him gain a higher branch in safety. +</p> + +<p> +And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror. Grasping the +tree’s stem with his powerful paws he dragged down with all the great weight of +his huge bulk and all the irresistible force of those mighty muscles. Slowly, +but surely, the stem began to bend toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws +upward as the tree leaned more and more from the perpendicular. Perry clung +chattering in a panic of terror. Higher and higher into the bending and swaying +tree he clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward the +ground. +</p> + +<p> +I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. The use that +he was putting them to was precisely that for which nature had intended them. +The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed that mighty carcass entire +trees must be stripped of their foliage. The reason for its attacking us might +easily be accounted for on the supposition of an ugly disposition such as that +which the fierce and stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. But these were +later reflections. At the moment I was too frantic with apprehension on Perry’s +behalf to consider aught other than a means to save him from the death that +loomed so close. +</p> + +<p> +Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open, I dropped from +my leafy sanctuary intent only on distracting the thing’s attention from Perry +long enough to enable the old man to gain the safety of a larger tree. There +were many close by which not even the terrific strength of that titanic monster +could bend. +</p> + +<p> +As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the tangled mass that +matted the jungle-like floor of the forest and, leaping unnoticed behind the +shaggy back, dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked like magic. From +the previous slowness of the beast I had been led to look for no such marvelous +agility as he now displayed. Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all +fours and at the same time swung his great, wicked tail with a force that would +have broken every bone in my body had it struck me; but, fortunately, I had +turned to flee at the very instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering +back. +</p> + +<p> +As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running along the edge of +the forest rather than making for the open beach. In a moment I was knee-deep +in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing behind me was gaining rapidly as I +floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate myself. +</p> + +<p> +A fallen log gave me an instant’s advantage, for climbing upon it I leaped to +another a few paces farther on, and in this way was able to keep clear of the +mush that carpeted the surrounding ground. But the zigzag course that this +necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap upon me that my pursuer was +steadily gaining upon me. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, piercing barks—much +the sound that a pack of wolves raises when in full cry. Involuntarily I +glanced backward to discover the origin of this new and menacing note with the +result that I missed my footing and went sprawling once more upon my face in +the deep muck. +</p> + +<p> +My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I must feel the weight +of one of his terrible paws before I could rise, but to my surprise the blow +did not fall upon me. The howling and snapping and barking of the new element +which had been infused into the melee now seemed centered quite close behind +me, and as I raised myself upon my hands and glanced around I saw what it was +that had distracted the DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called, +from my trail. +</p> + +<p> +It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like creatures—wild dogs they +seemed—that rushed growling and snapping in upon it from all sides, so that +they sank their white fangs into the slow brute and were away again before it +could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping tail. +</p> + +<p> +But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. Chattering and +gibbering through the lower branches of the trees came a company of manlike +creatures evidently urging on the dog pack. They were to all appearances +strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their skins were very +black, and their features much like those of the more pronounced Negroid type +except that the head receded more rapidly above the eyes, leaving little or no +forehead. Their arms were rather longer and their legs shorter in proportion to +the torso than in man, and later I noticed that their great toes protruded at +right angles from their feet—because of their arboreal habits, I presume. +Behind them trailed long, slender tails which they used in climbing quite as +much as they did either their hands or feet. +</p> + +<p> +I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that the wolf-dogs were +holding the dyryth at bay. At sight of me several of the savage creatures left +off worrying the great brute to come slinking with bared fangs toward me, and +as I turned to run toward the trees again to seek safety among the lower +branches, I saw a number of the man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage +of the nearest tree. +</p> + +<p> +Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, but at least +there was a doubt as to the reception these grotesque parodies on humanity +would accord me, while there was none as to the fate which awaited me beneath +the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers. +</p> + +<p> +And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath that which held +the man-things and take refuge in another farther on; but the wolf-dogs were +very close behind me—so close that I had despaired of escaping them, when one +of the creatures in the tree above swung down headforemost, his tail looped +about a great limb, and grasping me beneath my armpits swung me in safety up +among his fellows. +</p> + +<p> +There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement and curiosity. They +picked at my clothing, my hair, and my flesh. They turned me about to see if I +had a tail, and when they discovered that I was not so equipped they fell into +roars of laughter. Their teeth were very large and white and even, except for +the upper canines which were a trifle longer than the others—protruding just a +bit when the mouth was closed. +</p> + +<p> +When they had examined me for a few moments one of them discovered that my +clothing was not a part of me, with the result that garment by garment they +tore it from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter. Apelike, they essayed to +don the apparel themselves, but their ingenuity was not sufficient to the task +and so they gave it up. +</p> + +<p> +In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of Perry, but +nowhere about could I see him, although the clump of trees in which he had +first taken refuge was in full view. I was much exercised by fear that +something had befallen him, and though I called his name aloud several times +there was no response. +</p> + +<p> +Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures threw it to the ground, +and catching me, one on either side, by an arm, started off at a most +terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have I experienced such a journey +before or since—even now I oftentimes awake from a deep sleep haunted by the +horrid remembrance of that awful experience. +</p> + +<p> +From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, while the +cold sweat stood upon my brow as I glimpsed the depths beneath, into which a +single misstep on the part of either of my bearers would hurl me. As they bore +me along, my mind was occupied with a thousand bewildering thoughts. What had +become of Perry? Would I ever see him again? What were the intentions of these +half-human things into whose hands I had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the +same world into which I had been born? No! It could not be. But yet where else? +I had not left that earth—of that I was sure. Still neither could I reconcile +the things which I had seen to a belief that I was still in the world of my +birth. With a sigh I gave it up. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>III<br/> +A CHANGE OF MASTERS </h2> + +<p> +We must have traveled several miles through the dark and dismal wood when we +came suddenly upon a dense village built high among the branches of the trees. +As we approached it my escort broke into wild shouting which was immediately +answered from within, and a moment later a swarm of creatures of the same +strange race as those who had captured me poured out to meet us. Again I was +the center of a wildly chattering horde. I was pulled this way and that. +Pinched, pounded, and thumped until I was black and blue, yet I do not think +that their treatment was dictated by either cruelty or malice—I was a +curiosity, a freak, a new plaything, and their childish minds required the +added evidence of all their senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Presently they dragged me within the village, which consisted of several +hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves supported upon the branches of the +trees. +</p> + +<p> +Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, were dead branches +and the trunks of small trees which connected the huts upon one tree to those +within adjoining trees; the whole network of huts and pathways forming an +almost solid flooring a good fifty feet above the ground. +</p> + +<p> +I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges between the +trees, but later when I saw the motley aggregation of half-savage beasts which +they kept within their village I realized the necessity for the pathways. There +were a number of the same vicious wolf-dogs which we had left worrying the +dyryth, and many goatlike animals whose distended udders explained the reasons +for their presence. +</p> + +<p> +My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; then two of the +creatures squatted down before the entrance—to prevent my escape, doubtless. +Though where I should have escaped to I certainly had not the remotest +conception. I had no more than entered the dark shadows of the interior than +there fell upon my ears the tones of a familiar voice, in prayer. +</p> + +<p> +“Perry!” I cried. “Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you are safe.” +</p> + +<p> +“David! Can it be possible that you escaped?” And the old man stumbled toward +me and threw his arms about me. +</p> + +<p> +He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been seized by a number +of the ape-creatures and borne through the tree tops to their village. His +captors had been as inquisitive as to his strange clothing as had mine, with +the same result. As we looked at each other we could not help but laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“With a tail, David,” remarked Perry, “you would make a very handsome ape.” +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe we can borrow a couple,” I rejoined. “They seem to be quite the thing +this season. I wonder what the creatures intend doing with us, Perry. They +don’t seem really savage. What do you suppose they can be? You were about to +tell me where we are when that great hairy frigate bore down upon us—have you +really any idea at all?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, David,” he replied, “I know precisely where we are. We have made a +magnificent discovery, my boy! We have proved that the earth is hollow. We have +passed entirely through its crust to the inner world.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perry, you are mad!” +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our prospector bore us +through the crust beneath our outer world. At that point it reached the center +of gravity of the five-hundred-mile-thick crust. Up to that point we had been +descending—direction is, of course, merely relative. Then at the moment that +our seats revolved—the thing that made you believe that we had turned about and +were speeding upward—we passed the center of gravity and, though we did not +alter the direction of our progress, yet we were in reality moving +upward—toward the surface of the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and +flora which we have seen convince you that you are not in the world of your +birth? And the horizon—could it present the strange aspects which we both noted +unless we were indeed standing upon the inside surface of a sphere?” +</p> + +<p> +“But the sun, Perry!” I urged. “How in the world can the sun shine through five +hundred miles of solid crust?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It is another sun—an +entirely different sun—that casts its eternal noonday effulgence upon the face +of the inner world. Look at it now, David—if you can see it from the doorway of +this hut—and you will see that it is still in the exact center of the heavens. +We have been here for many hours—yet it is still noon. +</p> + +<p> +“And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a nebulous mass. It +cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. At length a thin crust of solid matter +formed upon its outer surface—a sort of shell; but within it was partially +molten matter and highly expanded gases. As it continued to cool, what +happened? Centrifugal force hurled the particles of the nebulous center toward +the crust as rapidly as they approached a solid state. You have seen the same +principle practically applied in the modern cream separator. Presently there +was only a small super-heated core of gaseous matter remaining within a huge +vacant interior left by the contraction of the cooling gases. The equal +attraction of the solid crust from all directions maintained this luminous core +in the exact center of the hollow globe. What remains of it is the sun you saw +today—a relatively tiny thing at the exact center of the earth. Equally to +every part of this inner world it diffuses its perpetual noonday light and +torrid heat. +</p> + +<p> +“This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal life long +ages after life appeared upon the outer crust, but that the same agencies were +at work here is evident from the similar forms of both animal and vegetable +creation which we have already seen. Take the great beast which attacked us, +for example. Unquestionably a counterpart of the Megatherium of the +post-Pliocene period of the outer crust, whose fossilized skeleton has been +found in South America.” +</p> + +<p> +“But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?” I urged. “Surely they have no +counterpart in the earth’s history.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who can tell?” he rejoined. “They may constitute the link between ape and man, +all traces of which have been swallowed by the countless convulsions which have +racked the outer crust, or they may be merely the result of evolution along +slightly different lines—either is quite possible.” +</p> + +<p> +Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of several of our captors +before the entrance of the hut. Two of them entered and dragged us forth. The +perilous pathways and the surrounding trees were filled with the black ape-men, +their females, and their young. There was not an ornament, a weapon, or a +garment among the lot. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite low in the scale of creation,” commented Perry. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though,” I replied. “Now what do +you suppose they intend doing with us?” +</p> + +<p> +We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip to the village we +were seized by a couple of the powerful creatures and whirled away through the +tree tops, while about us and in our wake raced a chattering, jabbering, +grinning horde of sleek, black ape-things. +</p> + +<p> +Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased beating as we +plunged toward instant death among the tangled deadwood beneath. But on both +occasions those lithe, powerful tails reached out and found sustaining +branches, nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp upon me. In fact, +it seemed that the incidents were of no greater moment to them than would be +the stubbing of one’s toe at a street crossing in the outer world—they but +laughed uproariously and sped on with me. +</p> + +<p> +For some time they continued through the forest—how long I could not guess for +I was learning, what was later borne very forcefully to my mind, that time +ceases to be a factor the moment means for measuring it cease to exist. Our +watches were gone, and we were living beneath a stationary sun. Already I was +puzzled to compute the period of time which had elapsed since we broke through +the crust of the inner world. It might be hours, or it might be days—who in the +world could tell where it was always noon! By the sun, no time had elapsed—but +my judgment told me that we must have been several hours in this strange world. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a level plain. A short +distance before us rose a few low, rocky hills. Toward these our captors urged +us, and after a short time led us through a narrow pass into a tiny, circular +valley. Here they got down to work, and we were soon convinced that if we were +not to die to make a Roman holiday, we were to die for some other purpose. The +attitude of our captors altered immediately as they entered the natural arena +within the rocky hills. Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity marked their +bestial faces—bared fangs menaced us. +</p> + +<p> +We were placed in the center of the amphitheater—the thousand creatures forming +a great ring about us. Then a wolf-dog was brought—HYAENODON Perry called +it—and turned loose with us inside the circle. The thing’s body was as large as +that of a full-grown mastiff, its legs were short and powerful, and its jaws +broad and strong. Dark, shaggy hair covered its back and sides, while its +breast and belly were quite white. As it slunk toward us it presented a most +formidable aspect with its upcurled lips baring its mighty fangs. +</p> + +<p> +Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a small stone. At my +movement the beast veered off a bit and commenced circling us. Evidently it had +been a target for stones before. The ape-things were dancing up and down urging +the brute on with savage cries, until at last, seeing that I did not throw, he +charged us. +</p> + +<p> +At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball teams. My speed +and control must both have been above the ordinary, for I made such a record +during my senior year at college that overtures were made to me in behalf of +one of the great major-league teams; but in the tightest pitch that ever had +confronted me in the past I had never been in such need for control as now. +</p> + +<p> +As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles under absolute +command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling toward me at terrific speed. +And then I let go, with every ounce of my weight and muscle and science in back +of that throw. The stone caught the hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, +and sent him bowling over upon his back. +</p> + +<p> +At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from the circle of +spectators, so that for a moment I thought that the upsetting of their champion +was the cause; but in this I soon saw that I was mistaken. As I looked, the +ape-things broke in all directions toward the surrounding hills, and then I +distinguished the real cause of their perturbation. Behind them, streaming +through the pass which leads into the valley, came a swarm of hairy +men—gorilla-like creatures armed with spears and hatchets, and bearing long, +oval shields. Like demons they set upon the ape-things, and before them the +hyaenodon, which had now regained its senses and its feet, fled howling with +fright. Past us swept the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy ones +accord us more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its +former occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to have +authority among them directed that we be brought with them. +</p> + +<p> +When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great plain we saw a +caravan of men and women—human beings like ourselves—and for the first time +hope and relief filled my heart, until I could have cried out in the exuberance +of my happiness. It is true that they were a half-naked, wild-appearing +aggregation; but they at least were fashioned along the same lines as +ourselves—there was nothing grotesque or horrible about them as about the other +creatures in this strange, weird world. +</p> + +<p> +But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we discovered that the +poor wretches were chained neck to neck in a long line, and that the +gorilla-men were their guards. With little ceremony Perry and I were chained at +the end of the line, and without further ado the interrupted march was resumed. +</p> + +<p> +Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now the tiresome +monotony of the long march across the sun-baked plain brought on all the +agonies consequent to a long-denied sleep. On and on we stumbled beneath that +hateful noonday sun. If we fell we were prodded with a sharp point. Our +companions in chains did not stumble. They strode along proudly erect. +Occasionally they would exchange words with one another in a monosyllabic +language. They were a noble-appearing race with well-formed heads and perfect +physiques. The men were heavily bearded, tall and muscular; the women, smaller +and more gracefully molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into loose +knots upon their heads. The features of both sexes were well proportioned—there +was not a face among them that would have been called even plain if judged by +earthly standards. They wore no ornaments; but this I later learned was due to +the fact that their captors had stripped them of everything of value. As +garmenture the women possessed a single robe of some light-colored, spotted +hide, rather similar in appearance to a leopard’s skin. This they wore either +supported entirely about the waist by a leathern thong, so that it hung +partially below the knee on one side, or possibly looped gracefully across one +shoulder. Their feet were shod with skin sandals. The men wore loin cloths of +the hide of some shaggy beast, long ends of which depended before and behind +nearly to the ground. In some instances these ends were finished with the +strong talons of the beast from which the hides had been taken. +</p> + +<p> +Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like men, were rather +lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so they were indeed mighty creatures. +Their arms and legs were proportioned more in conformity with human standards, +but their entire bodies were covered with shaggy, brown hair, and their faces +were quite as brutal as those of the few stuffed specimens of the gorilla which +I had seen in the museums at home. +</p> + +<p> +Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head above and back +of the ears. In this respect they were not one whit less human than we. They +were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth which reached to the knees. +Beneath this they wore only a loin cloth of the same material, while their feet +were shod with thick hide of some mammoth creature of this inner world. +</p> + +<p> +Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metal—silver +predominating—and on their tunics were sewn the heads of tiny reptiles in odd +and rather artistic designs. They talked among themselves as they marched along +on either side of us, but in a language which I perceived differed from that +employed by our fellow prisoners. When they addressed the latter they used what +appeared to be a third language, and which I later learned is a mongrel tongue +rather analogous to the Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie. +</p> + +<p> +How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of us were asleep +much of the time for hours before a halt was called—then we dropped in our +tracks. I say “for hours,” but how may one measure time where time does not +exist! When our march commenced the sun stood at zenith. When we halted our +shadows still pointed toward nadir. Whether an instant or an eternity of +earthly time elapsed who may say. That march may have occupied nine years and +eleven months of the ten years that I spent in the inner world, or it may have +been accomplished in the fraction of a second—I cannot tell. But this I do know +that since you have told me that ten years have elapsed since I departed from +this earth I have lost all respect for time—I am commencing to doubt that such +a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>IV<br/> +DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL </h2> + +<p> +When our guards aroused us from sleep we were much refreshed. They gave us +food. Strips of dried meat it was, but it put new life and strength into us, so +that now we too marched with high-held heads, and took noble strides. At least +I did, for I was young and proud; but poor Perry hated walking. On earth I had +often seen him call a cab to travel a square—he was paying for it now, and his +old legs wobbled so that I put my arm about him and half carried him through +the balance of those frightful marches. +</p> + +<p> +The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the level plain +through mighty mountains of virgin granite. The tropical verdure of the +lowlands was replaced by hardier vegetation, but even here the effects of +constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity of the trees and the +profusion of foliage and blooms. Crystal streams roared through their rocky +channels, fed by the perpetual snows which we could see far above us. Above the +snowcapped heights hung masses of heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, +which evidently served the double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and +protecting them from the direct rays of the sun. +</p> + +<p> +By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard language in which our +guards addressed us, as well as making good headway in the rather charming +tongue of our co-captives. Directly ahead of me in the chain gang was a young +woman. Three feet of chain linked us together in a forced companionship which +I, at least, soon rejoiced in. For I found her a willing teacher, and from her +I learned the language of her tribe, and much of the life and customs of the +inner world—at least that part of it with which she was familiar. +</p> + +<p> +She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she belonged to +the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs above the Darel Az, or shallow +sea. +</p> + +<p> +“How came you here?” I asked her. +</p> + +<p> +“I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she answered, as though that was +explanation quite sufficient. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is Jubal the Ugly One?” I asked. “And why did you run away from him?” +</p> + +<p> +She looked at me in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Why DOES a woman run away from a man?” she answered my question with another. +</p> + +<p> +“They do not, where I come from,” I replied. “Sometimes they run after them.” +</p> + +<p> +But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the fact that I was +of another world. She was quite as positive that creation was originated solely +to produce her own kind and the world she lived in as are many of the outer +world. +</p> + +<p> +“But Jubal,” I insisted. “Tell me about him, and why you ran away to be chained +by the neck and scourged across the face of a world.” +</p> + +<p> +“Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father’s house. It was the head +of a mighty tandor. It remained there and no greater trophy was placed beside +it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One would come and take me as his mate. None +other so powerful wished me, or they would have slain a mightier beast and thus +have won me from Jubal. My father is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a +sadok tossed him, and never again had he the full use of his right arm. My +brother, Dacor the Strong One, had gone to the land of Sari to steal a mate for +himself. Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal +the Ugly One, and I ran away and hid among the hills that skirt the land of +Amoz. And there these Sagoths found me and made me captive.” +</p> + +<p> +“What will they do with you?” I asked. “Where are they taking us?” +</p> + +<p> +Again she looked her incredulity. +</p> + +<p> +“I can almost believe that you are of another world,” she said, “for otherwise +such ignorance were inexplicable. Do you really mean that you do not know that +the Sagoths are the creatures of the Mahars—the mighty Mahars who think they +own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon its surface, or creeps or +burrows beneath, or swims within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its +air? Next you will be telling me that you never before heard of the Mahars!” +</p> + +<p> +I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there was no alternative +if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a clean breast of my pitiful ignorance +as to the mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But she did her very best to +enlighten me, though much that she said was as Greek would have been to her. +She described the Mahars largely by comparisons. In this way they were like +unto thipdars, in that to the hairless lidi. +</p> + +<p> +About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had wings, and +webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground; could swim under water +for great distances, and were very, very wise. The Sagoths were their weapons +of offense and defense, and the races like herself were their hands and +feet—they were the slaves and servants who did all the manual labor. The Mahars +were the heads—the brains—of the inner world. I longed to see this wondrous +race of supermen. +</p> + +<p> +Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we occasionally did, +though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he would join in the +conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just ahead of +Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the +conversation occasionally. Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the +Beautiful. It didn’t take half an eye to see that he had developed a bad case; +but the girl appeared totally oblivious to his thinly veiled advances. Did I +say thinly veiled? There is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have +forgotten which, who indicate their preference for the lady of their affections +by banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By comparison with this method +Hooja’s lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. At first it caused me to +blush violently although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in +other less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, and Hamburg. +</p> + +<p> +But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she considered +herself as entirely above and apart from her present surroundings and company. +She talked with me, and with Perry, and with the taciturn Ghak because we were +respectful; but she couldn’t even see Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, +and that made him furious. He tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl +up ahead of him in the slave gang, but the fellow only poked him with his spear +and told him that he had selected the girl for his own property—that he would +buy her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, was +the city of our destination. +</p> + +<p> +After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt sea, upon +whose bosom swam countless horrid things. Seal-like creatures there were with +long necks stretching ten and more feet above their enormous bodies and whose +snake heads were split with gaping mouths bristling with countless fangs. There +were huge tortoises too, paddling about among these other reptiles, which Perry +said were Plesiosaurs of the Lias. I didn’t question his veracity—they might +have been most anything. +</p> + +<p> +Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that the other, +and more fearsome reptiles, which occasionally rose from the deep to do battle +with them, were azdyryths, or sea-dyryths—Perry called them Ichthyosaurs. They +resembled a whale with the head of an alligator. +</p> + +<p> +I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at school—about all that +remained was an impression of horror that the illustrations of restored +prehistoric monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined belief that any man +with a pig’s shank and a vivid imagination could “restore” most any sort of +paleolithic monster he saw fit, and take rank as a first class paleontologist. +But when I saw these sleek, shiny carcasses shimmering in the sunlight as they +emerged from the ocean, shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll +from their sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided hither and +thither, now upon the surface, now half submerged; as I saw them meet, +open-mouthed, hissing and snorting, in their titanic and interminable warring I +realized how futile is man’s poor, weak imagination by comparison with Nature’s +incredible genius. +</p> + +<p> +And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so himself. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside that awful +sea. “David, I used to teach geology, and I thought that I believed what I +taught; but now I see that I did not believe it—that it is impossible for man +to believe such things as these unless he sees them with his own eyes. We take +things for granted, perhaps, because we are told them over and over again, and +have no way of disproving them—like religions, for example; but we don’t +believe them, we only think we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you +will find that the geologists and paleontologists will be the first to set you +down a liar, for they know that no such creatures as they restore ever existed. +It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an equally imaginary epoch—but +now? poof!” +</p> + +<p> +At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack chain to permit +him to worm himself back quite close to Dian. We were all standing, and as he +edged near the girl she turned her back upon him in such a truly earthly +feminine manner that I could scarce repress a smile; but it was a short-lived +smile for on the instant the Sly One’s hand fell upon the girl’s bare arm, +jerking her roughly toward him. +</p> + +<p> +I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics which prevailed +within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need the appealing look which the girl +shot to me from her magnificent eyes to influence my subsequent act. What the +Sly One’s intention was I paused not to inquire; but instead, before he could +lay hold of her with his other hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw +that felled him in his tracks. +</p> + +<p> +A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and the Sagoths +who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I later learned, because I had +championed the girl, but for the neat and, to them, astounding method by which +I had bested Hooja. +</p> + +<p> +And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering eyes, and then she +dropped her head, her face half averted, and a delicate flush suffused her +cheek. For a moment she stood thus in silence, and then her head went high, and +she turned her back upon me as she had upon Hooja. Some of the prisoners +laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak the Hairy One go very black as he looked at +me searchingly. And what I could see of Dian’s cheek went suddenly from red to +white. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that in some way +I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could not prevail upon her to talk with me +that I might learn wherein I had erred—in fact I might quite as well have been +addressing a sphinx for all the attention I got. At last my own foolish pride +stepped in and prevented my making any further attempts, and thus a +companionship that without my realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me +was cut off. Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not +renew his advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture near me. +</p> + +<p> +Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became a perfect nightmare +of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed became the realization that the girl’s +friendship had meant so much to me, the more I came to miss it; and the more +impregnable the barrier of silly pride. But I was very young and would not ask +Ghak for the explanation which I was sure he could give, and that might have +made everything all right again. +</p> + +<p> +On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice me—when her +eyes wandered in my direction she looked either over my head or directly +through me. At last I became desperate, and determined to swallow my +self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me how I had offended, and how I might +make reparation. I made up my mind that I should do this at the next halt. We +were approaching another range of mountains at the time, and when we reached +them, instead of winding across them through some high-flung pass we entered a +mighty natural tunnel—a series of labyrinthine grottoes, dark as Erebus. +</p> + +<p> +The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we had seen no +artificial light or sign of fire since we had entered Pellucidar. In a land of +perpetual noon there is no need of light above ground, yet I marveled that they +had no means of lighting their way through these dark, subterranean passages. +So we crept along at a snail’s pace, with much stumbling and falling—the guards +keeping up a singsong chant ahead of us, interspersed with certain high notes +which I found always indicated rough places and turns. +</p> + +<p> +Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian until I could +see from the expression of her face how she was receiving my apologies. At last +a faint glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the tunnel, for which I for one +was devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden turn we emerged into the full light of +the noonday sun. +</p> + +<p> +But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a real +catastrophe—Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen other prisoners. The +guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to behold. Their +awesome, bestial faces were contorted in the most diabolical expressions, as +they accused each other of responsibility for the loss. Finally they fell upon +us, beating us with their spear shafts, and hatchets. They had already killed +two near the head of the line, and were like to have finished the balance of us +when their leader finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. Never in all my +life had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of bestial rage—I thanked God +that Dian had not been one of those left to endure it. +</p> + +<p> +Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each alternate one had +been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja was gone. Ghak remained. What could it +mean? How had it been accomplished? The commander of the guards was +investigating. Soon he discovered that the rude locks which had held the +neckbands in place had been deftly picked. +</p> + +<p> +“Hooja the Sly One,” murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. “He has +taken the girl that you would not have,” he continued, glancing at me. +</p> + +<p> +“That I would not have!” I cried. “What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +He looked at me closely for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +“I have doubted your story that you are from another world,” he said at last, +“but yet upon no other grounds could your ignorance of the ways of Pellucidar +be explained. Do you really mean that you do not know that you offended the +Beautiful One, and how?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Ghak,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes between another man +and the woman the other man would have, the woman belongs to the victor. Dian +the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have claimed her or released her. Had +you taken her hand, it would have indicated your desire to make her your mate, +and had you raised her hand above her head and then dropped it, it would have +meant that you did not wish her for a mate and that you released her from all +obligation to you. By doing neither you have put upon her the greatest affront +that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No man will take her as +mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall have overcome you in combat, +and men do not choose slave women as their mates—at least not the men of +Pellucidar.” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not know, Ghak,” I cried. “I did not know. Not for all Pellucidar would +I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, or look, or act of mine. I do not +want her as my slave. I do not want her as my—” but here I stopped. The vision +of that sweet and innocent face floated before me amidst the soft mists of +imagination, and where I had on the second believed that I clung only to the +memory of a gentle friendship I had lost, yet now it seemed that it would have +been disloyalty to her to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as +my mate. I had not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a strange, +cruel world. Even now I did not think that I loved her. +</p> + +<p> +I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than in my words, +for presently he laid his hand upon my shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“Man of another world,” he said, “I believe you. Lips may lie, but when the +heart speaks through the eyes it tells only the truth. Your heart has spoken to +me. I know now that you meant no affront to Dian the Beautiful. She is not of +my tribe; but her mother is my sister. She does not know it—her mother was +stolen by Dian’s father who came with many others of the tribe of Amoz to +battle with us for our women—the most beautiful women of Pellucidar. Then was +her father king of Amoz, and her mother was daughter of the king of Sari—to +whose power I, his son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, though +her father is no longer king since the sadok tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One +wrested his kingship from him. Because of her lineage the wrong you did her was +greatly magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never forgive you.” +</p> + +<p> +I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the girl from +the bondage and ignominy I had unwittingly placed upon her. +</p> + +<p> +“If ever you find her, yes,” he answered. “Merely to raise her hand above her +head and drop it in the presence of others is sufficient to release her; but +how may you ever find her, you who are doomed to a life of slavery yourself in +the buried city of Phutra?” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there no escape?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him,” replied Ghak. “But +there are no more dark places on the way to Phutra, and once there it is not so +easy—the Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from Phutra there are the +thipdars—they would find you, and then—” the Hairy One shuddered. “No, you will +never escape the Mahars.” +</p> + +<p> +It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought about it; but he only +shrugged his shoulders and continued a longwinded prayer he had been at for +some time. He was wont to say that the only redeeming feature of our captivity +was the ample time it gave him for the improvisation of prayers—it was becoming +an obsession with him. The Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of +declaiming throughout entire marches. One of them asked him what he was +saying—to whom he was talking. The question gave me an idea, so I answered +quickly before Perry could say anything. +</p> + +<p> +“Do not interrupt him,” I said. “He is a very holy man in the world from which +we come. He is speaking to spirits which you cannot see—do not interrupt him or +they will spring out of the air upon you and rend you limb from limb—like +that,” and I jumped toward the great brute with a loud “Boo!” that sent him +stumbling backward. +</p> + +<p> +I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital out of +Perry’s harmless mania I wanted to make it while the making was prime. It +worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with marked respect during the +balance of the journey, and then passed the word along to their masters, the +Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The entrance to +it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, which guarded a flight of steps +leading to the buried city. Sagoths were on guard here as well as at a hundred +or more other towers scattered about over a large plain. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>V<br/> +SLAVES </h2> + +<p> +As we descended the broad staircase which led to the main avenue of Phutra I +caught my first sight of the dominant race of the inner world. Involuntarily I +shrank back as one of the creatures approached to inspect us. A more hideous +thing it would be impossible to imagine. The all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar +are great reptiles, some six or eight feet in length, with long narrow heads +and great round eyes. Their beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, +and the backs of their huge, lizard bodies are serrated into bony ridges from +their necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are equipped with three +webbed toes, while from the fore feet membranous wings, which are attached to +their bodies just in front of the hind legs, protrude at an angle of 45 degrees +toward the rear, ending in sharp points several feet above their bodies. +</p> + +<p> +I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. The old man was +gazing at the horrid creature with wide astonished eyes. When it passed on, he +turned to me. +</p> + +<p> +“A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David,” he said, “but, gad, how +enormous! The largest remains we ever have discovered have never indicated a +size greater than that attained by an ordinary crow.” +</p> + +<p> +As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw many thousand of +the creatures coming and going upon their daily duties. They paid but little +attention to us. Phutra is laid out underground with a regularity that +indicates remarkable engineering skill. It is hewn from solid limestone strata. +The streets are broad and of a uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals +tubes pierce the roof of this underground city, and by means of lenses and +reflectors transmit the sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would +otherwise be Cimmerian darkness. In like manner air is introduced. +</p> + +<p> +Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, where one of the +Sagoths who had formed our guard explained to a Maharan official the +circumstances surrounding our capture. The method of communication between +these two was remarkable in that no spoken words were exchanged. They employed +a species of sign language. As I was to learn later, the Mahars have no ears, +not any spoken language. Among themselves they communicate by means of what +Perry says must be a sixth sense which is cognizant of a fourth dimension. +</p> + +<p> +I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain it to me upon +numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, but he said no, that it was not +telepathy since they could only communicate when in each others’ presence, nor +could they talk with the Sagoths or the other inhabitants of Pellucidar by the +same method they used to converse with one another. +</p> + +<p> +“What they do,” said Perry, “is to project their thoughts into the fourth +dimension, when they become appreciable to the sixth sense of their listener. +Do I make myself quite clear?” +</p> + +<p> +“You do not, Perry,” I replied. He shook his head in despair, and returned to +his work. They had set us to carrying a great accumulation of Maharan +literature from one apartment to another, and there arranging it upon shelves. +I suggested to Perry that we were in the public library of Phutra, but later, +as he commenced to discover the key to their written language, he assured me +that we were handling the ancient archives of the race. +</p> + +<p> +During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian the Beautiful. I was, +of course, glad that she had escaped the Mahars, and the fate that had been +suggested by the Sagoth who had threatened to purchase her upon our arrival at +Phutra. I often wondered if the little party of fugitives had been overtaken by +the guards who had returned to search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but +that I should have been more contented to know that Dian was here in Phutra, +than to think of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. Ghak, Perry, and I +often talked together of possible escape, but the Sarian was so steeped in his +lifelong belief that no one could escape from the Mahars except by a miracle, +that he was not much aid to us—his attitude was of one who waits for the +miracle to come to him. +</p> + +<p> +At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps of iron which we +discovered among some rubbish in the cells where we slept, for we were +permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action within the limits of the +building to which we had been assigned. So great were the number of slaves who +waited upon the inhabitants of Phutra that none of us was apt to be +overburdened with work, nor were our masters unkind to us. +</p> + +<p> +We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and then Perry +conceived the idea of making bows and arrows—weapons apparently unknown within +Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these I found it easier to steal from the +walls of the outer guardroom of the building. +</p> + +<p> +We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving Phutra +when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture the escaped prisoners returned +with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian and two others had eluded them. +It so happened that Hooja was confined in the same building with us. He told +Ghak that he had not seen Dian or the others after releasing them within the +dark grotto. What had become of them he had not the faintest conception—they +might be wandering yet, lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not dead from +starvation. +</p> + +<p> +I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at this time, +I imagine, came the first realization that my affection for the girl might be +prompted by more than friendship. During my waking hours she was constantly the +subject of my thoughts, and when I slept her dear face haunted my dreams. More +than ever was I determined to escape the Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +“Perry,” I confided to the old man, “if I have to search every inch of this +diminutive world I am going to find Dian the Beautiful and right the wrong I +unintentionally did her.” That was the excuse I made for Perry’s benefit. +</p> + +<p> +“Diminutive world!” he scoffed. “You don’t know what you are talking about, my +boy,” and then he showed me a map of Pellucidar which he had recently +discovered among the manuscript he was arranging. +</p> + +<p> +“Look,” he cried, pointing to it, “this is evidently water, and all this land. +Do you notice the general configuration of the two areas? Where the oceans are +upon the outer crust, is land here. These relatively small areas of ocean +follow the general lines of the continents of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +“We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; then the inside +diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 miles, and the superficial area +165,480,000 square miles. Three-fourths of this is land. Think of it! A land +area of 124,110,000 square miles! Our own world contains but 53,000,000 square +miles of land, the balance of its surface being covered by water. Just as we +often compare nations by their relative land areas, so if we compare these two +worlds in the same way we have the strange anomaly of a larger world within a +smaller one! +</p> + +<p> +“Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your Dian? Without stars, or +moon, or changing sun how could you find her even though you knew where she +might be found?” +</p> + +<p> +The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; but I found that it +left me all the more determined to attempt it. +</p> + +<p> +“If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it,” I suggested. +</p> + +<p> +Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Ghak,” I said, “we are determined to escape from this bondage. Will you +accompany us?” +</p> + +<p> +“They will set the thipdars upon us,” he said, “and then we shall be killed; +but—” he hesitated—“I would take the chance if I thought that I might possibly +escape and return to my own people.” +</p> + +<p> +“Could you find your way back to your own land?” asked Perry. “And could you +aid David in his search for Dian?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how,” persisted Perry, “could you travel to strange country without +heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?” +</p> + +<p> +Ghak didn’t know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a compass, but he +assured us that you might blindfold any man of Pellucidar and carry him to the +farthermost corner of the world, yet he would be able to come directly to his +own home again by the shortest route. He seemed surprised to think that we +found anything wonderful in it. Perry said it must be some sort of homing +instinct such as is possessed by certain breeds of earthly pigeons. I didn’t +know, of course, but it gave me an idea. +</p> + +<p> +“Then Dian could have found her way directly to her own people?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” replied Ghak, “unless some mighty beast of prey killed her.” +</p> + +<p> +I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry and Ghak +counseled waiting for some propitious accident which would insure us some small +degree of success. I didn’t see what accident could befall a whole community in +a land of perpetual daylight where the inhabitants had no fixed habits of +sleep. Why, I am sure that some of the Mahars never sleep, while others may, at +long intervals, crawl into the dark recesses beneath their dwellings and curl +up in protracted slumber. Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for three +years he will make up all his lost sleep in a long year’s snooze. That may be +all true, but I never saw but three of them asleep, and it was the sight of +these three that gave me a suggestion for our means of escape. +</p> + +<p> +I had been searching about far below the levels that we slaves were supposed to +frequent—possibly fifty feet beneath the main floor of the building—among a +network of corridors and apartments, when I came suddenly upon three Mahars +curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I thought they were dead, but later +their regular breathing convinced me of my error. Like a flash the thought came +to me of the marvelous opportunity these sleeping reptiles offered as a means +of eluding the watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth guards. +</p> + +<p> +Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, to me, meaningless +hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. To my surprise he was horrified. +</p> + +<p> +“It would be murder, David,” he cried. +</p> + +<p> +“Murder to kill a reptilian monster?” I asked in astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +“Here they are not monsters, David,” he replied. “Here they are the dominant +race—we are the ‘monsters’—the lower orders. In Pellucidar evolution has +progressed along different lines than upon the outer earth. These terrible +convulsions of nature time and time again wiped out the existing species—but +for this fact some monster of the Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own +world. We see here what might well have occurred in our own history had +conditions been what they have been here. +</p> + +<p> +“Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. Here man has +but reached a stage analogous to the Stone Age of our own world’s history, but +for countless millions of years these reptiles have been progressing. Possibly +it is the sixth sense which I am sure they possess that has given them an +advantage over the other and more frightfully armed of their fellows; but this +we may never know. They look upon us as we look upon the beasts of our fields, +and I learn from their written records that other races of Mahars feed upon +men—they keep them in great droves, as we keep cattle. They breed them most +carefully, and when they are quite fat, they kill and eat them.” +</p> + +<p> +I shuddered. +</p> + +<p> +“What is there horrible about it, David?” the old man asked. “They understand +us no better than we understand the lower animals of our own world. Why, I have +come across here very learned discussions of the question as to whether gilaks, +that is men, have any means of communication. One writer claims that we do not +even reason—that our every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race +of Pellucidar, David, have not yet learned that men converse among themselves, +or reason. Because we do not converse as they do it is beyond them to imagine +that we converse at all. It is thus that we reason in relation to the brutes of +our own world. They know that the Sagoths have a spoken language, but they +cannot comprehend it, or how it manifests itself, since they have no auditory +apparatus. They believe that the motions of the lips alone convey the meaning. +That the Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible to them. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, David,” he concluded, “it would entail murder to carry out your plan.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well then, Perry.” I replied. “I shall become a murderer.” +</p> + +<p> +He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for some reason which +was not at the time clear to me insisted upon a very careful description of the +apartments and corridors I had just explored. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder, David,” he said at length, “as you are determined to carry out your +wild scheme, if we could not accomplish something of very real and lasting +benefit for the human race of Pellucidar at the same time. Listen, I have +learned much of a most surprising nature from these archives of the Mahars. +That you may appreciate my plan I shall briefly outline the history of the +race. +</p> + +<p> +“Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, little by little, +assumed the mastery. For other ages no noticeable change took place in the race +of Mahars. It continued to progress under the intelligent and beneficent rule +of the ladies. Science took vast strides. This was especially true of the +sciences which we know as biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female +scientist announced the fact that she had discovered a method whereby eggs +might be fertilized by chemical means after they were laid—all true reptiles, +you know, are hatched from eggs. +</p> + +<p> +“What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased to exist—the race +was no longer dependent upon them. More ages elapsed until at the present time +we find a race consisting exclusively of females. But here is the point. The +secret of this chemical formula is kept by a single race of Mahars. It is in +the city of Phutra, and unless I am greatly in error I judge from your +description of the vaults through which you passed today that it lies hidden in +the cellar of this building. +</p> + +<p> +“For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. First, because upon +it depends the very life of the race of Mahars, and second, owing to the fact +that when it was public property as at first so many were experimenting with it +that the danger of over-population became very grave. +</p> + +<p> +“David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us this great secret +what will we not have accomplished for the human race within Pellucidar!” The +very thought of it fairly overpowered me. Why, we two would be the means of +placing the men of the inner world in their rightful place among created +things. Only the Sagoths would then stand between them and absolute supremacy, +and I was not quite sure but that the Sagoths owed all their power to the +greater intelligence of the Mahars—I could not believe that these gorilla-like +beasts were the mental superiors of the human race of Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Perry,” I exclaimed, “you and I may reclaim a whole world! Together we +can lead the races of men out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of +advancement and civilization. At one step we may carry them from the Age of +Stone to the twentieth century. It’s marvelous—absolutely marvelous just to +think about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“David,” said the old man, “I believe that God sent us here for just that +purpose—it shall be my life work to teach them His word—to lead them into the +light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and hands in the ways of +culture and civilization.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right, Perry,” I said, “and while you are teaching them to pray I’ll +be teaching them to fight, and between us we’ll make a race of men that will be +an honor to us both.” +</p> + +<p> +Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded our conversation, +and now he wanted to know what we were so excited about. Perry thought we had +best not tell him too much, and so I only explained that I had a plan for +escape. When I had outlined it to him, he seemed about as horror-struck as +Perry had been; but for a different reason. The Hairy One only considered the +horrible fate that would be ours were we discovered; but at last I prevailed +upon him to accept my plan as the only feasible one, and when I had assured him +that I would take all the responsibility for it were we captured, he accorded a +reluctant assent. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>VI<br/> +THE BEGINNING OF HORROR </h2> + +<p> +Within Pellucidar one time is as good as another. There were no nights to mask +our attempted escape. All must be done in broad daylight—all but the work I had +to do in the apartment beneath the building. So we determined to put our plan +to an immediate test lest the Mahars who made it possible should awake before I +reached them; but we were doomed to disappointment, for no sooner had we +reached the main floor of the building on our way to the pits beneath, than we +encountered hurrying bands of slaves being hastened under strong Sagoth guard +out of the edifice to the avenue beyond. +</p> + +<p> +Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of other slaves, and +the moment that we appeared we were pounced upon and hustled into the line of +marching humans. +</p> + +<p> +What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not know, but presently +through the line of captives ran the rumor that two escaped slaves had been +recaptured—a man and a woman—and that we were marching to witness their +punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth of the detachment that had pursued +and overtaken them. +</p> + +<p> +At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was sure that the two +were of those who escaped in the dark grotto with Hooja the Sly One, and that +Dian must be the woman. Ghak thought so too, as did Perry. +</p> + +<p> +“Is there naught that we may do to save her?” I asked Ghak. +</p> + +<p> +“Naught,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing unusual cruelty toward +us, as though we, too, had been implicated in the murder of their fellow. The +occasion was to serve as an object-lesson to all other slaves of the danger and +futility of attempted escape, and the fatal consequences of taking the life of +a superior being, and so I imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making +the entire proceeding as uncomfortable and painful to us as possible. +</p> + +<p> +They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets at the +least provocation, and at no provocation at all. It was a most uncomfortable +half-hour that we spent before we were finally herded through a low entrance +into a huge building the center of which was given up to a good-sized arena. +Benches surrounded this open space upon three sides, and along the fourth were +heaped huge bowlders which rose in receding tiers toward the roof. +</p> + +<p> +At first I couldn’t make out the purpose of this mighty pile of rock, unless it +were intended as a rough and picturesque background for the scenes which were +enacted in the arena before it, but presently, after the wooden benches had +been pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, I discovered the purpose of the +bowlders, for then the Mahars began to file into the enclosure. +</p> + +<p> +They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon the opposite side, +where, spreading their bat-like wings, they rose above the high wall of the +pit, settling down upon the bowlders above. These were the reserved seats, the +boxes of the elect. +</p> + +<p> +Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone is to them as plush +as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, blinking their hideous eyes, and +doubtless conversing with one another in their sixth-sense-fourth-dimension +language. +</p> + +<p> +For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from the others in no +feature that was appreciable to my earthly eyes, in fact all Mahars look alike +to me: but when she crossed the arena after the balance of her female subjects +had found their bowlders, she was preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, the +largest I ever had seen, and on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, +while behind came another score of Sagoth guardsmen. +</p> + +<p> +At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly apelike +agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose upon her wings with her two +frightful dragons close beside her, and settled down upon the largest bowlder +of them all in the exact center of that side of the amphitheater which is +reserved for the dominant race. Here she squatted, a most repulsive and +uninteresting queen; though doubtless quite as well assured of her beauty and +divine right to rule as the proudest monarch of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +And then the music started—music without sound! The Mahars cannot hear, so the +drums and fifes and horns of earthly bands are unknown among them. The “band” +consists of a score or more Mahars. It filed out in the center of the arena +where the creatures upon the rocks might see it, and there it performed for +fifteen or twenty minutes. +</p> + +<p> +Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their heads in a +regular succession of measured movements resulting in a cadence which evidently +pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence of our own instrumental music +pleases our ears. Sometimes the band took measured steps in unison to one side +or the other, or backward and again forward—it all seemed very silly and +meaningless to me, but at the end of the first piece the Mahars upon the rocks +showed the first indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by the +dominant race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up and down, and smote +their rocky perches with their mighty tails until the ground shook. Then the +band started another piece, and all was again as silent as the grave. That was +one great beauty about Mahar music—if you didn’t happen to like a piece that +was being played all you had to do was shut your eyes. +</p> + +<p> +When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and settled upon the +rocks above and behind the queen. Then the business of the day was on. A man +and woman were pushed into the arena by a couple of Sagoth guardsmen. I leaned +forward in my seat to scrutinize the female—hoping against hope that she might +prove to be another than Dian the Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a +while, and the sight of the great mass of raven hair piled high upon her head +filled me with alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to admit a huge, +shaggy, bull-like creature. +</p> + +<p> +“A Bos,” whispered Perry, excitedly. “His kind roamed the outer crust with the +cave bear and the mammoth ages and ages ago. We have been carried back a +million years, David, to the childhood of a planet—is it not wondrous?” +</p> + +<p> +But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, and my heart stood still in +dumb misery at the sight of her, nor had I any eyes for the wonders of natural +history. But for Perry and Ghak I should have leaped to the floor of the arena +and shared whatever fate lay in store for this priceless treasure of the Stone +Age. +</p> + +<p> +With the advent of the Bos—they call the thing a thag within Pellucidar—two +spears were tossed into the arena at the feet of the prisoners. It seemed to me +that a bean shooter would have been as effective against the mighty monster as +these pitiful weapons. +</p> + +<p> +As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the ground with the +strength of many earthly bulls, another door directly beneath us was opened, +and from it issued the most terrific roar that ever had fallen upon my outraged +ears. I could not at first see the beast from which emanated this fearsome +challenge, but the sound had the effect of bringing the two victims around with +a sudden start, and then I saw the girl’s face—she was not Dian! I could have +wept for relief. +</p> + +<p> +And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of that fearsome +sound creeping stealthily into view. It was a huge tiger—such as hunted the +great Bos through the jungles primeval when the world was young. In contour and +markings it was not unlike the noblest of the Bengals of our own world, but as +its dimensions were exaggerated to colossal proportions so too were its +colorings exaggerated. Its vivid yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites were +as eider down; its blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its coat +long and shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful animal there is no +gainsaying, but if its size and colors are magnified here within Pellucidar, so +is the ferocity of its disposition. It is not the occasional member of its +species that is a man hunter—all are man hunters; but they do not confine their +foraging to man alone, for there is no flesh or fish within Pellucidar that +they will not eat with relish in the constant efforts which they make to +furnish their huge carcasses with sufficient sustenance to maintain their +mighty thews. +</p> + +<p> +Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and advanced, and upon the +other tarag, the frightful, crept toward them with gaping mouth and dripping +fangs. +</p> + +<p> +The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. At the sound of +the roaring of the tiger the bull’s bellowing became a veritable frenzy of +rageful noise. Never in my life had I heard such an infernal din as the two +brutes made, and to think it was all lost upon the hideous reptiles for whom +the show was staged! +</p> + +<p> +The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from the other. The two +puny things standing between them seemed already lost, but at the very moment +that the beasts were upon them the man grasped his companion by the arm and +together they leaped to one side, while the frenzied creatures came together +like locomotives in collision. +</p> + +<p> +There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful ferocity +transcends the power of imagination or description. Time and again the colossal +bull tossed the enormous tiger high into the air, but each time that the huge +cat touched the ground he returned to the encounter with apparently +undiminished strength, and seemingly increased ire. +</p> + +<p> +For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with keeping out of the +way of the two creatures, but finally I saw them separate and each creep +stealthily toward one of the combatants. The tiger was now upon the bull’s +broad back, clinging to the huge neck with powerful fangs while its long, +strong talons ripped the heavy hide into shreds and ribbons. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with pain and rage, its +cloven hoofs widespread, its tail lashing viciously from side to side, and +then, in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening about the arena in frenzied +attempt to unseat its rending rider. It was with difficulty that the girl +avoided the first mad rush of the wounded animal. +</p> + +<p> +All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, until in desperation +it threw itself upon the ground, rolling over and over. A little of this so +disconcerted the tiger, knocking its breath from it I imagine, that it lost its +hold and then, quick as a cat, the great thag was up again and had buried those +mighty horns deep in the tarag’s abdomen, pinning him to the floor of the +arena. +</p> + +<p> +The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears were gone, and +naught but a few strips of ragged, bloody flesh remained upon the skull. Yet +through all the agony of that fearful punishment the thag still stood +motionless pinning down his adversary, and then the man leaped in, seeing that +the blind bull would be the least formidable enemy, and ran his spear through +the tarag’s heart. +</p> + +<p> +As the animal’s fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his gory, sightless +head, and with a horrid roar ran headlong across the arena. With great leaps +and bounds he came, straight toward the arena wall directly beneath where we +sat, and then accident carried him, in one of his mighty springs, completely +over the barrier into the midst of the slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. +Swinging his bloody horns from side to side the beast cut a wide swath before +him straight upward toward our seats. Before him slaves and gorilla-men fought +in mad stampede to escape the menace of the creature’s death agonies, for such +only could that frightful charge have been. +</p> + +<p> +Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for the exits, many of +which pierced the wall of the amphitheater behind us. Perry, Ghak, and I became +separated in the chaos which reigned for a few moments after the beast cleared +the wall of the arena, each intent upon saving his own hide. +</p> + +<p> +I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the fear mad mob that +were battling to escape. One would have thought that an entire herd of thags +was loose behind them, rather than a single blinded, dying beast; but such is +the effect of panic upon a crowd. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>VII<br/> +FREEDOM </h2> + +<p> +Once out of the direct path of the animal, fear of it left me, but another +emotion as quickly gripped me—hope of escape that the demoralized condition of +the guards made possible for the instant. +</p> + +<p> +I thought of Perry, and but for the hope that I might better encompass his +release if myself free I should have put the thought of freedom from me at +once. As it was I hastened on toward the right searching for an exit toward +which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found it—a low, narrow aperture +leading into a dark corridor. +</p> + +<p> +Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into the shadows of the +tunnel, feeling my way along through the gloom for some distance. The noises of +the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter until now all was as silent as +the tomb about me. Faint light filtered from above through occasional +ventilating and lighting tubes, but it was scarce sufficient to enable my human +eyes to cope with the darkness, and so I was forced to move with extreme care, +feeling my way along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside me. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my delight, I came upon a +flight of steps leading upward, at the top of which the brilliant light of the +noonday sun shone through an opening in the ground. +</p> + +<p> +Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel’s end, and peering out saw the +broad plain of Phutra before me. The numerous lofty, granite towers which mark +the several entrances to the subterranean city were all in front of me—behind, +the plain stretched level and unbroken to the nearby foothills. I had come to +the surface, then, beyond the city, and my chances for escape seemed much +enhanced. +</p> + +<p> +My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to cross the plain, so +deeply implanted are habits of thought; but of a sudden I recollected the +perpetual noonday brilliance which envelops Pellucidar, and with a smile I +stepped forth into the daylight. +</p> + +<p> +Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of Phutra—the gorgeous flowering +grass of the inner world, each particular blade of which is tipped with a tiny, +five-pointed blossom—brilliant little stars of varying colors that twinkle in +the green foliage to add still another charm to the weird, yet lovely, +landscape. +</p> + +<p> +But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant hills in which I +hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, trampling the myriad beauties +beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force of gravity is less upon the +surface of the inner world than upon that of the outer. He explained it all to +me once, but I was never particularly brilliant in such matters and so most of +it has escaped me. As I recall it the difference is due in some part to the +counter-attraction of that portion of the earth’s crust directly opposite the +spot upon the face of Pellucidar at which one’s calculations are being made. Be +that as it may, it always seemed to me that I moved with greater speed and +agility within Pellucidar than upon the outer surface—there was a certain airy +lightness of step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily detachment +which I can only compare with that occasionally experienced in dreams. +</p> + +<p> +And as I crossed Phutra’s flower-bespangled plain that time I seemed almost to +fly, though how much of the sensation was due to Perry’s suggestion and how +much to actuality I am sure I do not know. The more I thought of Perry the less +pleasure I took in my new-found freedom. There could be no liberty for me +within Pellucidar unless the old man shared it with me, and only the hope that +I might find some way to encompass his release kept me from turning back to +Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that some +fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. It was quite evident +however that little less than a miracle could aid me, for what could I +accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed? It was even doubtful that +I could retrace my steps to Phutra should I once pass beyond view of the plain, +and even were that possible, what aid could I bring to Perry no matter how far +I wandered? +</p> + +<p> +The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, yet with a +stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward the foothills. Behind me no sign of +pursuit developed, before me I saw no living thing. It was as though I moved +through a dead and forgotten world. +</p> + +<p> +I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the limit of the plain, +but at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty little canyon upward +toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a laughing brooklet, hurrying upon +its noisy way down to the silent sea. In its quieter pools I discovered many +small fish, of four-or five-pound weight I should imagine. In appearance, +except as to size and color, they were not unlike the whale of our own seas. As +I watched them playing about I discovered, not only that they suckled their +young, but that at intervals they rose to the surface to breathe as well as to +feed upon certain grasses and a strange, scarlet lichen which grew upon the +rocks just above the water line. +</p> + +<p> +It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved to capture one of +these herbivorous cetaceans—that is what Perry calls them—and make as good a +meal as one can on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had become rather used, by +this time, to the eating of food in its natural state, though I still balked on +the eyes and entrails, much to the amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed +these delicacies. +</p> + +<p> +Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive purple whales +rose to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water, and then, like the +beast of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my victim, appeasing my hunger +while he yet wriggled to escape. +</p> + +<p> +Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands and face continued +my flight. Above the source of the brook I encountered a rugged climb to the +summit of a long ridge. Beyond was a steep declivity to the shore of a placid, +inland sea, upon the quiet surface of which lay several beautiful islands. +</p> + +<p> +The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast was to be seen +that might threaten my new-found liberty, I slid over the edge of the bluff, +and half sliding, half falling, dropped into the delightful valley, the very +aspect of which seemed to offer a haven of peace and security. +</p> + +<p> +The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with strangely +shaped, colored shells; some empty, others still housing as varied a multitude +of mollusks as ever might have drawn out their sluggish lives along the silent +shores of the antediluvian seas of the outer crust. As I walked I could not but +compare myself with the first man of that other world, so complete the solitude +which surrounded me, so primal and untouched the virgin wonders and beauties of +adolescent nature. I felt myself a second Adam wending my lonely way through +the childhood of a world, searching for my Eve, and at the thought there rose +before my mind’s eye the exquisite outlines of a perfect face surmounted by a +loose pile of wondrous, raven hair. +</p> + +<p> +As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not until I had +come quite upon it that I discovered that which shattered all my beautiful +dream of solitude and safety and peace and primal overlordship. The thing was a +hollowed log drawn upon the sands, and in the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. +</p> + +<p> +The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new form of +danger was still upon me when I heard a rattling of loose stones from the +direction of the bluff, and turning my eyes in that direction I beheld the +author of the disturbance, a great copper-colored man, running rapidly toward +me. +</p> + +<p> +There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite sufficiently +menacing, so that I did not need the added evidence of brandishing spear and +scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe position, but whither to flee +was indeed a momentous question. +</p> + +<p> +The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility of escaping him upon +the open beach. There was but a single alternative—the rude skiff—and with a +celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into the sea and as it floated +gave a final shove and clambered in over the end. +</p> + +<p> +A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an instant later +his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed my shoulder and buried itself in the bow +of the boat beyond. Then I grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste urged +the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the surface of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored one had plunged in +after me and was swimming rapidly in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to +close up the distance between us in short order, for at best I could make but +slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, which nosed stubbornly in every +direction but that which I desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was +expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course. +</p> + +<p> +I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident that my +pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff within the next half-dozen strokes. +In a frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all paddles in a hopeless +effort to escape, and still the copper giant behind me gained and gained. +</p> + +<p> +His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, sinuous body +shoot from the depths below. The man saw it too, and the look of terror that +overspread his face assured me that I need have no further concern as to him, +for the fear of certain death was in his look. +</p> + +<p> +And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster of that +prehistoric deep—a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws, and darting +forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protuberances upon head and snout +that formed short, stout horns. +</p> + +<p> +As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the doomed man, and +I could have sworn that in his I saw an expression of hopeless appeal. But +whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden compassion for the fellow. +He was indeed a brother-man, and that he might have killed me with pleasure had +he caught me was forgotten in the extremity of his danger. +</p> + +<p> +Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to engage my pursuer, +so now the skiff still drifted close beside the two. The monster seemed to be +but playing with his victim before he closed his awful jaws upon him and +dragged him down to his dark den beneath the surface to devour him. The huge, +snakelike body coiled and uncoiled about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws +snapped in the victim’s face. The forked tongue, lightning-like, ran in and out +upon the copper skin. +</p> + +<p> +Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet against +the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass; but for all the damage he +inflicted he might as well have struck with his open palm. +</p> + +<p> +At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a fellowman was +dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile. Embedded in the +prow of the skiff lay the spear that had been cast after me by him whom I +suddenly desired to save. With a wrench I tore it loose, and standing upright +in the wobbly log drove it with all the strength of my two arms straight into +the gaping jaws of the hydrophidian. +</p> + +<p> +With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but the +spear, imbedded in its throat, prevented it from seizing me though it came near +to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>VIII<br/> +THE MAHAR TEMPLE </h2> + +<p> +The aborigine, apparently uninjured, climbed quickly into the skiff, and +seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the infuriated creature. Blood +from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the waters about us and soon from +the weakening struggles it became evident that I had inflicted a death wound +upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us ceased entirely, and with a few +convulsive movements it turned upon its back quite dead. +</p> + +<p> +And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament in which I +had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of the savage man whose +skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the spear I looked into his face to find +him scrutinizing me intently, and there we stood for some several minutes, each +clinging tenaciously to the weapon the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at +each other. +</p> + +<p> +What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely the question as to +how soon the fellow would recommence hostilities. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable to translate. I +shook my head in an effort to indicate my ignorance of his language, at the +same time addressing him in the bastard tongue that the Sagoths use to converse +with the human slaves of the Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +To my delight he understood and answered me in the same jargon. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want of my spear?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Only to keep you from running it through me,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“I would not do that,” he said, “for you have just saved my life,” and with +that he released his hold upon it and squatted down in the bottom of the skiff. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you,” he continued, “and from what country do you come?” +</p> + +<p> +I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to explain how I came to +Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it was as impossible for him to grasp or believe +the strange tale I told him as I fear it is for you upon the outer crust to +believe in the existence of the inner world. To him it seemed quite ridiculous +to imagine that there was another world far beneath his feet peopled by beings +similar to himself, and he laughed uproariously the more he thought upon it. +But it was ever thus. That which has never come within the scope of our really +pitifully meager world-experience cannot be—our finite minds cannot grasp that +which may not exist in accordance with the conditions which obtain about us +upon the outside of the insignificant grain of dust which wends its tiny way +among the bowlders of the universe—the speck of moist dirt we so proudly call +the World. +</p> + +<p> +So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a Mezop, and that +his name was Ja. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are the Mezops?” I asked. “Where do they live?” +</p> + +<p> +He looked at me in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“I might indeed believe that you were from another world,” he said, “for who of +Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The Mezops live upon the islands of the seas. +In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop lives elsewhere, and no others than +Mezops dwell upon islands, but of course it may be different in other +far-distant lands. I do not know. At any rate in this sea and those near by it +is true that only people of my race inhabit the islands. +</p> + +<p> +“We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going to the +mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon all but the larger islands. +And we are warriors also,” he added proudly. “Even the Sagoths of the Mahars +fear us. Once, when Pellucidar was young, the Sagoths were wont to capture us +for slaves as they do the other men of Pellucidar, it is handed down from +father to son among us that this is so; but we fought so desperately and slew +so many Sagoths, and those of us that were captured killed so many Mahars in +their own cities that at last they learned that it were better to leave us +alone, and later came the time that the Mahars became too indolent even to +catch their own fish, except for amusement, and then they needed us to supply +their wants, and so a truce was made between the races. Now they give us +certain things which we are unable to produce in return for the fish that we +catch, and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace. +</p> + +<p> +“The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far from the prying eyes +of their own Sagoths, that they practice their religious rites in the temples +they have builded there with our assistance. If you live among us you will +doubtless see the manner of their worship, which is strange indeed, and most +unpleasant for the poor slaves they bring to take part in it.” +</p> + +<p> +As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him more closely. He was +a huge fellow, standing I should say six feet six or seven inches, well +developed and of a coppery red not unlike that of our own North American +Indian, nor were his features dissimilar to theirs. He had the aquiline nose +found among many of the higher tribes, the prominent cheek bones, and black +hair and eyes, but his mouth and lips were better molded. All in all, Ja was an +impressive and handsome creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable +makeshift language we were compelled to use. +</p> + +<p> +During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was propelling the skiff +with vigorous strokes toward a large island that lay some half-mile from the +mainland. The skill with which he handled his crude and awkward craft elicited +my deepest admiration, since it had been so short a time before that I had made +such pitiful work of it. +</p> + +<p> +As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I followed him. +Together we dragged the skiff far up into the bushes that grew beyond the sand. +</p> + +<p> +“We must hide our canoes,” explained Ja, “for the Mezops of Luana are always at +war with us and would steal them if they found them,” he nodded toward an +island farther out at sea, and at so great a distance that it seemed but a blur +hanging in the distant sky. The upward curve of the surface of Pellucidar was +constantly revealing the impossible to the surprised eyes of the outer-earthly. +To see land and water curving upward in the distance until it seemed to stand +on edge where it melted into the distant sky, and to feel that seas and +mountains hung suspended directly above one’s head required such a complete +reversal of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to stupefy one. +</p> + +<p> +No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the jungle, presently +emerging into a narrow but well-defined trail which wound hither and thither +much after the manner of the highways of all primitive folk, but there was one +peculiarity about this Mezop trail which I was later to find distinguished them +from all other trails that I ever have seen within or without the earth. +</p> + +<p> +It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end suddenly in the midst +of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja would turn directly back in his tracks +for a little distance, spring into a tree, climb through it to the other side, +drop onto a fallen log, leap over a low bush and alight once more upon a +distinct trail which he would follow back for a short distance only to turn +directly about and retrace his steps until after a mile or less this new +pathway ended as suddenly and mysteriously as the former section. Then he would +pass again across some media which would reveal no spoor, to take up the broken +thread of the trail beyond. +</p> + +<p> +As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I could not but admire +the native shrewdness of the ancient progenitor of the Mezops who hit upon this +novel plan to throw his enemies from his track and delay or thwart them in +their attempts to follow him to his deep-buried cities. +</p> + +<p> +To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous method of traveling +through the jungle, but were you of Pellucidar you would realize that time is +no factor where time does not exist. So labyrinthine are the windings of these +trails, so varied the connecting links and the distances which one must retrace +one’s steps from the paths’ ends to find them that a Mezop often reaches man’s +estate before he is familiar even with those which lead from his own city to +the sea. +</p> + +<p> +In fact three-fourths of the education of the young male Mezop consists in +familiarizing himself with these jungle avenues, and the status of an adult is +largely determined by the number of trails which he can follow upon his own +island. The females never learn them, since from birth to death they never +leave the clearing in which the village of their nativity is situated except +they be taken to mate by a male from another village, or captured in war by the +enemies of their tribe. +</p> + +<p> +After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been upward of five +miles we emerged suddenly into a large clearing in the exact center of which +stood as strange an appearing village as one might well imagine. +</p> + +<p> +Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet above the ground, and +upon the tops of them spherical habitations of woven twigs, mud covered, had +been built. Each ball-like house was surmounted by some manner of carven image, +which Ja told me indicated the identity of the owner. +</p> + +<p> +Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet wide, served to admit +light and ventilation. The entrances to the house were through small apertures +in the bases of the trees and thence upward by rude ladders through the hollow +trunks to the rooms above. The houses varied in size from two to several rooms. +The largest that I entered was divided into two floors and eight apartments. +</p> + +<p> +All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay beautifully cultivated +fields in which the Mezops raised such cereals, fruits, and vegetables as they +required. Women and children were working in these gardens as we crossed toward +the village. At sight of Ja they saluted deferentially, but to me they paid not +the slightest attention. Among them and about the outer verge of the cultivated +area were many warriors. These too saluted Ja, by touching the points of their +spears to the ground directly before them. +</p> + +<p> +Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the village—the house with +eight rooms—and taking me up into it gave me food and drink. There I met his +mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in her arms. Ja told her of how I had +saved his life, and she was thereafter most kind and hospitable toward me, even +permitting me to hold and amuse the tiny bundle of humanity whom Ja told me +would one day rule the tribe, for Ja, it seemed, was the chief of the +community. +</p> + +<p> +We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja’s amusement, for it seemed +that he seldom if ever did so, and then the red man proposed that I accompany +him to the temple of the Mahars which lay not far from his village. “We are not +supposed to visit it,” he said; “but the great ones cannot hear and if we keep +well out of sight they need never know that we have been there. For my part I +hate them and always have, but the other chieftains of the island think it best +that we continue to maintain the amicable relations which exist between the two +races; otherwise I should like nothing better than to lead my warriors amongst +the hideous creatures and exterminate them—Pellucidar would be a better place +to live were there none of them.” +</p> + +<p> +I wholly concurred in Ja’s belief, but it seemed that it might be a difficult +matter to exterminate the dominant race of Pellucidar. Thus conversing we +followed the intricate trail toward the temple, which we came upon in a small +clearing surrounded by enormous trees similar to those which must have +flourished upon the outer crust during the carboniferous age. +</p> + +<p> +Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of a rough oval with +rounded roof in which were several large openings. No doors or windows were +visible in the sides of the structure, nor was there need of any, except one +entrance for the slaves, since, as Ja explained, the Mahars flew to and from +their place of ceremonial, entering and leaving the building by means of the +apertures in the roof. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” added Ja, “there is an entrance near the base of which even the Mahars +know nothing. Come,” and he led me across the clearing and about the end to a +pile of loose rock which lay against the foot of the wall. Here he removed a +couple of large bowlders, revealing a small opening which led straight within +the building, or so it seemed, though as I entered after Ja I discovered myself +in a narrow place of extreme darkness. +</p> + +<p> +“We are within the outer wall,” said Ja. “It is hollow. Follow me closely.” +</p> + +<p> +The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend a primitive +ladder similar to that which leads from the ground to the upper stories of his +house. We ascended for some forty feet when the interior of the space between +the walls commenced to grow lighter and presently we came opposite an opening +in the inner wall which gave us an unobstructed view of the entire interior of +the temple. +</p> + +<p> +The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous hideous +Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of granite rock dotted this +artificial sea, and upon several of them I saw men and women like myself. +</p> + +<p> +“What are the human beings doing here?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Wait and you shall see,” replied Ja. “They are to take a leading part in the +ceremonies which will follow the advent of the queen. You may be thankful that +you are not upon the same side of the wall as they.” +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above and a +moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of Pellucidar winged +slowly and majestically through the large central opening in the roof and +circled in stately manner about the temple. +</p> + +<p> +There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty awe-inspiring +pterodactyls—thipdars, they are called within Pellucidar. Behind these came the +queen, flanked by other thipdars as she had been when she entered the +amphitheater at Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber, to settle +finally upon the damp, cold bowlders that fringe the outer edge of the pool. In +the center of one side the largest rock was reserved for the queen, and here +she took her place surrounded by her terrible guard. +</p> + +<p> +All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. One might +have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor slaves upon the diminutive +islands watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. The men, for the most +part, stood erect and stately with folded arms, awaiting their doom; but the +women and children clung to one another, hiding behind the males. They are a +noble-looking race, these cave men of Pellucidar, and if our progenitors were +as they, the human race of the outer crust has deteriorated rather than +improved with the march of the ages. All they lack is opportunity. We have +opportunity, and little else. +</p> + +<p> +Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking about; then very slowly +she crawled to the edge of her throne and slid noiselessly into the water. Up +and down the long tank she swam, turning at the ends as you have seen captive +seals turn in their tiny tanks, turning upon their backs and diving below the +surface. +</p> + +<p> +Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she remained at rest +before the largest, which was directly opposite her throne. Raising her hideous +head from the water she fixed her great, round eyes upon the slaves. They were +fat and sleek, for they had been brought from a distant Mahar city where human +beings are kept in droves, and bred and fattened, as we breed and fatten beef +cattle. +</p> + +<p> +The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her victim tried to turn +away, hiding her face in her hands and kneeling behind a woman; but the +reptile, with unblinking eyes, stared on with such fixity that I could have +sworn her vision penetrated the woman, and the girl’s arms to reach at last the +very center of her brain. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly the reptile’s head commenced to move to and fro, but the eyes never +ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, and then the victim responded. She +turned wide, fear-haunted eyes toward the Mahar queen, slowly she rose to her +feet, and then as though dragged by some unseen power she moved as one in a +trance straight toward the reptile, her glassy eyes fixed upon those of her +captor. To the water’s edge she came, nor did she even pause, but stepped into +the shallows beside the little island. On she moved toward the Mahar, who now +slowly retreated as though leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl’s +knees, and still she advanced, chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was at +her waist; now her armpits. Her fellows upon the island looked on in horror, +helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast of their own. +</p> + +<p> +The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were exposed above +the surface of the water, and the girl had advanced until the end of that +repulsive beak was but an inch or two from her face, her horror-filled eyes +riveted upon those of the reptile. +</p> + +<p> +Now the water passed above the girl’s mouth and nose—her eyes and forehead all +that showed—yet still she walked on after the retreating Mahar. The queen’s +head slowly disappeared beneath the surface and after it went the eyes of her +victim—only a slow ripple widened toward the shores to mark where the two +vanished. +</p> + +<p> +For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves were motionless in +terror. The Mahars watched the surface of the water for the reappearance of +their queen, and presently at one end of the tank her head rose slowly into +view. She was backing toward the surface, her eyes fixed before her as they had +been when she dragged the helpless girl to her doom. +</p> + +<p> +And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes of the maiden come +slowly out of the depths, following the gaze of the reptile just as when she +had disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came the girl until she stood in +water that reached barely to her knees, and though she had been beneath the +surface sufficient time to have drowned her thrice over there was no +indication, other than her dripping hair and glistening body, that she had been +submerged at all. +</p> + +<p> +Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and out again, until the +uncanny weirdness of the thing got on my nerves so that I could have leaped +into the tank to the child’s rescue had I not taken a firm hold of myself. +</p> + +<p> +Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came to the surface +I was horrified to see that one of the girl’s arms was gone—gnawed completely +off at the shoulder—but the poor thing gave no indication of realizing pain, +only the horror in her set eyes seemed intensified. +</p> + +<p> +The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then the breasts, and +then a part of the face—it was awful. The poor creatures on the islands +awaiting their fate tried to cover their eyes with their hands to hide the +fearful sight, but now I saw that they too were under the hypnotic spell of the +reptiles, so that they could only crouch in terror with their eyes fixed upon +the terrible thing that was transpiring before them. +</p> + +<p> +Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, and when she rose she +came alone and swam sleepily toward her bowlder. The moment she mounted it +seemed to be the signal for the other Mahars to enter the tank, and then +commenced, upon a larger scale, a repetition of the uncanny performance through +which the queen had led her victim. +</p> + +<p> +Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars—they being the weakest and +most tender—and when they had satisfied their appetite for human flesh, some of +them devouring two and three of the slaves, there were only a score of +full-grown men left, and I thought that for some reason these were to be +spared, but such was far from the case, for as the last Mahar crawled to her +rock the queen’s thipdars darted into the air, circled the temple once and +then, hissing like steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining slaves. +</p> + +<p> +There was no hypnotism here—just the plain, brutal ferocity of the beast of +prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat, but at that it was less horrible +than the uncanny method of the Mahars. By the time the thipdars had disposed of +the last of the slaves the Mahars were all asleep upon their rocks, and a +moment later the great pterodactyls swung back to their posts beside the queen, +and themselves dropped into slumber. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept,” I said to Ja. +</p> + +<p> +“They do many things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere,” he +replied. “The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat human flesh, yet slaves +are brought here by thousands and almost always you will find Mahars on hand to +consume them. I imagine that they do not bring their Sagoths here, because they +are ashamed of the practice, which is supposed to obtain only among the least +advanced of their race; but I would wager my canoe against a broken paddle that +there is no Mahar but eats human flesh whenever she can get it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why should they object to eating human flesh,” I asked, “if it is true that +they look upon us as lower animals?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not because they consider us their equals that they are supposed to look +with abhorrence upon those who eat our flesh,” replied Ja; “it is merely that +we are warm-blooded animals. They would not think of eating the meat of a thag, +which we consider such a delicacy, any more than I would think of eating a +snake. As a matter of fact it is difficult to explain just why this sentiment +should exist among them.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if they left a single victim,” I remarked, leaning far out of the +opening in the rocky wall to inspect the temple better. Directly below me the +water lapped the very side of the wall, there being a break in the bowlders at +this point as there was at several other places about the side of the temple. +</p> + +<p> +My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed a part of the +wall, and all my weight upon it proved too much for it. It slipped and I lunged +forward. There was nothing to save myself and I plunged headforemost into the +water below. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered no injury from the +fall, but as I was rising to the surface my mind filled with the horrors of my +position as I thought of the terrible doom which awaited me the moment the eyes +of the reptiles fell upon the creature that had disturbed their slumber. +</p> + +<p> +As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly in the +direction of the islands that I might prolong my life to the utmost. At last I +was forced to rise for air, and as I cast a terrified glance in the direction +of the Mahars and the thipdars I was almost stunned to see that not a single +one remained upon the rocks where I had last seen them, nor as I searched the +temple with my eyes could I discern any within it. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I realized that the +reptiles, being deaf, could not have been disturbed by the noise my body made +when it hit the water, and that as there is no such thing as time within +Pellucidar there was no telling how long I had been beneath the surface. It was +a difficult thing to attempt to figure out by earthly standards—this matter of +elapsed time—but when I set myself to it I began to realize that I might have +been submerged a second or a month or not at all. You have no conception of the +strange contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all methods of +measuring time, as we know them upon earth, are non-existent. +</p> + +<p> +I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved me for the +moment, when the memory of the hypnotic powers of the Mahars filled me with +apprehension lest they be practicing their uncanny art upon me to the end that +I merely imagined that I was alone in the temple. At the thought cold sweat +broke out upon me from every pore, and as I crawled from the water onto one of +the tiny islands I was trembling like a leaf—you cannot imagine the awful +horror which even the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar +induces in the human mind, and to feel that you are in their power—that they +are crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to drag you down beneath the waters and +devour you! It is frightful. +</p> + +<p> +But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that I was indeed +alone within the temple. How long I should be alone was the next question to +assail me as I swam frantically about once more in search of a means to escape. +</p> + +<p> +Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled into the +tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless he had felt as certain +of my doom when he saw me topple from our hiding place as I had, and lest he +too should be discovered, had hastened from the temple and back to his village. +</p> + +<p> +I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the doorways in +the roof, for it did not seem reasonable to believe that the thousands of +slaves which were brought here to feed the Mahars the human flesh they craved +would all be carried through the air, and so I continued my search until at +last it was rewarded by the discovery of several loose granite blocks in the +masonry at one end of the temple. +</p> + +<p> +A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones to permit +me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later I had scurried across +the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond. +</p> + +<p> +Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath the giant +trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the grinning fangs of death out of +the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers lay hidden in this island jungle, +there could be none so fearsome as those which I had just escaped. I knew that +I could meet death bravely enough if it but came in the form of some familiar +beast or man—anything other than the hideous and uncanny Mahars. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>IX<br/> +THE FACE OF DEATH </h2> + +<p> +I must have fallen asleep from exhaustion. When I awoke I was very hungry, and +after busying myself searching for fruit for a while, I set off through the +jungle to find the beach. I knew that the island was not so large but that I +could easily find the sea if I did but move in a straight line, but there came +the difficulty as there was no way in which I could direct my course and hold +it, the sun, of course, being always directly above my head, and the trees so +thickly set that I could see no distant object which might serve to guide me in +a straight line. +</p> + +<p> +As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four times and +slept twice before I reached the sea, but at last I did so, and my pleasure at +the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the chance discovery of a hidden canoe +among the bushes through which I had stumbled just prior to coming upon the +beach. +</p> + +<p> +I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft down to +the water and shove it far out from shore. My experience with Ja had taught me +that if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick about it and get far +beyond the owner’s reach as soon as possible. +</p> + +<p> +I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that at which Ja +and I had entered it, for the mainland was nowhere in sight. For a long time I +paddled around the shore, though well out, before I saw the mainland in the +distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in directing my course toward it, +for I had long since made up my mind to return to Phutra and give myself up +that I might be once more with Perry and Ghak the Hairy One. +</p> + +<p> +I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, especially in +view of the fact that our plans were already well formulated to make a break +for freedom together. Of course I realized that the chances of the success of +our proposed venture were slim indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy +freedom without Perry so long as the old man lived, and I had learned that the +probability that I might find him was less than slight. +</p> + +<p> +Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and wit against +the savage and primordial world in which I found myself. I could have lived in +seclusion within some rocky cave until I had found the means to outfit myself +with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, and then set out in search of her +whose image had now become the constant companion of my waking hours, and the +central and beloved figure of my dreams. +</p> + +<p> +But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my duty and wish +to be again with him, that we might share the dangers and vicissitudes of the +strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; the great, shaggy man had found +a place in the hearts of us both, for he was indeed every inch a man and king. +Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, too, if judged too harshly by the standards of +effete twentieth-century civilization, but withal noble, dignified, chivalrous, +and loveable. +</p> + +<p> +Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered Ja’s canoe, and +a short time later I was scrambling up the steep bank to retrace my steps from +the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I entered the canyon beyond the +summit, for here I found that several of them centered at the point where I +crossed the divide, and which one I had traversed to reach the pass I could not +for the life of me remember. +</p> + +<p> +It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which seemed the +easiest going, and in this I made the same mistake that many of us do in +selecting the path along which we shall follow out the course of our lives, and +again learned that it is not always best to follow the line of least +resistance. +</p> + +<p> +By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced that I was +upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra and the inland sea I had not slept at +all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps to the summit of the divide +and explore another canyon seemed the only solution of my problem, but a sudden +widening and levelness of the canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it +was about to open into a level country, and with the lure of discovery strong +upon me I decided to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned back. +</p> + +<p> +The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before me I saw a +narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my right the side of the canyon +continued to the water’s edge, the valley lying to my left, and the foot of it +running gradually into the sea, where it formed a broad level beach. +</p> + +<p> +Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost to the +water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. From the nature of the vegetation +I was convinced that the land between the ocean and the foothills was swampy, +though directly before me it seemed dry enough all the way to the sandy strip +along which the restless waters advanced and retreated. +</p> + +<p> +Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene was very +beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and tangled vegetation of the +swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, but though I +stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, and if anything lay hid there my +eyes could not penetrate the dense foliage to discern it. +</p> + +<p> +Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and lonely sea +across whose forbidding bosom no human being had yet ventured, to discover what +strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its invisible islands held of +riches, wonders, or adventure. What savage faces, what fierce and formidable +beasts were this very instant watching the lapping of the waves upon its +farther shore! How far did it extend? Perry had told me that the seas of +Pellucidar were small in comparison with those of the outer crust, but even so +this great ocean might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For +countless ages it had rolled up and down its countless miles of shore, and yet +today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip that was visible from its +beaches. +</p> + +<p> +The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as though I had been +carried back to the birth time of our own outer world to look upon its lands +and seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was a new world, all +untouched. It called to me to explore it. I was dreaming of the excitement and +adventure which lay before us could Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when +something, a slight noise I imagine, drew my attention behind me. +</p> + +<p> +As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took wing before +the terrible embodiment of all three in concrete form that I beheld advancing +upon me. +</p> + +<p> +A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the mighty jaws of an +alligator. Its immense carcass must have weighed tons, and yet it moved swiftly +and silently toward me. Upon one hand was the bluff that ran from the canyon to +the sea, on the other the fearsome swamp from which the creature had sneaked +upon me, behind lay the mighty untracked sea, and before me in the center of +the narrow way that led to safety stood this huge mountain of terrible and +menacing flesh. +</p> + +<p> +A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I was facing one +of those long-extinct, prehistoric creatures whose fossilized remains are found +within the outer crust as far back as the Triassic formation, a gigantic +labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, and, with the exception of a loin +cloth, as naked as I had come into the world. I could imagine how my first +ancestor felt that distant, prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first +time the terrifying progenitor of the thing that had me cornered now beside the +restless, mysterious sea. +</p> + +<p> +Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within Pellucidar or +elsewhere, and I wished at that moment that he had handed down to me with the +various attributes that I presumed I have inherited from him, the specific +application of the instinct of self-preservation which saved him from the fate +which loomed so close before me today. +</p> + +<p> +To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar to jumping +into a den of lions to escape one upon the outside. The sea and swamp both were +doubtless alive with these mighty, carnivorous amphibians, and if not, the +individual that menaced me would pursue me into either the sea or the swamp +with equal facility. +</p> + +<p> +There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. I thought of +Perry—how he would wonder what had become of me. I thought of my friends of the +outer world, and of how they all would go on living their lives in total +ignorance of the strange and terrible fate that had overtaken me, or unguessing +the weird surroundings which had witnessed the last frightful agony of my +extinction. And with these thoughts came a realization of how unimportant to +the life and happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We may +be snuffed out without an instant’s warning, and for a brief day our friends +speak of us with subdued voices. The following morning, while the first worm is +busily engaged in testing the construction of our coffin, they are teeing up +for the first hole to suffer more acute sorrow over a sliced ball than they did +over our, to us, untimely demise. The labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. +He seemed to realize that escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn +that his huge, fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of my +predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy morsel which would so soon +be pulp between those formidable teeth? +</p> + +<p> +He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to me from the +direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and could have shouted in delight +at the sight that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving frantically to me, +and urging me to run for it to the cliff’s base. +</p> + +<p> +I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked me for his +breakfast, but at least I should not die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. +It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some slight peace of mind from +the contemplation of it. +</p> + +<p> +To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable cliff, +and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, agile as a monkey, crawl down the +precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small projections, and the tough +creepers that had found root-hold here and there. +</p> + +<p> +The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double his portion of +human flesh, so he was in no haste to pursue me to the cliff and frighten away +this other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted along behind me. +</p> + +<p> +As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, but I +doubted if the thing would prove successful. He had come down to within twenty +feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with one hand to a small ledge, and +with his feet resting precariously upon tiny bushes that grew from the solid +face of the rock, he lowered the point of his long spear until it hung some six +feet above the ground. +</p> + +<p> +To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and precipitating both +to the same doom from which the copper-colored one was attempting to save me +seemed utterly impossible, and as I came near the spear I told Ja so, and that +I could not risk him to try to save myself. +</p> + +<p> +But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no danger himself. +</p> + +<p> +“The danger is still yours,” he called, “for unless you move much more rapidly +than you are now, the sithic will be upon you and drag you back before ever you +are halfway up the spear—he can rear up and reach you with ease anywhere below +where I stand.” +</p> + +<p> +Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped the spear +and clambered up toward the red man as rapidly as I could—being so far removed +from my simian ancestors as I am. I imagine the slow-witted sithic, as Ja +called him, suddenly realized our intentions and that he was quite likely to +lose all his meal instead of having it doubled as he had hoped. +</p> + +<p> +When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss that fairly shook the +ground, and came charging after me at a terrific rate. I had reached the top of +the spear by this time, or almost; another six inches would give me a hold on +Ja’s hand, when I felt a sudden wrench from below and glancing fearfully +downward saw the mighty jaws of the monster close on the sharp point of the +weapon. +</p> + +<p> +I made a frantic effort to reach Ja’s hand, the sithic gave a tremendous tug +that came near to jerking Ja from his frail hold on the surface of the rock, +the spear slipped from his fingers, and still clinging to it I plunged feet +foremost toward my executioner. +</p> + +<p> +At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja’s hand the creature +must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, for when I came down, still +clinging to the butt end of the weapon, the point yet rested in his mouth and +the result was that the sharpened end transfixed his lower jaw. +</p> + +<p> +With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, lost my hold +upon the spear, rolled the length of his face and head, across his short neck +onto his broad back and from there to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing madly for the +path by which I had entered this horrible valley. A glance over my shoulder +showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear stuck through his lower +jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in this occupation that I had gained +the safety of the cliff top before he was ready to take up the pursuit. When he +did not discover me in sight within the valley he dashed, hissing, into the +rank vegetation of the swamp and that was the last I saw of him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>X<br/> +PHUTRA AGAIN </h2> + +<p> +I hastened to the cliff edge above Ja and helped him to a secure footing. He +would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to save me, which had come so +near miscarrying. +</p> + +<p> +“I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple,” he said, +“for not even I could save you from their clutches, and you may imagine my +surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon the beach of the mainland I +discovered your own footprints in the sand beside it. +</p> + +<p> +“I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you must be +entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers which lurk upon the +mainland both in the form of savage beasts and reptiles, and men as well. I had +no difficulty in tracking you to this point. It is well that I arrived when I +did.” +</p> + +<p> +“But why did you do it?” I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship on the +part of a man of another world and a different race and color. +</p> + +<p> +“You saved my life,” he replied; “from that moment it became my duty to protect +and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop had I evaded my plain duty; +but it was a pleasure in this instance for I like you. I wish that you would +come and live with me. You shall become a member of my tribe. Among us there is +the best of hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to choose a mate from, the +most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. Will you come?” +</p> + +<p> +I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty was to +them first. Afterward I should return and visit him—if I could ever find his +island. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, that is easy, my friend,” he said. “You need merely to come to the foot of +the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds. There you will find a river +which flows into the Lural Az. Directly opposite the mouth of the river you +will see three large islands far out, so far that they are barely discernible, +the one to the extreme left as you face them from the mouth of the river is +Anoroc, where I rule the tribe of Anoroc.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?” I asked. “Men say that they +are visible from half Pellucidar,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“How large is Pellucidar?” I asked, wondering what sort of theory these +primitive men had concerning the form and substance of their world. +</p> + +<p> +“The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell,” he answered, +“but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, we should fall back were we to +travel far in any direction, and all the waters of Pellucidar would run to one +spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite flat and extends no man knows how +far in all directions. At the edges, so my ancestors have reported and handed +down to me, is a great wall that prevents the earth and waters from escaping +over into the burning sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never have been so +far from Anoroc as to have seen this wall with my own eyes. However, it is +quite reasonable to believe that this is true, whereas there is no reason at +all in the foolish belief of the Mahars. According to them Pellucidarians who +live upon the opposite side walk always with their heads pointed downward!” and +Ja laughed uproariously at the very thought. +</p> + +<p> +It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had not advanced +far in learning, and the thought that the ugly Mahars had so outstripped them +was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered how many ages it would take to lift +these people out of their ignorance even were it given to Perry and me to +attempt it. Possibly we would be killed for our pains as were those men of the +outer world who dared challenge the dense ignorance and superstitions of the +earth’s younger days. But it was worth the effort if the opportunity ever +presented itself. +</p> + +<p> +And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity—that I might make a +small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, and thus note the effect of my +teaching upon a Pellucidarian. +</p> + +<p> +“Ja,” I said, “what would you say were I to tell you that in so far as the +Mahars’ theory of the shape of Pellucidar is concerned it is correct?” +</p> + +<p> +“I would say,” he replied, “that either you are a fool, or took me for one.” +</p> + +<p> +“But, Ja,” I insisted, “if their theory is incorrect how do you account for the +fact that I was able to pass through the earth from the outer crust to +Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a sea of flame beneath us, wherein +no peoples could exist, and yet I come from a great world that is covered with +human beings, and beasts, and birds, and fishes in mighty oceans.” +</p> + +<p> +“You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with your head +pointed downward?” he scoffed. “And were I to believe that, my friend, I should +indeed be mad.” +</p> + +<p> +I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means of the +dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it would be for a body to fall off +the earth under any circumstances. He listened so intently that I thought I had +made an impression, and started the train of thought that would lead him to a +partial understanding of the truth. But I was mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +“Your own illustration,” he said finally, “proves the falsity of your theory.” +He dropped a fruit from his hand to the ground. “See,” he said, “without +support even this tiny fruit falls until it strikes something that stops it. If +Pellucidar were not supported upon the flaming sea it too would fall as the +fruit falls—you have proven it yourself!” He had me, that time—you could see it +in his eye. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for when I +contemplated the necessity explanation of our solar system and the universe I +realized how futile it would be to attempt to picture to Ja or any other +Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the planets, and the countless stars. Those +born within the inner world could no more conceive of such things than can we +of the outer crust reduce to factors appreciable to our finite minds such terms +as space and eternity. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Ja,” I laughed, “whether we be walking with our feet up or down, here we +are, and the question of greatest importance is not so much where we came from +as where we are going now. For my part I wish that you could guide me to Phutra +where I may give myself up to the Mahars once more that my friends and I may +work out the plan of escape which the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us +together and drove us to the arena to witness the punishment of the slaves who +killed the guardsman. I wish now that I had not left the arena for by this time +my friends and I might have made good our escape, whereas this delay may mean +the wrecking of all our plans, which depended for their consummation upon the +continued sleep of the three Mahars who lay in the pit beneath the building in +which we were confined.” +</p> + +<p> +“You would return to captivity?” cried Ja. +</p> + +<p> +“My friends are there,” I replied, “the only friends I have in Pellucidar, +except yourself. What else may I do under the circumstances?” +</p> + +<p> +He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head sorrowfully. +</p> + +<p> +“It is what a brave man and a good friend should do,” he said; “yet it seems +most foolish, for the Mahars will most certainly condemn you to death for +running away, and so you will be accomplishing nothing for your friends by +returning. Never in all my life have I heard of a prisoner returning to the +Mahars of his own free will. There are but few who escape them, though some do, +and these would rather die than be recaptured.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see no other way, Ja,” I said, “though I can assure you that I would rather +go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. However, Perry is much too pious to +make the probability at all great that I should ever be called upon to rescue +him from the former locality.” +</p> + +<p> +Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could, he said, +“You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea upon which Pellucidar floats. +All the dead who are buried in the ground go there. Piece by piece they are +carried down to Molop Az by the little demons who dwell there. We know this +because when graves are opened we find that the bodies have been partially or +entirely borne off. That is why we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees where +the birds may find them and bear them bit by bit to the Dead World above the +Land of Awful Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground that +it may go to Molop Az.” +</p> + +<p> +As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come to the +great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to dissuade me from returning to +Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to do so, he consented to guide +me to a point from which I could see the plain where lay the city. To my +surprise the distance was but short from the beach where I had again met Ja. It +was evident that I had spent much time following the windings of a tortuous +canyon, while just beyond the ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which I must +have come several times. +</p> + +<p> +As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the flowered +plain at our feet Ja made a final effort to persuade me to abandon my mad +purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was firm in my resolve, and at +last he bid me good-bye, assured in his own mind that he was looking upon me +for the last time. +</p> + +<p> +I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much indeed. With +his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as a base, and his savage warriors as +escort Perry and I could have accomplished much in the line of exploration, and +I hoped that were we successful in our effort to escape we might return to +Anoroc later. +</p> + +<p> +There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished first—at least it was +the great thing to me—the finding of Dian the Beautiful. I wanted to make +amends for the affront I had put upon her in my ignorance, and I wanted +to—well, I wanted to see her again, and to be with her. +</p> + +<p> +Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers, and then +across the rolling land toward the shadowless columns that guard the ways to +buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile from the nearest entrance I was discovered by +the Sagoth guard, and in an instant four of the gorilla-men were dashing toward +me. +</p> + +<p> +Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches I paid +not the slightest attention to them, walking quietly toward them as though +unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect upon them that I had +hoped, and as we came quite near together they ceased their savage shouting. It +was evident that they had expected me to turn and flee at sight of them, thus +presenting that which they most enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast +their spears. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you here?” shouted one, and then as he recognized me, “Ho! It is the +slave who claims to be from another world—he who escaped when the thag ran +amuck within the amphitheater. But why do you return, having once made good +your escape?” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not ‘escape’,” I replied. “I but ran away to avoid the thag, as did +others, and coming into a long passage I became confused and lost my way in the +foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my way back.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you come of your free will back to Phutra!” exclaimed one of the +guardsmen. +</p> + +<p> +“Where else might I go?” I asked. “I am a stranger within Pellucidar and know +no other where than Phutra. Why should I not desire to be in Phutra? Am I not +well fed and well treated? Am I not happy? What better lot could man desire?” +</p> + +<p> +The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them, and so being +stupid brutes they took me to their masters whom they felt would be better +fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for riddle they still considered it. +</p> + +<p> +I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing them off the +scent of my purposed attempt at escape. If they thought that I was so satisfied +with my lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily return when I had once had +so excellent an opportunity to escape, they would never for an instant imagine +that I could be occupied in arranging another escape immediately upon my return +to the city. +</p> + +<p> +So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within the large +room that was the thing’s office. With cold, reptilian eyes the creature seemed +to bore through the thin veneer of my deceit and read my inmost thoughts. It +heeded the story which the Sagoths told of my return to Phutra, watching the +gorilla-men’s lips and fingers during the recital. Then it questioned me +through one of the Sagoths. +</p> + +<p> +“You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because you think +yourself better off here than elsewhere—do you not know that you may be the +next chosen to give up your life in the interests of the wonderful scientific +investigations that our learned ones are continually occupied with?” +</p> + +<p> +I hadn’t heard of anything of that nature, but I thought best not to admit it. +</p> + +<p> +“I could be in no more danger here,” I said, “than naked and unarmed in the +savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar. I was fortunate, I +think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I barely escaped death within the +jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am sure that I am safer in the hands of +intelligent creatures such as rule Phutra. At least such would be the case in +my own world, where human beings like myself rule supreme. There the higher +races of man extend protection and hospitality to the stranger within their +gates, and being a stranger here I naturally assumed that a like courtesy would +be accorded me.” +</p> + +<p> +The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased speaking and the +Sagoth had translated my words to his master. The creature seemed deep in +thought. Presently he communicated some message to the Sagoth. The latter +turned, and motioning me to follow him, left the presence of the reptile. +Behind and on either side of me marched the balance of the guard. +</p> + +<p> +“What are they going to do with me?” I asked the fellow at my right. +</p> + +<p> +“You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you regarding this +strange world from which you say you come.” +</p> + +<p> +After a moment’s silence he turned to me again. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you happen to know,” he asked, “what the Mahars do to slaves who lie to +them?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I replied, “nor does it interest me, as I have no intention of lying to +the Mahars.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then be careful that you don’t repeat the impossible tale you told Sol-to-to +just now—another world, indeed, where human beings rule!” he concluded in fine +scorn. +</p> + +<p> +“But it is the truth,” I insisted. “From where else then did I come? I am not +of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could see that.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is your misfortune then,” he remarked dryly, “that you may not be judged by +one with but half an eye.” +</p> + +<p> +“What will they do with me,” I asked, “if they do not have a mind to believe +me?” +</p> + +<p> +“You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used in research +work by the learned ones,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“And what will they do with me there?” I persisted. +</p> + +<p> +“No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with them, but as +the latter never return, their knowledge does them but little good. It is said +that the learned ones cut up their subjects while they are yet alive, thus +learning many useful things. However I should not imagine that it would prove +very useful to him who was being cut up; but of course this is all but +conjecture. The chances are that ere long you will know much more about it than +I,” and he grinned as he spoke. The Sagoths have a well-developed sense of +humor. +</p> + +<p> +“And suppose it is the arena,” I continued; “what then?” +</p> + +<p> +“You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you escaped?” he +said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for them,” he +explained, “though of course the same kinds of animals might not be employed.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is sure death in either event?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not know, nor +does any other,” he replied; “but those who go to the arena may come out alive +and thus regain their liberty, as did the two whom you saw.” +</p> + +<p> +“They gained their liberty? And how?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive within the +arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it has happened that several +mighty warriors from far distant lands, whom we have captured on our slave +raids, have battled the brutes turned in upon them and slain them, thereby +winning their freedom. In the instance which you witnessed the beasts killed +each other, but the result was the same—the man and woman were liberated, +furnished with weapons, and started on their homeward journey. Upon the left +shoulder of each a mark was burned—the mark of the Mahars—which will forever +protect these two from slaving parties.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena, and none at +all if the learned ones drag me to the pits?” +</p> + +<p> +“You are quite right,” he replied; “but do not felicitate yourself too quickly +should you be sent to the arena, for there is scarce one in a thousand who +comes out alive.” +</p> + +<p> +To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which I had been +confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. At the doorway I was turned over +to the guards there. +</p> + +<p> +“He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly,” said he who had +brought me back, “so have him in readiness.” +</p> + +<p> +The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I had returned +of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt that it would be safe to give me +liberty within the building as had been the custom before I had escaped, and so +I was told to return to whatever duty had been mine formerly. +</p> + +<p> +My first act was to hunt up Perry, whom I found poring as usual over the great +tomes that he was supposed to be merely dusting and rearranging upon new +shelves. +</p> + +<p> +As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me, only to resume +his work as though I had never been away at all. I was both astonished and hurt +at his indifference. And to think that I was risking death to return to him +purely from a sense of duty and affection! +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Perry!” I exclaimed, “haven’t you a word for me after my long absence?” +</p> + +<p> +“Long absence!” he repeated in evident astonishment. “What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed me since +that time we were separated by the charging thag within the arena?” +</p> + +<p> +“‘That time’,” he repeated. “Why man, I have but just returned from the arena! +You reached here almost as soon as I. Had you been much later I should indeed +have been worried, and as it is I had intended asking you about how you escaped +the beast as soon as I had completed the translation of this most interesting +passage.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perry, you ARE mad,” I exclaimed. “Why, the Lord only knows how long I have +been away. I have been to other lands, discovered a new race of humans within +Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their worship in their hidden temple, and barely +escaped with my life from them and from a great labyrinthodon that I met +afterward, following my long and tedious wanderings across an unknown world. I +must have been away for months, Perry, and now you barely look up from your +work when I return and insist that we have been separated but a moment. Is that +any way to treat a friend? I’m surprised at you, Perry, and if I’d thought for +a moment that you cared no more for me than this I should not have returned to +chance death at the hands of the Mahars for your sake.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There was a puzzled +expression upon his wrinkled face, and a look of hurt sorrow in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“David, my boy,” he said, “how could you for a moment doubt my love for you? +There is something strange here that I cannot understand. I know that I am not +mad, and I am equally sure that you are not; but how in the world are we to +account for the strange hallucinations that each of us seems to harbor relative +to the passage of time since last we saw each other. You are positive that +months have gone by, while to me it seems equally certain that not more than an +hour ago I sat beside you in the amphitheater. Can it be that both of us are +right and at the same time both are wrong? First tell me what time is, and then +maybe I can solve our problem. Do you catch my meaning?” +</p> + +<p> +I didn’t and said so. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” continued the old man, “we are both right. To me, bent over my book +here, there has been no lapse of time. I have done little or nothing to waste +my energies and so have required neither food nor sleep, but you, on the +contrary, have walked and fought and wasted strength and tissue which must +needs be rebuilt by nutriment and food, and so, having eaten and slept many +times since last you saw me you naturally measure the lapse of time largely by +these acts. As a matter of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction +that there is no such thing as time—surely there can be no time here within +Pellucidar, where there are no means for measuring or recording time. Why, the +Mahars themselves take no account of such a thing as time. I find here in all +their literary works but a single tense, the present. There seems to be neither +past nor future with them. Of course it is impossible for our outer-earthly +minds to grasp such a condition, but our recent experiences seem to demonstrate +its existence.” +</p> + +<p> +It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to enjoy +nothing better than speculating upon it, and after listening with interest to +my account of the adventures through which I had passed he returned once more +to the subject, which he was enlarging upon with considerable fluency when he +was interrupted by the entrance of a Sagoth. +</p> + +<p> +“Come!” commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. “The investigators would speak +with you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye, Perry!” I said, clasping the old man’s hand. “There may be nothing +but the present and no such thing as time, but I feel that I am about to take a +trip into the hereafter from which I shall never return. If you and Ghak should +manage to escape I want you to promise me that you will find Dian the Beautiful +and tell her that with my last words I asked her forgiveness for the +unintentional affront I put upon her, and that my one wish was to be spared +long enough to right the wrong that I had done her.” +</p> + +<p> +Tears came to Perry’s eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot believe but that you will return, David,” he said. “It would be awful +to think of living out the balance of my life without you among these hateful +and repulsive creatures. If you are taken away I shall never escape, for I feel +that I am as well off here as I should be anywhere within this buried world. +Good-bye, my boy, good-bye!” and then his old voice faltered and broke, and as +he hid his face in his hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by the +shoulder and hustled me from the chamber. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>XI<br/> +FOUR DEAD MAHARS </h2> + +<p> +A moment later I was standing before a dozen Mahars—the social investigators of +Phutra. They asked me many questions, through a Sagoth interpreter. I answered +them all truthfully. They seemed particularly interested in my account of the +outer earth and the strange vehicle which had brought Perry and me to +Pellucidar. I thought that I had convinced them, and after they had sat in +silence for a long time following my examination, I expected to be ordered +returned to my quarters. +</p> + +<p> +During this apparent silence they were debating through the medium of strange, +unspoken language the merits of my tale. At last the head of the tribunal +communicated the result of their conference to the officer in charge of the +Sagoth guard. +</p> + +<p> +“Come,” he said to me, “you are sentenced to the experimental pits for having +dared to insult the intelligence of the mighty ones with the ridiculous tale +you have had the temerity to unfold to them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean that they do not believe me?” I asked, totally astonished. +</p> + +<p> +“Believe you!” he laughed. “Do you mean to say that you expected any one to +believe so impossible a lie?” +</p> + +<p> +It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard down through the +dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom. At a low level we came upon a +number of lighted chambers in which we saw many Mahars engaged in various +occupations. To one of these chambers my guard escorted me, and before leaving +they chained me to a side wall. There were other humans similarly chained. Upon +a long table lay a victim even as I was ushered into the room. Several Mahars +stood about the poor creature holding him down so that he could not move. +Another, grasping a sharp knife with her three-toed fore foot, was laying open +the victim’s chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered and the +shrieks and groans of the tortured man were terrible to hear. This, indeed, was +vivisection with a vengeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me as I realized that +soon my turn would come. And to think that where there was no such thing as +time I might easily imagine that my suffering was enduring for months before +death finally released me! +</p> + +<p> +The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I had been brought +into the room. So deeply immersed were they in their work that I am sure they +did not even know that the Sagoths had entered with me. The door was close by. +Would that I could reach it! But those heavy chains precluded any such +possibility. I looked about for some means of escape from my bonds. Upon the +floor between me and the Mahars lay a tiny surgical instrument which one of +them must have dropped. It looked not unlike a button-hook, but was much +smaller, and its point was sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood days had I +picked locks with a buttonhook. Could I but reach that little bit of polished +steel I might yet effect at least a temporary escape. +</p> + +<p> +Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching one hand as far out +as I could my fingers still fell an inch short of the coveted instrument. It +was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber of my being as I would, I could not quite +make it. +</p> + +<p> +At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the object. My heart came +to my throat! I could just touch the thing! But suppose that in my effort to +drag it toward me I should accidentally shove it still farther away and thus +entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore. Slowly and +cautiously I made the effort. My toes dropped upon the cold metal. Gradually I +worked it toward me until I felt that it was within reach of my hand and a +moment later I had turned about and the precious thing was in my grasp. +</p> + +<p> +Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my chain. It was +pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and a moment later I was free. +The Mahars were now evidently completing their work at the table. One already +turned away and was examining other victims, evidently with the intention of +selecting the next subject. +</p> + +<p> +Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the creature walking +toward us I might have escaped that moment. Slowly the thing approached me, +when its attention was attracted by a huge slave chained a few yards to my +right. Here the reptile stopped and commenced to go over the poor devil +carefully, and as it did so its back turned toward me for an instant, and in +that instant I gave two mighty leaps that carried me out of the chamber into +the corridor beyond, down which I raced with all the speed I could command. +</p> + +<p> +Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only thought was to place +as much distance as possible between me and that frightful chamber of torture. +</p> + +<p> +Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later realizing the danger of +running into some new predicament, were I not careful, I moved still more +slowly and cautiously. After a time I came to a passage that seemed in some +mysterious way familiar to me, and presently, chancing to glance within a +chamber which led from the corridor I saw three Mahars curled up in slumber +upon a bed of skins. I could have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the +same corridor and the same Mahars that I had intended to have lead so important +a role in our escape from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, for +the reptiles still slept. +</p> + +<p> +My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels in search of Perry +and Ghak, but there was nothing else to be done, and so I hastened upward. When +I came to the frequented portions of the building, I found a large burden of +skins in a corner and these I lifted to my head, carrying them in such a way +that ends and corners fell down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. +Thus disguised I found Perry and Ghak together in the chamber where we had been +wont to eat and sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of course they had +known nothing of the fate that had been meted out to me by my judges. It was +decided that no time should now be lost before attempting to put our plan of +escape to the test, as I could not hope to remain hidden from the Sagoths long, +nor could I forever carry that bale of skins about upon my head without +arousing suspicion. However it seemed likely that it would carry me once more +safely through the crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels, and so I +set out with Perry and Ghak—the stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking +me. +</p> + +<p> +Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the main floor of +the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak halted to await me. The buildings are +cut out of the solid limestone formation. There is nothing at all remarkable +about their architecture. The rooms are sometimes rectangular, sometimes +circular, and again oval in shape. The corridors which connect them are narrow +and not always straight. The chambers are lighted by diffused sunlight +reflected through tubes similar to those by which the avenues are lighted. The +lower the tiers of chambers, the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely +unlighted. The Mahars can see quite well in semidarkness. +</p> + +<p> +Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, and slaves; but no +attention was paid to us as we had become a part of the domestic life of the +building. There was but a single entrance leading from the place into the +avenue and this was well guarded by Sagoths—this doorway alone were we +forbidden to pass. It is true that we were not supposed to enter the deeper +corridors and apartments except on special occasions when we were instructed to +do so; but as we were considered a lower order without intelligence there was +little reason to fear that we could accomplish any harm by so doing, and so we +were not hindered as we entered the corridor which led below. +</p> + +<p> +Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, and the arrows +which Perry and I had fashioned. As many slaves bore skin-wrapped burdens to +and fro my load attracted no comment. Where I left Ghak and Perry there were no +other creatures in sight, and so I withdrew one sword from the package, and +leaving the balance of the weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the +lower levels. +</p> + +<p> +Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept I entered silently +on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures were without the sense of hearing. +With a quick thrust through the heart I disposed of the first but my second +thrust was not so fortunate, so that before I could kill the next of my victims +it had hurled itself against the third, who sprang quickly up, facing me with +wide-distended jaws. But fighting is not the occupation which the race of +Mahars loves, and when the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of its +companions, and that my sword was red with their blood, it made a dash to +escape me. But I was too quick for it, and so, half hopping, half flying, it +scurried down another corridor with me close upon its heels. +</p> + +<p> +Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all probability my instant +death. This thought lent wings to my feet; but even at my best I could do no +more than hold my own with the leaping thing before me. +</p> + +<p> +Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the corridor, and an +instant later as I rushed in I found myself facing two of the Mahars. The one +who had been there when we entered had been occupied with a number of metal +vessels, into which had been put powders and liquids as I judged from the array +of flasks standing about upon the bench where it had been working. In an +instant I realized what I had stumbled upon. It was the very room for the +finding of which Perry had given me minute directions. It was the buried +chamber in which was hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. And on the +bench beside the flasks lay the skin-bound book which held the only copy of the +thing I was to have sought, after dispatching the three Mahars in their sleep. +</p> + +<p> +There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in which I now stood +facing the two frightful reptiles. Cornered, I knew that they would fight like +demons, and they were well equipped to fight if fight they must. Together they +launched themselves upon me, and though I ran one of them through the heart on +the instant, the other fastened its gleaming fangs about my sword arm above the +elbow, and then with her sharp talons commenced to rake me about the body, +evidently intent upon disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope that +I might release my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which seemed to be +severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered was intense, but it only +served to spur me to greater efforts to overcome my antagonist. +</p> + +<p> +Back and forth across the floor we struggled—the Mahar dealing me terrific, +cutting blows with her fore feet, while I attempted to protect my body with my +left hand, at the same time watching for an opportunity to transfer my blade +from my now useless sword hand to its rapidly weakening mate. At last I was +successful, and with what seemed to me my last ounce of strength I ran the +blade through the ugly body of my foe. +</p> + +<p> +Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from pain and loss of +blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant pride that I stepped across its +convulsively stiffening corpse to snatch up the most potent secret of a world. +A single glance assured me it was the very thing that Perry had described to +me. +</p> + +<p> +And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the human race of +Pellucidar—did there flash through my mind the thought that countless +generations of my own kind yet unborn would have reason to worship me for the +thing that I had accomplished for them? I did not. I thought of a beautiful +oval face, gazing out of limpid eyes, through a waving mass of jet-black hair. +I thought of red, red lips, God-made for kissing. And of a sudden, apropos of +nothing, standing there alone in the secret chamber of the Mahars of +Pellucidar, I realized that I loved Dian the Beautiful. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>XII<br/> +PURSUIT </h2> + +<p> +For an instant I stood there thinking of her, and then, with a sigh, I tucked +the book in the thong that supported my loin cloth, and turned to leave the +apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which leads aloft from the lower +chambers I whistled in accordance with the prearranged signal which was to +announce to Perry and Ghak that I had been successful. A moment later they +stood beside me, and to my surprise I saw that Hooja the Sly One accompanied +them. +</p> + +<p> +“He joined us,” explained Perry, “and would not be denied. The fellow is a fox. +He scents escape, and rather than be thwarted of our chance now I told him that +I would bring him to you, and let you decide whether he might accompany us.” +</p> + +<p> +I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if he +thought it would profit him he would betray us; but I saw no way out of it now, +and the fact that I had killed four Mahars instead of only the three I had +expected to, made it possible to include the fellow in our scheme of escape. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” I said, “you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first intimation +of treachery I shall run my sword through you. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +He said that he did. +</p> + +<p> +Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and so succeeded +in crawling inside of them ourselves that there seemed an excellent chance for +us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an easy thing to fasten the hides +together where we had split them along the belly to remove them from their +carcasses, but by remaining out until the others had all been sewed in with my +help, and then leaving an aperture in the breast of Perry’s skin through which +he could pass his hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design +to really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the heads +erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and by the same means were +enabled to move them about in a life-like manner. We had our greatest +difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, so +that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes punctured in the +baggy throats into which our heads were thrust permitted us to see well enough +to guide our progress. +</p> + +<p> +Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak headed the +strange procession, then came Perry, followed by Hooja, while I brought up the +rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my sword that I could +thrust it through the head of my disguise into his vitals were he to show any +indication of faltering. +</p> + +<p> +As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy +corridors of the main level, my heart came up into my mouth. It is with no +sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened—never before in my life, nor +since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing fear and suspense as +enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I sweat it then. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when they are +not using their wings, we crept through throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths, and +Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we reached the outer door which leads +into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths loitered near the opening. They +glanced at Ghak as he padded between them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. +Now it was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that +the warm blood from my wounded arm was trickling down through the dead foot of +the Mahar skin I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement, for I +saw a Sagoth call a companion’s attention to it. +</p> + +<p> +The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to me in the +sign language which these two races employ as a means of communication. Even +had I known what he was saying I could not have replied with the dead thing +that covered me. I once had seen a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth +with a look. It seemed my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I +moved my sword so that it made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon +the gorilla-man. For a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow +with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started slowly on. For a +moment all hung in the balance, but before I touched him the guard stepped to +one side, and I passed on out into the avenue. +</p> + +<p> +On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very numbers of +our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. Fortunately, there was a great +concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake which lies a mile or more +from the city. They go there to indulge their amphibian proclivities in diving +for small fish, and enjoying the cool depths of the water. It is a fresh-water +lake, shallow, and free from the larger reptiles which make the use of the +great seas of Pellucidar impossible for any but their own kind. +</p> + +<p> +In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the plain. For +some distance Ghak remained with the stream that was traveling toward the lake, +but finally, at the bottom of a little gully he halted, and there we remained +until all had passed and we were alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set +off directly away from Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible prisons +unbearable, so that after passing a low divide, and entering a sheltering +forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had brought us thus far in +safety. +</p> + +<p> +I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling flight. How +we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped in our tracks. How we were beset +by strange and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions +and tigers the size of which would dwarf into pitiful insignificance the +greatest felines of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between ourselves +and Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us to his own land—the land of Sari. +No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we were sure that somewhere behind us +relentless Sagoths were dogging our tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt +down their quarry until they had captured it or themselves been turned back by +a superior force. +</p> + +<p> +Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite strong enough +in their mountain fastness to beat off any number of Sagoths. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have been years, we +came in sight of the dun escarpment which buttressed the foothills of Sari. At +almost the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever quite as much behind as before, +announced that he could see a body of men far behind us topping a low ridge in +our wake. It was the long-expected pursuit. +</p> + +<p> +I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them. +</p> + +<p> +“We may,” he replied; “but you will find that the Sagoths can move with +incredible swiftness, and as they are almost tireless they are doubtless much +fresher than we. Then—” he paused, glancing at Perry. +</p> + +<p> +I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the period of our +flight either Ghak or I had half supported him on the march. With such a +handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily overtake us before +we could scale the rugged heights which confronted us. +</p> + +<p> +“You and Hooja go on ahead,” I said. “Perry and I will make it if we are able. +We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, and there is no reason why all should +be lost because of that. It can’t be helped—we have simply to face it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not desert a companion,” was Ghak’s simple reply. I hadn’t known that +this great, hairy, primeval man had any such nobility of character stowed away +inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my liking was added honor and +respect. Yes, and love. +</p> + +<p> +But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach his +people he might be able to bring out a sufficient force to drive off the +Sagoths and rescue Perry and myself. +</p> + +<p> +No, he wouldn’t leave us, and that was all there was to it, but he suggested +that Hooja might hurry on and warn the Sarians of the king’s danger. It didn’t +require much urging to start Hooja—the naked idea was enough to send him +leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we now had reached. +</p> + +<p> +Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak’s life and mine and the old fellow +fairly begged us to go on without him, although I knew that he was suffering a +perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling into the hands of the +Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in part, by lifting Perry in his +powerful arms and carrying him. While the act cut down Ghak’s speed he still +could travel faster thus than when half supporting the stumbling old man. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>XIII<br/> +THE SLY ONE </h2> + +<p> +The Sagoths were gaining on us rapidly, for once they had sighted us they had +greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up the narrow canyon that +Ghak had chosen to approach the heights of Sari. On either side rose +precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, parti-colored rock, while beneath our feet a +thick mountain grass formed a soft and noiseless carpet. Since we had entered +the canyon we had had no glimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope +that they had lost our trail and that we would reach the now rapidly nearing +cliffs in time to scale them before we should be overtaken. +</p> + +<p> +Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the success of +Hooja’s mission. By now he should have reached the outposts of the Sarians, and +we should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmen as they swarmed to +arms in answer to their king’s appeal for succor. In another moment the +frowning cliffs ahead should be black with primeval warriors. But nothing of +the kind happened—as a matter of fact the Sly One had betrayed us. At the +moment that we expected to see Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at +Hooja’s back, the craven traitor was sneaking around the outskirts of the +nearest Sarian village, that he might come up from the other side when it was +too late to save us, claiming that he had become lost among the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had struck in +Dian’s protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal to sacrificing us all +that he might be revenged upon me. +</p> + +<p> +As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians appeared +Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the sound of rapidly +approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me over his shoulder that +we were lost. +</p> + +<p> +A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at the far end +of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we had just passed, and then +a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view; but the loud howl of +triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence that the gorilla-man had +sighted us. +</p> + +<p> +Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another branch +ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so that appeared more +like the main canyon than the lefthand branch. The Sagoths were now not over +two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I saw that it was hopeless for us to +expect to escape other than by a ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak +and Perry, and as I reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance. +</p> + +<p> +Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghak and +Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon, and as the +Sagoth’s savage yell announced that he had seen me I turned and fled up the +right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entire party of man-hunters +raced headlong after me up one canyon while Ghak bore Perry to safety up the +other. +</p> + +<p> +Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when my very life +depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I ran any better than on the +occasions when my pitiful base running had called down upon my head the +rooter’s raucous and reproachful cries of “Ice Wagon,” and “Call a cab.” +</p> + +<p> +The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular, fleeter +than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon had become a rocky slit, +rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed a pass between two abutting +peaks. What lay beyond I could not even guess—possibly a sheer drop of hundreds +of feet into the corresponding valley upon the other side. Could it be that I +had plunged into a cul-de-sac? +</p> + +<p> +Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the top of the +canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to check them temporarily, +and to this end had unslung my rudely made bow and plucked an arrow from the +skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. As I fitted the shaft with my right +hand I stopped and wheeled toward the gorilla-man. +</p> + +<p> +In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our escape from +Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game by means of my arrows, and +so, through necessity, had developed a fair degree of accuracy. During our +flight from Phutra I had restrung my bow with a piece of heavy gut taken from a +huge tiger which Ghak and I had worried and finally dispatched with arrows, +spear, and sword. The hard wood of the bow was extremely tough and this, with +the strength and elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted confidence in my +weapon. +</p> + +<p> +Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then—never were my nerves and +muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully and deliberately as though +at a straw target. The Sagoth had never before seen a bow and arrow, but of a +sudden it must have swept over his dull intellect that the thing I held toward +him was some sort of engine of destruction, for he too came to a halt, +simultaneously swinging his hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods +in which they employ this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they achieve, +even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous. +</p> + +<p> +My shaft was drawn back its full length—my eye had centered its sharp point +upon the left breast of my adversary; and then he launched his hatchet and I +released my arrow. At the instant that our missiles flew I leaped to one side, +but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his attack with a spear thrust. I +felt the swish of the hatchet as it grazed my head, and at the same instant my +shaft pierced the Sagoth’s savage heart, and with a single groan he lunged +almost at my feet—stone dead. Close behind him were two more—fifty yards +perhaps—but the distance gave me time to snatch up the dead guardsman’s shield, +for the close call his hatchet had just given me had borne in upon me the +urgent need I had for one. Those which I had purloined at Phutra we had not +been able to bring along because their size precluded our concealing them +within the skins of the Mahars which had brought us safely from the city. +</p> + +<p> +With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with another arrow, +which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his fellow’s hatchet sped +toward me I caught it upon the shield, and fitted another shaft for him; but he +did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned and retreated toward the main +body of gorilla-men. Evidently he had seen enough of me for the moment. +</p> + +<p> +Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently overanxious to +press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested I reached the top of the +canyon where I found a sheer drop of two or three hundred feet to the bottom of +a rocky chasm; but on the left a narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the +overhanging cliff. Along this I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards +beyond the canyon’s end, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening to +a large cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight about +another projecting buttress of the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could advance upon +me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting him until he came full upon +me around the corner of the turn. About me lay scattered stones crumbled from +the cliff above. They were of various sizes and shapes, but enough were of +handy dimensions for use as ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering +a number of stones into a little pile beside the mouth of the cave I waited the +advance of the Sagoths. +</p> + +<p> +As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint sound that +should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight noise from within the +cave’s black depths attracted my attention. It might have been produced by the +moving of the great body of some huge beast rising from the rock floor of its +lair. At almost the same instant I thought that I caught the scraping of hide +sandals upon the ledge beyond the turn. For the next few seconds my attention +was considerably divided. +</p> + +<p> +And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes glaring +into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet above my head. It is +true that the beast who owned them might be standing upon a ledge within the +cave, or that it might be rearing up upon its hind legs; but I had seen enough +of the monsters of Pellucidar to know that I might be facing some new and +frightful Titan whose dimensions and ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen +before. +</p> + +<p> +Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the cave, and now, +deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and ominous growl. I waited no longer to +dispute possession of the ledge with the thing which owned that voice. The +noise had not been loud—I doubt if the Sagoths heard it at all—but the +suggestion of latent possibilities behind it was such that I knew it would only +emanate from a gigantic and ferocious beast. +</p> + +<p> +As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the cave, where I no +longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but an instant later I caught +sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warily advanced beyond the cliff’s +turn on the far side of the cave’s mouth. As the fellow saw me he leaped along +the ledge in pursuit, and after him came as many of his companions as could +crowd upon each other’s heels. At the same time the beast emerged from the +cave, so that he and the Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge. +</p> + +<p> +The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully eight feet +at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the end of its stubby tail +it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sighted the Sagoths it emitted a most +frightful roar, and with open mouth charged full upon them. With a cry of +terror the foremost gorilla-man turned to escape, but behind him he ran full +upon his on-rushing companions. +</p> + +<p> +The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth nearest the +cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and leaped deliberately to an +awful death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feet below. Then those giant +jaws reached out and gathered in the next—there was a sickening sound of +crushing bones, and the mangled corpse was dropped over the cliff’s edge. Nor +did the mighty beast even pause in his steady advance along the ledge. +</p> + +<p> +Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to escape him, and +the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing the demoralized remnant of +the man hunters. For a long time I could hear the horrid roaring of the brute +intermingled with the screams and shrieks of his victims, until finally the +awful sounds dwindled and disappeared in the distance. +</p> + +<p> +Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen and returned +with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is called, pursued the Sagoths +until it had exterminated the entire band. Ghak was, of course, positive that I +had fallen prey to the terrible creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly +the king of beasts. +</p> + +<p> +Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall prey either to +the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along the ledge, believing that by +following around the mountain I could reach the land of Sari from another +direction. But I evidently became confused by the twisting and turning of the +canyons and gullies, for I did not come to the land of Sari then, nor for a +long time thereafter. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>XIV<br/> +THE GARDEN OF EDEN </h2> + +<p> +With no heavenly guide, it is little wonder that I became confused and lost in +the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. What, in reality, I did was to +pass entirely through them and come out above the valley upon the farther side. +I know that I wandered for a long time, until tired and hungry I came upon a +small cave in the face of the limestone formation which had taken the place of +the granite farther back. +</p> + +<p> +The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous side of a lofty +cliff. The way to it was such that I knew no extremely formidable beast could +frequent it, nor was it large enough to make a comfortable habitat for any but +the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet it was with the utmost caution that I +crawled within its dark interior. +</p> + +<p> +Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft in the rock +above which let the sunlight filter in in sufficient quantities partially to +dispel the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave was entirely empty, +nor were there any signs of its having been recently occupied. The opening was +comparatively small, so that after considerable effort I was able to lug up a +bowlder from the valley below which entirely blocked it. +</p> + +<p> +Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and on this trip +was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, the diminutive horse of +Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of a fox terrier, which abounds in +all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food and bedding I returned to my +lair, where after a meal of raw meat, to which I had now become quite +accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the entrance and curled myself upon a +bed of grasses—a naked, primeval, cave man, as savagely primitive as my +prehistoric progenitors. +</p> + +<p> +I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled out upon the +little rocky shelf which was my front porch. Before me spread a small but +beautiful valley, through the center of which a clear and sparkling river wound +its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters of which were just visible +between the two mountain ranges which embraced this little paradise. The sides +of the opposite hills were green with verdure, for a great forest clothed them +to the foot of the red and yellow and copper green of the towering crags which +formed their summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, +while here and there patches of wild flowers made great splashes of vivid color +against the prevailing green. +</p> + +<p> +Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike trees—three +or four together as a rule. Beneath these stood antelope, while others grazed +in the open, or wandered gracefully to a nearby ford to drink. There were +several species of this beautiful animal, the most magnificent somewhat +resembling the giant eland of Africa, except that their spiral horns form a +complete curve backward over their ears and then forward again beneath them, +ending in sharp and formidable points some two feet before the face and above +the eyes. In size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet they are +very agile and fast. The broad yellow bands that stripe the dark roan of their +coats made me take them for zebra when I first saw them. All in all they are +handsome animals, and added the finishing touch to the strange and lovely +landscape that spread before my new home. +</p> + +<p> +I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with it as a base make a +systematic exploration of the surrounding country in search of the land of +Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcass of the orthopi I had killed +before my last sleep. Then I hid the Great Secret in a deep niche at the back +of my cave, rolled the bowlder before my front door, and with bow, arrows, +sword, and shield scrambled down into the peaceful valley. +</p> + +<p> +The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, the little +orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and galloping to safest distances. All +the animals stopped feeding as I approached, and after moving to what they +considered a safe distance stood contemplating me with serious eyes and +up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bull antelopes of the striped species +lowered his head and bellowed angrily—even taking a few steps in my direction, +so that I thought he meant to charge; but after I had passed, he resumed +feeding as though nothing had disturbed him. +</p> + +<p> +Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, and across the +river saw a great sadok, the enormous double-horned progenitor of the modern +rhinoceros. At the valley’s end the cliffs upon the left ran out into the sea, +so that to pass around them as I desired to do it was necessary to scale them +in search of a ledge along which I might continue my journey. Some fifty feet +from the base I came upon a projection which formed a natural path along the +face of the cliff, and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff’s end. +</p> + +<p> +Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the cliffs—the stratum +which formed it evidently having been forced up at this steep angle when the +mountains behind it were born. As I climbed carefully up the ascent my +attention suddenly was attracted aloft by the sound of strange hissing, and +what resembled the flapping of wings. +</p> + +<p> +And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision the most frightful +thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. It was a giant dragon such as is +pictured in the legends and fairy tales of earth folk. Its huge body must have +measured forty feet in length, while the batlike wings that supported it in +midair had a spread of fully thirty. Its gaping jaws were armed with long, +sharp teeth, and its claw equipped with horrible talons. +</p> + +<p> +The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was issuing from its +throat, and seemed to be directed at something beyond and below me which I +could not see. The ledge upon which I stood terminated abruptly a few paces +farther on, and as I reached the end I saw the cause of the reptile’s +agitation. +</p> + +<p> +Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at this point, so +that beyond the spot where I stood the strata had slipped down a matter of +twenty feet. The result was that the continuation of my ledge lay twenty feet +below me, where it ended as abruptly as did the end upon which I stood. +</p> + +<p> +And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable break in the ledge, +stood the object of the creature’s attack—a girl cowering upon the narrow +platform, her face buried in her arms, as though to shut out the sight of the +frightful death which hovered just above her. +</p> + +<p> +The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in upon its prey. There +was no time to be lost, scarce an instant in which to weigh the possible +chances that I had against the awfully armed creature; but the sight of that +frightened girl below me called out to all that was best in me, and the +instinct for protection of the other sex, which nearly must have equaled the +instinct of self-preservation in primeval man, drew me to the girl’s side like +an irresistible magnet. +</p> + +<p> +Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the end of the ledge upon +which I stood, for the tiny shelf twenty feet below. At the same instant the +dragon darted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent upon the scene must have +startled him for he veered to one side, and then rose above us once more. +</p> + +<p> +The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl that the end had +come, for she thought I was the dragon; but finally when no cruel fangs closed +upon her she raised her eyes in astonishment. As they fell upon me the +expression that came into them would be difficult to describe; but her feelings +could scarcely have been one whit more complicated than my own—for the wide +eyes that looked into mine were those of Dian the Beautiful. +</p> + +<p> +“Dian!” I cried. “Dian! Thank God that I came in time.” +</p> + +<p> +“You?” she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor could I tell whether +she were glad or angry that I had come. +</p> + +<p> +Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly that I had no time +to unsling my bow. All that I could do was to snatch up a rock, and hurl it at +the thing’s hideous face. Again my aim was true, and with a hiss of pain and +rage the reptile wheeled once more and soared away. +</p> + +<p> +Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the next attack, and as +I did so I looked down at the girl, so that I surprised her in a surreptitious +glance which she was stealing at me; but immediately, she again covered her +face with her hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Look at me, Dian,” I pleaded. “Are you not glad to see me?” +</p> + +<p> +She looked straight into my eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you,” she said, and then, as I was about to beg for a fair hearing she +pointed over my shoulder. “The thipdar comes,” she said, and I turned again to +meet the reptile. +</p> + +<p> +So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel bloodhound of the +Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl of the outer world. But this time I met it +with a weapon it never had faced before. I had selected my longest arrow, and +with all my strength had bent the bow until the very tip of the shaft rested +upon the thumb of my left hand, and then as the great creature darted toward us +I let drive straight for that tough breast. +</p> + +<p> +Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty creature fell +turning and twisting into the sea below, my arrow buried completely in its +carcass. I turned toward the girl. She was looking past me. It was evident that +she had seen the thipdar die. +</p> + +<p> +“Dian,” I said, “won’t you tell me that you are not sorry that I have found +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you,” was her only reply; but I imagined that there was less vehemence +in it than before—yet it might have been but my imagination. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you hate me, Dian?” I asked, but she did not answer me. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing here?” I asked, “and what has happened to you since Hooja +freed you from the Sagoths?” +</p> + +<p> +At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, but finally she +thought better of it. +</p> + +<p> +“I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she said. “After I escaped +from the Sagoths I made my way alone back to my own land; but on account of +Jubal I did not dare enter the villages or let any of my friends know that I +had returned for fear that Jubal might find out. By watching for a long time I +found that my brother had not yet returned, and so I continued to live in a +cave beside a valley which my race seldom frequents, awaiting the time that he +should come back and free me from Jubal. +</p> + +<p> +“But at last one of Jubal’s hunters saw me as I was creeping toward my father’s +cave to see if my brother had yet returned and he gave the alarm and Jubal set +out after me. He has been pursuing me across many lands. He cannot be far +behind me now. When he comes he will kill you and carry me back to his cave. He +is a terrible man. I have gone as far as I can go, and there is no escape,” and +she looked hopelessly up at the continuation of the ledge twenty feet above us. +</p> + +<p> +“But he shall not have me,” she suddenly cried, with great vehemence. “The sea +is there”—she pointed over the edge of the cliff—“and the sea shall have me +rather than Jubal.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I have you now Dian,” I cried; “nor shall Jubal, nor any other have you, +for you are mine,” and I seized her hand, nor did I lift it above her head and +let it fall in token of release. +</p> + +<p> +She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my eyes with level +gaze. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not believe you,” she said, “for if you meant it you would have done this +when the others were present to witness it—then I should truly have been your +mate; now there is no one to see you do it, for you know that without witnesses +your act does not bind you to me,” and she withdrew her hand from mine and +turned away. +</p> + +<p> +I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply couldn’t forget the +humiliation that I had put upon her on that other occasion. +</p> + +<p> +“If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to prove it,” she +said, “if Jubal does not catch and kill you. I am in your power, and the +treatment you accord me will be the best proof of your intentions toward me. I +am not your mate, and again I tell you that I hate you, and that I should be +glad if I never saw you again.” +</p> + +<p> +Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In fact I found candor +and directness to be quite a marked characteristic of the cave men of +Pellucidar. Finally I suggested that we make some attempt to gain my cave, +where we might escape the searching Jubal, for I am free to admit that I had no +considerable desire to meet the formidable and ferocious creature, of whose +mighty prowess Dian had told me when I first met her. He it was who, armed with +a puny knife, had met and killed a cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was +Jubal who could cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass of the +sadok at fifty paces. It was he who had crushed the skull of a charging dyryth +with a single blow of his war club. No, I was not pining to meet the Ugly +One—and it was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for him; but the +matter was taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often the way, and I did +meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face. +</p> + +<p> +This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge the way she had +come, searching for a path that would lead us to the top of the cliff, for I +knew that we could then cross over to the edge of my own little valley, where I +felt certain we should find a means of ingress from the cliff top. As we +proceeded along the ledge I gave Dian minute directions for finding my cave +against the chance of something happening to me. I knew that she would be quite +safely hidden away from pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, and the +valley would afford her ample means of sustenance. +</p> + +<p> +Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My heart was sad and +heavy, and I wanted to make her feel badly by suggesting that something +terrible might happen to me—that I might, in fact, be killed. But it didn’t +work worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive. Dian simply shrugged +those magnificent shoulders of hers, and murmured something to the effect that +one was not rid of trouble so easily as that. +</p> + +<p> +For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to think that I had +twice protected her from attack—the last time risking my life to save hers. It +was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Age could be so ungrateful—so +heartless; but maybe her heart partook of the qualities of her epoch. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened and extended by +the action of the water draining through it from the plateau above. It gave us +a rather rough climb to the summit, but finally we stood upon the level mesa +which stretched back for several miles to the mountain range. Behind us lay the +broad inland sea, curving upward in the horizonless distance to merge into the +blue of the sky, so that for all the world it looked as though the sea lapped +back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond the distant mountains at +our backs—the weird and uncanny aspect of the seascapes of Pellucidar balk +description. +</p> + +<p> +At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country was open and clear +to the plateau’s farther verge. It was in this direction that our way led, and +we had turned to resume our journey when Dian touched my arm. I turned to her, +thinking that she was about to make peace overtures; but I was mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +“Jubal,” she said, and nodded toward the forest. +</p> + +<p> +I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a perfect whale of a +man. He must have been seven feet tall, and proportioned accordingly. He still +was too far off to distinguish his features. +</p> + +<p> +“Run,” I said to Dian. “I can engage him until you get a good start. Maybe I +can hold him until you have gotten entirely away,” and then, without a backward +glance, I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had hoped that Dian would have a +kind word to say to me before she went, for she must have known that I was +going to my death for her sake; but she never even so much as bid me good-bye, +and it was with a heavy heart that I strode through the flower-bespangled grass +to my doom. +</p> + +<p> +When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his features I understood +how it was that he had earned the sobriquet of Ugly One. Apparently some +fearful beast had ripped away one entire side of his face. The eye was gone, +the nose, and all the flesh, so that his jaws and all his teeth were exposed +and grinning through the horrible scar. +</p> + +<p> +Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others of his handsome +race, and it may be that the terrible result of this encounter had tended to +sour an already strong and brutal character. However this may be it is quite +certain that he was not a pretty sight, and now that his features, or what +remained of them, were distorted in rage at the sight of Dian with another +male, he was indeed most terrible to see—and much more terrible to meet. +</p> + +<p> +He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised his mighty spear, +while I halted and fitting an arrow to my bow took as steady aim as I could. I +was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess that the sight of this awful +man had wrought upon my nerves to such an extent that my knees were anything +but steady. What chance had I against this mighty warrior for whom even the +fiercest cave bear had no terrors! Could I hope to best one who slaughtered the +sadok and dyryth singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself, my fear +was more for Dian than for my own fate. +</p> + +<p> +And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped spear, and I raised +my shield to break the force of its terrific velocity. The impact hurled me to +my knees, but the shield had deflected the missile and I was unscathed. Jubal +was rushing upon me now with the only remaining weapon that he carried—a +murderous-looking knife. He was too close for a careful bowshot, but I let +drive at him as he came, without taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part +of his thigh, inflicting a painful but not disabling wound. And then he was +upon me. +</p> + +<p> +My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his raised arm, and when +he wheeled to come at me again he found a sword’s point in his face. And a +moment later he felt an inch or two of it in the muscles of his knife arm, so +that thereafter he went more warily. +</p> + +<p> +It was a duel of strategy now—the great, hairy man maneuvering to get inside my +guard where he could bring those giant thews to play, while my wits were +directed to the task of keeping him at arm’s length. Thrice he rushed me, and +thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield. Each time my sword found his +body—once penetrating to his lung. He was covered with blood by this time, and +the internal hemorrhage induced paroxysms of coughing that brought the red +stream through the hideous mouth and nose, covering his face and breast with +bloody froth. He was a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead. +</p> + +<p> +As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be perfectly candid, +I had not expected to survive the first rush of that monstrous engine of +ungoverned rage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from utter contempt of me, +began to change to a feeling of respect, and then in his primitive mind there +evidently loomed the thought that perhaps at last he had met his master, and +was facing his end. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can account for his next +act, which was in the nature of a last resort—a sort of forlorn hope, which +could only have been born of the belief that if he did not kill me quickly I +should kill him. It happened on the occasion of his fourth charge, when, +instead of striking at me with his knife, he dropped that weapon, and seizing +my sword blade in both his hands wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily as +from a babe. +</p> + +<p> +Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an instant glaring +into my face with such a horrid leer of malignant triumph as to almost unnerve +me—then he sprang for me with his bare hands. But it was Jubal’s day to learn +new methods of warfare. For the first time he had seen a bow and arrows, never +before that duel had he beheld a sword, and now he learned what a man who knows +may do with his bare fists. +</p> + +<p> +As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath his outstretched +arm, and as I came up planted as clean a blow upon his jaw as ever you have +seen. Down went that great mountain of flesh sprawling upon the ground. He was +so surprised and dazed that he lay there for several seconds before he made any +attempt to rise, and I stood over him with another dose ready when he should +gain his knees. +</p> + +<p> +Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; but he didn’t +stay up—I let him have a left fair on the point of the jaw that sent him +tumbling over on his back. By this time I think Jubal had gone mad with hate, +for no sane man would have come back for more as many times as he did. Time +after time I bowled him over as fast as he could stagger up, until toward the +last he lay longer on the ground between blows, and each time came up weaker +than before. +</p> + +<p> +He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, and presently a +terrific blow over the heart sent him reeling heavily to the ground, where he +lay very still, and somehow I knew at once that Jubal the Ugly One would never +get up again. But even as I looked upon that massive body lying there so grim +and terrible in death, I could not believe that I, single-handed, had bested +this slayer of fearful beasts—this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age. +</p> + +<p> +Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the dead body of my +foeman, and as I thought of the battle I had just fought and won a great idea +was born in my brain—the outcome of this and the suggestion that Perry had made +within the city of Phutra. If skill and science could render a comparative +pygmy the master of this mighty brute, what could not the brute’s fellows +accomplish with the same skill and science. Why all Pellucidar would be at +their feet—and I would be their king and Dian their queen. +</p> + +<p> +Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite within the +possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even were I king. She was quite the +most superior person I ever had met—with the most convincing way of letting you +know that she was superior. Well, I could go to the cave, and tell her that I +had killed Jubal, and then she might feel more kindly toward me, since I had +freed her of her tormentor. I hoped that she had found the cave easily—it would +be terrible had I lost her again, and I turned to gather up my shield and bow +to hurry after her, when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten paces +behind me. +</p> + +<p> +“Girl!” I cried, “what are you doing here? I thought that you had gone to the +cave, as I told you to do.” +</p> + +<p> +Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the majesty out of me, +and left me feeling more like the palace janitor—if palaces have janitors. +</p> + +<p> +“As you told me to do!” she cried, stamping her little foot. “I do as I please. +I am the daughter of a king, and furthermore, I hate you.” +</p> + +<p> +I was dumbfounded—this was my thanks for saving her from Jubal! I turned and +looked at the corpse. “May be that I saved you from a worse fate, old man,” I +said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she never seemed to notice it at +all. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us go to my cave,” I said, “I am tired and hungry.” +</p> + +<p> +She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. I was too angry, +and she evidently didn’t care to converse with the lower orders. I was mad all +the way through, as I had certainly felt that at least a word of thanks should +have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own standards, I must have done a +very wonderful thing to have killed the redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand +encounter. +</p> + +<p> +We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went down into the valley +and bowled over a small antelope, which I dragged up the steep ascent to the +ledge before the door. Here we ate in silence. Occasionally I glanced at her, +thinking that the sight of her tearing at raw flesh with her hands and teeth +like some wild animal would cause a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; but +to my surprise I found that she ate quite as daintily as the most civilized +woman of my acquaintance, and finally I found myself gazing in foolish rapture +at the beauties of her strong, white teeth. Such is love. +</p> + +<p> +After our repast we went down to the river together and bathed our hands and +faces, and then after drinking our fill went back to the cave. Without a word I +crawled into the farthest corner and, curling up, was soon asleep. +</p> + +<p> +When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out across the valley. +As I came out she moved to one side to let me pass, but she had no word for me. +I wanted to hate her, but I couldn’t. Every time I looked at her something came +up in my throat, so that I nearly choked. I had never been in love before, but +I did not need any aid in diagnosing my case—I certainly had it and had it bad. +God, how I loved that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl! +</p> + +<p> +After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended returning to her tribe +now that Jubal was dead, but she shook her head sadly, and said that she did +not dare, for there was still Jubal’s brother to be considered—his oldest +brother. +</p> + +<p> +“What has he to do with it?” I asked. “Does he too want you, or has the option +on you become a family heirloom, to be passed on down from generation to +generation?” +</p> + +<p> +She was not quite sure as to what I meant. +</p> + +<p> +“It is probable,” she said, “that they all will want revenge for the death of +Jubal—there are seven of them—seven terrible men. Someone may have to kill them +all, if I am to return to my people.” +</p> + +<p> +It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too large for me—about +seven sizes, in fact. +</p> + +<p> +“Had Jubal any cousins?” I asked. It was just as well to know the worst at +once. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” replied Dian, “but they don’t count—they all have mates. Jubal’s +brothers have no mates because Jubal could get none for himself. He was so ugly +that women ran away from him—some have even thrown themselves from the cliffs +of Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the Ugly One.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what had that to do with his brothers?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I forget that you are not of Pellucidar,” said Dian, with a look of pity mixed +with contempt, and the contempt seemed to be laid on a little thicker than the +circumstance warranted—as though to make quite certain that I shouldn’t +overlook it. “You see,” she continued, “a younger brother may not take a mate +until all his older brothers have done so, unless the older brother waives his +prerogative, which Jubal would not do, knowing that as long as he kept them +single they would be all the keener in aiding him to secure a mate.” +</p> + +<p> +Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began to entertain hopes +that she might be warming up toward me a bit, although upon what slender thread +I hung my hopes I soon discovered. +</p> + +<p> +“As you dare not return to Amoz,” I ventured, “what is to become of you since +you cannot be happy here with me, hating me as you do?” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall have to put up with you,” she replied coldly, “until you see fit to go +elsewhere and leave me in peace, then I shall get along very well alone.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible that even a +prehistoric woman could be so cold and heartless and ungrateful. Then I arose. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall leave you NOW,” I said haughtily, “I have had quite enough of your +ingratitude and your insults,” and then I turned and strode majestically down +toward the valley. I had taken a hundred steps in absolute silence, and then +Dian spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you!” she shouted, and her voice broke—in rage, I thought. +</p> + +<p> +I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn’t gone too far when I began to realize +that I couldn’t leave her alone there without protection, to hunt her own food +amid the dangers of that savage world. She might hate me, and revile me, and +heap indignity after indignity upon me, as she already had, until I should have +hated her; but the pitiful fact remained that I loved her, and I couldn’t leave +her there alone. +</p> + +<p> +The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the time I reached the +valley I was furious, and the result of it was that I turned right around and +went up that cliff again as fast as I had come down. I saw that Dian had left +the ledge and gone within the cave, but I bolted right in after her. She was +lying upon her face on the pile of grasses I had gathered for her bed. When she +heard me enter she sprang to her feet like a tigress. +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you!” she cried. +</p> + +<p> +Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the semidarkness of the +cave I could not see her features, and I was rather glad, for I disliked to +think of the hate that I should have read there. +</p> + +<p> +I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across the cave and grasped +her by the wrists, and when she struggled, I put my arm around her so as to +pinion her hands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, but I took my free +hand and pushed her head back—I imagine that I had suddenly turned brute, that +I had gone back a thousand million years, and was again a veritable cave man +taking my mate by force—and then I kissed that beautiful mouth again and again. +</p> + +<p> +“Dian,” I cried, shaking her roughly, “I love you. Can’t you understand that I +love you? That I love you better than all else in this world or my own? That I +am going to have you? That love like mine cannot be denied?” +</p> + +<p> +I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my eyes became +accustomed to the light I saw that she was smiling—a very contented, happy +smile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, she was trying +to disengage her arms, and I loosened my grip upon them so that she could do +so. Slowly they came up and stole about my neck, and then she drew my lips down +to hers once more and held them there for a long time. At last she spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t you do this at first, David? I have been waiting so long.” +</p> + +<p> +“What!” I cried. “You said that you hated me!” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I loved you before I +knew that you loved me?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“But I have told you right along that I love you,” I said. “Love speaks in +acts,” she replied. “You could have made your mouth say what you wished it to +say, but just now when you came and took me in your arms your heart spoke to +mine in the language that a woman’s heart understands. What a silly man you +are, David.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you haven’t hated me at all, Dian?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I have loved you always,” she whispered, “from the first moment that I saw +you, although I did not know it until that time you struck down Hooja the Sly +One, and then spurned me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I didn’t spurn you, dear,” I cried. “I didn’t know your ways—I doubt if I +do now. It seems incredible that you could have reviled me so, and yet have +cared for me all the time.” +</p> + +<p> +“You might have known,” she said, “when I did not run away from you that it was +not hate which chained me to you. While you were battling with Jubal, I could +have run to the edge of the forest, and when I learned the outcome of the +combat it would have been a simple thing to have eluded you and returned to my +own people.” +</p> + +<p> +“But Jubal’s brothers—and cousins—” I reminded her, “how about them?” +</p> + +<p> +She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“I had to tell you SOMETHING, David,” she whispered. “I must needs have SOME +excuse for remaining near you.” +</p> + +<p> +“You little sinner!” I exclaimed. “And you have caused me all this anguish for +nothing!” +</p> + +<p> +“I have suffered even more,” she answered simply, “for I thought that you did +not love me, and I was helpless. I couldn’t come to you and demand that my love +be returned, as you have just come to me. Just now when you went away hope went +with you. I was wretched, terrified, miserable, and my heart was breaking. I +wept, and I have not done that before since my mother died,” and now I saw that +there was the moisture of tears about her eyes. It was near to making me cry +myself when I thought of all that poor child had been through. Motherless and +unprotected; hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideous brute of a +man; exposed to the attacks of the countless fearsome denizens of its +mountains, its plains, and its jungles—it was a miracle that she had survived +it all. +</p> + +<p> +To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears must have endured +that the human race of the outer crust might survive. It made me very proud to +think that I had won the love of such a woman. Of course she couldn’t read or +write; there was nothing cultured or refined about her as you judge culture and +refinement; but she was the essence of all that is best in woman, for she was +good, and brave, and noble, and virtuous. And she was all these things in spite +of the fact that their observance entailed suffering and danger and possible +death. +</p> + +<p> +How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in the first place! +She would have been his lawful mate. She would have been queen in her own +land—and it meant just as much to the cave woman to be a queen in the Stone Age +as it does to the woman of today to be a queen now; it’s all comparative glory +any way you look at it, and if there were only half-naked savages on the outer +crust today, you’d find that it would be considerable glory to be the wife of a +Dahomey chief. +</p> + +<p> +I couldn’t help but compare Dian’s action with that of a splendid young woman I +had known in New York—I mean splendid to look at and to talk to. She had been +head over heels in love with a chum of mine—a clean, manly chap—but she had +married a broken-down, disreputable old debauchee because he was a count in +some dinky little European principality that was not even accorded a +distinctive color by Rand McNally. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian. +</p> + +<p> +After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious to see Perry, and +to know that all was right with him. I had told Dian about our plan of +emancipating the human race of Pellucidar, and she was fairly wild over it. She +said that if Dacor, her brother, would only return he could easily be king of +Amoz, and that then he and Ghak could form an alliance. That would give us a +flying start, for the Sarians and the Amozites were both very powerful tribes. +Once they had been armed with swords, and bows and arrows, and trained in their +use we were confident that they could overcome any tribe that seemed +disinclined to join the great army of federated states with which we were +planning to march upon the Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +I explained the various destructive engines of war which Perry and I could +construct after a little experimentation—gunpowder, rifles, cannon, and the +like, and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms about my neck, and tell +me what a wonderful thing I was. She was beginning to think that I was +omnipotent although I really hadn’t done anything but talk—but that is the way +with women when they love. Perry used to say that if a fellow was one-tenth as +remarkable as his wife or mother thought him, he would have the world by the +tail with a down-hill drag. +</p> + +<p> +The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of poisonous vipers +before we reached the valley. A little fellow stung me on the ankle, and Dian +made me come back to the cave. She said that I mustn’t exercise, or it might +prove fatal—if it had been a full-grown snake that struck me she said, I +wouldn’t have moved a single pace from the nest—I’d have died in my tracks, so +virulent is the poison. As it was I must have been laid up for quite a while, +though Dian’s poultices of herbs and leaves finally reduced the swelling and +drew out the poison. +</p> + +<p> +The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an idea which added a +thousand-fold to the value of my arrows as missiles of offense and defense. As +soon as I was able to be about again, I sought out some adult vipers of the +species which had stung me, and having killed them, I extracted their virus, +smearing it upon the tips of several arrows. Later I shot a hyaenodon with one +of these, and though my arrow inflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beast +crumpled in death almost immediately after he was hit. +</p> + +<p> +We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it was with feelings +of sincere regret that we bade good-bye to our beautiful Garden of Eden, in the +comparative peace and harmony of which we had lived the happiest moments of our +lives. How long we had been there I did not know, for as I have told you, time +had ceased to exist for me beneath that eternal noonday sun—it may have been an +hour, or a month of earthly time; I do not know. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>XV<br/> +BACK TO EARTH </h2> + +<p> +We crossed the river and passed through the mountains beyond, and finally we +came out upon a great level plain which stretched away as far as the eye could +reach. I cannot tell you in what direction it stretched even if you would care +to know, for all the while that I was within Pellucidar I never discovered any +but local methods of indicating direction—there is no north, no south, no east, +no west. UP is about the only direction which is well defined, and that, of +course, is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun neither rises nor sets +there is no method of indicating direction beyond visible objects such as high +mountains, forests, lakes, and seas. +</p> + +<p> +The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the Darel Az upon the +shore nearest the Mountains of the Clouds is about as near to any direction as +any Pellucidarian can come. If you happen not to have heard of the Darel Az, or +the white cliffs, or the Mountains of the Clouds you feel that there is +something lacking, and long for the good old understandable northeast and +southwest of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two enormous animals +approaching us from a great distance. So far were they that we could not +distinguish what manner of beasts they might be, but as they came closer, I saw +that they were enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a hundred feet long, with tiny +heads perched at the top of very long necks. Their heads must have been quite +forty feet from the ground. The beasts moved very slowly—that is their action +was slow—but their strides covered such a great distance that in reality they +traveled considerably faster than a man walks. +</p> + +<p> +As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back of each sat a human +being. Then Dian knew what they were, though she never before had seen one. +</p> + +<p> +“They are lidis from the land of the Thorians,” she cried. “Thoria lies at the +outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. The Thorians alone of all the races of +Pellucidar ride the lidi, for nowhere else than beside the dark country are +they found.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is the Land of Awful Shadow?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World,” replied Dian; “the Dead +World which hangs forever between the sun and Pellucidar above the Land of +Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World which makes the great shadow upon this +portion of Pellucidar.” +</p> + +<p> +I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure that I do yet, for I +have never been to that part of Pellucidar from which the Dead World is +visible; but Perry says that it is the moon of Pellucidar—a tiny planet within +a planet—and that it revolves around the earth’s axis coincidently with the +earth, and thus is always above the same spot within Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him about this Dead +World, for he seemed to think that it explained the hitherto inexplicable +phenomena of nutation and the precession of the equinoxes. +</p> + +<p> +When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we saw that one was a +man and the other a woman. The former had held up his two hands, palms toward +us, in sign of peace, and I had answered him in kind, when he suddenly gave a +cry of astonishment and pleasure, and slipping from his enormous mount ran +forward toward Dian, throwing his arms about her. +</p> + +<p> +In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an instant; since Dian +quickly drew the man toward me, telling him that I was David, her mate. +</p> + +<p> +“And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David,” she said to me. +</p> + +<p> +It appeared that the woman was Dacor’s mate. He had found none to his liking +among the Sari, nor farther on until he had come to the land of the Thoria, and +there he had found and fought for this very lovely Thorian maiden whom he was +bringing back to his own people. +</p> + +<p> +When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to accompany us to +Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come to an agreement relative to an alliance, +as Dacor was quite as enthusiastic about the proposed annihilation of the +Mahars and Sagoths as either Dian or I. +</p> + +<p> +After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, we came to the +first of the Sarian villages which consists of between one and two hundred +artificial caves cut into the face of a great cliff. Here to our immense +delight, we found both Perry and Ghak. The old man was quite overcome at sight +of me for he had long since given me up as dead. +</p> + +<p> +When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn’t quite know what to say, but he +afterward remarked that with the pick of two worlds I could not have done +better. +</p> + +<p> +Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it was at a council of +the head men of the various tribes of the Sari that the eventual form of +government was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, the various kingdoms were to +remain virtually independent, but there was to be one great overlord, or +emperor. It was decided that I should be the first of the dynasty of the +emperors of Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, and poison +pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which provided the virus, and it was +they who mined the iron ore, and fashioned the swords under Perry’s direction. +Rapidly the fever spread from one tribe to another until representatives from +nations so far distant that the Sarians had never even heard of them came in to +take the oath of allegiance which we required, and to learn the art of making +the new weapons and using them. +</p> + +<p> +We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of the federation, and +the movement had reached colossal proportions before the Mahars discovered it. +The first intimation they had was when three of their great slave caravans were +annihilated in rapid succession. They could not comprehend that the lower +orders had suddenly developed a power which rendered them really formidable. +</p> + +<p> +In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our Sarians took a number +of Sagoth prisoners, and among them were two who had been members of the guards +within the building where we had been confined at Phutra. They told us that the +Mahars were frantic with rage when they discovered what had taken place in the +cellars of the buildings. The Sagoths knew that something very terrible had +befallen their masters, but the Mahars had been most careful to see that no +inkling of the true nature of their vital affliction reached beyond their own +race. How long it would take for the race to become extinct it was impossible +even to guess; but that this must eventually happen seemed inevitable. +</p> + +<p> +The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of any one of us alive, +and at the same time had threatened to inflict the direst punishment upon +whomever should harm us. The Sagoths could not understand these seemingly +paradoxical instructions, though their purpose was quite evident to me. The +Mahars wanted the Great Secret, and they knew that we alone could deliver it to +them. +</p> + +<p> +Perry’s experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the fashioning of +rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we had hoped—there was a whole lot +about these two arts which Perry didn’t know. We were both assured that the +solution of these problems would advance the cause of civilization within +Pellucidar thousands of years at a single stroke. Then there were various other +arts and sciences which we wished to introduce, but our combined knowledge of +them did not embrace the mechanical details which alone could render them of +commercial, or practical value. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to produce gunpowder +that would even burn, “one of us must return to the outer world and bring back +the information we lack. Here we have all the labor and materials for +reproducing anything that ever has been produced above—what we lack is +knowledge. Let us go back and get that knowledge in the shape of books—then +this world will indeed be at our feet.” +</p> + +<p> +And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, which still lay +upon the edge of the forest at the point where we had first penetrated to the +surface of the inner world. Dian would not listen to any arrangement for my +going which did not include her, and I was not sorry that she wished to +accompany me, for I wanted her to see my world, and I wanted my world to see +her. +</p> + +<p> +With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, which Perry soon +had hoisted into position with its nose pointed back toward the outer crust. He +went over all the machinery carefully. He replenished the air tanks, and +manufactured oil for the engine. At last everything was ready, and we were +about to set out when our pickets, a long, thin line of which had surrounded +our camp at all times, reported that a great body of what appeared to be +Sagoths and Mahars were approaching from the direction of Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to witness the first clash +between two fair-sized armies of the opposing races of Pellucidar. I realized +that this was to mark the historic beginning of a mighty struggle for +possession of a world, and as the first emperor of Pellucidar I felt that it +was not alone my duty, but my right, to be in the thick of that momentous +struggle. +</p> + +<p> +As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many Mahars with the +Sagoth troops—an indication of the vast importance which the dominant race +placed upon the outcome of this campaign, for it was not customary with them to +take active part in the sorties which their creatures made for slaves—the only +form of warfare which they waged upon the lower orders. +</p> + +<p> +Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to view the prospector. +I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians on the right of our battle line. Dacor +took the left, while I commanded the center. Behind us I stationed a sufficient +reserve under one of Ghak’s head men. The Sagoths advanced steadily with +menacing spears, and I let them come until they were within easy bowshot before +I gave the word to fire. +</p> + +<p> +At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front ranks of the gorilla-men +crumpled to the ground; but those behind charged over the prostrate forms of +their comrades in a wild, mad rush to be upon us with their spears. A second +volley stopped them for an instant, and then my reserve sprang through the +openings in the firing line to engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy +spears of the Sagoths were no match for the swords of the Sarian and Amozite, +who turned the spear thrusts aside with their shields and leaped to close +quarters with their lighter, handier weapons. +</p> + +<p> +Ghak took his archers along the enemy’s flank, and while the swordsmen engaged +them in front, he poured volley after volley into their unprotected left. The +Mahars did little real fighting, and were more in the way than otherwise, +though occasionally one of them would fasten its powerful jaw upon the arm or +leg of a Sarian. +</p> + +<p> +The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I led our men in upon +the Sagoth’s right with naked swords they were already so demoralized that they +turned and fled before us. We pursued them for some time, taking many prisoners +and recovering nearly a hundred slaves, among whom was Hooja the Sly One. +</p> + +<p> +He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his own land; but that +his life had been spared in hope that through him the Mahars would learn the +whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak and I were inclined to think that the +Sly One had been guiding this expedition to the land of Sari, where he thought +that the book might be found in Perry’s possession; but we had no proof of this +and so we took him in and treated him as one of us, although none liked him. +And how he rewarded my generosity you will presently learn. +</p> + +<p> +There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so fearful were our own +people of them that they would not approach them unless completely covered from +the sight of the reptiles by a piece of skin. Even Dian shared the popular +superstition regarding the evil effects of exposure to the eyes of angry +Mahars, and though I laughed at her fears I was willing enough to humor them if +it would relieve her apprehension in any degree, and so she sat apart from the +prospector, near which the Mahars had been chained, while Perry and I again +inspected every portion of the mechanism. +</p> + +<p> +At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to one of the men +without to fetch Dian. It happened that Hooja stood quite close to the doorway +of the prospector, so that it was he who, without my knowledge, went to bring +her; but how he succeeded in accomplishing the fiendish thing he did, I cannot +guess, unless there were others in the plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, +since all my people were loyal to me and would have made short work of Hooja +had he suggested the heartless scheme, even had he had time to acquaint another +with it. It was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it was the +result of sudden impulse, aided by a number of, to Hooja, fortuitous +circumstances occurring at precisely the right moment. +</p> + +<p> +All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the prospector, still +wrapped from head to toe in the skin of an enormous cave lion which covered her +since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into camp. He deposited his burden +in the seat beside me. I was all ready to get under way. The good-byes had been +said. Perry had grasped my hand in the last, long farewell. I closed and barred +the outer and inner doors, took my seat again at the driving mechanism, and +pulled the starting lever. +</p> + +<p> +As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our first trial of the iron +monster, there was a frightful roaring beneath us—the giant frame trembled and +vibrated—there was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through the +hollow space between the inner and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. +Once more the thing was off. +</p> + +<p> +But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my seat by the sudden +lurching of the prospector. At first I did not realize what had happened, but +presently it dawned upon me that just before entering the crust the towering +body had fallen through its supporting scaffolding, and that instead of +entering the ground vertically we were plunging into it at a different angle. +Where it would bring us out upon the upper crust I could not even conjecture. +And then I turned to note the effect of this strange experience upon Dian. She +still sat shrouded in the great skin. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, come,” I cried, laughing, “come out of your shell. No Mahar eyes can +reach you here,” and I leaned over and snatched the lion skin from her. And +then I shrank back upon my seat in utter horror. +</p> + +<p> +The thing beneath the skin was not Dian—it was a hideous Mahar. Instantly I +realized the trick that Hooja had played upon me, and the purpose of it. Rid of +me, forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would be at his mercy. Frantically I +tore at the steering wheel in an effort to turn the prospector back toward +Pellucidar; but, as on that other occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair. +</p> + +<p> +It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of that journey. It +varied but little from the former one which had brought us from the outer to +the inner world. Because of the angle at which we had entered the ground the +trip required nearly a day longer, and brought me out here upon the sand of the +Sahara instead of in the United States as I had hoped. +</p> + +<p> +For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. I dared not leave +the prospector for fear I should never be able to find it again—the shifting +sands of the desert would soon cover it, and then my only hope of returning to +my Dian and her Pellucidar would be gone forever. +</p> + +<p> +That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, for how may I know +upon what part of Pellucidar my return journey may terminate—and how, without a +north or south or an east or a west may I hope ever to find my way across that +vast world to the tiny spot where my lost love lies grieving for me? +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the goat-skin tent upon the +rim of the great Sahara Desert. The next day he took me out to see the +prospector—it was precisely as he had described it. So huge was it that it +could have been brought to this inaccessible part of the world by no means of +transportation that existed there—it could only have come in the way that David +Innes said it came—up through the crust of the earth from the inner world of +Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +I spent a week with him, and then, abandoning my lion hunt, returned directly +to the coast and hurried to London where I purchased a great quantity of stuff +which he wished to take back to Pellucidar with him. There were books, rifles, +revolvers, ammunition, cameras, chemicals, telephones, telegraph instruments, +wire, tools and more books—books upon every subject under the sun. He said he +wanted a library with which they could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth +century in the Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I got it for him. +</p> + +<p> +I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied them to the end of +the railroad; but from here I was recalled to America upon important business. +However, I was able to employ a very trustworthy man to take charge of the +caravan—the same guide, in fact, who had accompanied me on the previous trip +into the Sahara—and after writing a long letter to Innes in which I gave him my +American address, I saw the expedition head south. +</p> + +<p> +Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five hundred miles of +double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. I had it packed on a special reel +at his suggestion, as it was his idea that he could fasten one end here before +he left and by paying it out through the end of the prospector lay a telegraph +line between the outer and inner worlds. In my letter I told him to be sure to +mark the terminus of the line very plainly with a high cairn, in case I was not +able to reach him before he set out, so that I might easily find and +communicate with him should he be so fortunate as to reach Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +I received several letters from him after I returned to America—in fact he took +advantage of every northward-passing caravan to drop me word of some sort. His +last letter was written the day before he intended to depart. Here it is. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +MY DEAR FRIEND: +</p> + +<p> +Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. That is if the Arabs +don’t get me. They have been very nasty of late. I don’t know the cause, but on +two occasions they have threatened my life. One, more friendly than the rest, +told me today that they intended attacking me tonight. It would be unfortunate +should anything of that sort happen now that I am so nearly ready to depart. +</p> + +<p> +However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the hour approaches, the +slenderer my chances for success appear. +</p> + +<p> +Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north for me, so good-bye, +and God bless you for your kindness to me. +</p> + +<p> +The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand to the south—he thinks +it is the party coming to murder me, and he doesn’t want to be found with me. +So good-bye again. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +Yours, <br/> +DAVID INNES. +</p> + +<p> +A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, headed for the spot +where I had left Innes. My first disappointment was when I discovered that my +old guide had died within a few weeks of my return, nor could I find any member +of my former party who could lead me to the same spot. +</p> + +<p> +For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing countless desert sheiks +in the hope that at last I might find one who had heard of Innes and his +wonderful iron mole. Constantly my eyes scanned the blinding waste of sand for +the rocky cairn beneath which I was to find the wires leading to Pellucidar—but +always was I unsuccessful. +</p> + +<p> +And always do these awful questions harass me when I think of David Innes and +his strange adventures. +</p> + +<p> +Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? Or, did +he again turn the nose of his iron monster toward the inner world? Did he reach +it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of the great crust? And if he did +come again to Pellucidar was it to break through into the bottom of one of her +great island seas, or among some savage race far, far from the land of his +heart’s desire? +</p> + +<p> +Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, at the end of +two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost cairn? I wonder. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 123 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + diff --git a/123-h/images/cover.jpg b/123-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1547337 --- /dev/null +++ b/123-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aaf8e88 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #123 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/123) diff --git a/old/123-0.txt b/old/123-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6405a40 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/123-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5504 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of At the Earth’s Core, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: At the Earth’s Core + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Release Date: April, 1994 [eBook #123] +[Most recently updated: July 13, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Judith Boss + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE EARTH’S CORE *** + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +At the Earth’s Core + +By Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + +CONTENTS + + PROLOG + CHAPTER I. TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + CHAPTER II. A STRANGE WORLD + CHAPTER III. A CHANGE OF MASTERS + CHAPTER IV. DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + CHAPTER V. SLAVES + CHAPTER VI. THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + CHAPTER VII. FREEDOM + CHAPTER VIII. THE MAHAR TEMPLE + CHAPTER IX. THE FACE OF DEATH + CHAPTER X. PHUTRA AGAIN + CHAPTER XI. FOUR DEAD MAHARS + CHAPTER XII. PURSUIT + CHAPTER XIII. THE SLY ONE + CHAPTER XIV. THE GARDEN OF EDEN + CHAPTER XV. BACK TO EARTH + + + + +PROLOG + + +In the first place please bear in mind that I do not expect you to +believe this story. Nor could you wonder had you witnessed a recent +experience of mine when, in the armor of blissful and stupendous +ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of it to a Fellow of the Royal +Geological Society on the occasion of my last trip to London. + +You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no less a +heinous crime than the purloining of the Crown Jewels from the Tower, +or putting poison in the coffee of His Majesty the King. + +The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I was half +through!—it is all that saved him from exploding—and my dreams of an +Honorary Fellowship, gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame faded +into the thin, cold air of his arctic atmosphere. + +But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the learned +Fellow of the Royal Geological Society, had you and he heard it from +the lips of the man who told it to me. Had you seen, as I did, the fire +of truth in those gray eyes; had you felt the ring of sincerity in that +quiet voice; had you realized the pathos of it all—you, too, would +believe. You would not have needed the final ocular proof that I +had—the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature which he had brought back +with him from the inner world. + +I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the rim +of the great Sahara Desert. He was standing before a goat-skin tent +amidst a clump of date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by was an Arab +douar of some eight or ten tents. + +I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted of a +dozen children of the desert—I was the only “white” man. As we +approached the little clump of verdure I saw the man come from his tent +and with hand-shaded eyes peer intently at us. At sight of me he +advanced rapidly to meet us. + +“A white man!” he cried. “May the good Lord be praised! I have been +watching you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS time there would +be a white man. Tell me the date. What year is it?” + +And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck full +in the face, so that he was compelled to grasp my stirrup leather for +support. + +“It cannot be!” he cried after a moment. “It cannot be! Tell me that +you are mistaken, or that you are but joking.” + +“I am telling you the truth, my friend,” I replied. “Why should I +deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a matter as the date?” + +For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head. + +“Ten years!” he murmured, at last. “Ten years, and I thought that at +the most it could be scarce more than one!” That night he told me his +story—the story that I give you here as nearly in his own words as I +can recall them. + + + + +I +TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + + +I was born in Connecticut about thirty years ago. My name is David +Innes. My father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen he died. +All his property was to be mine when I had attained my +majority—provided that I had devoted the two years intervening in close +application to the great business I was to inherit. + +I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent—not because of the +inheritance, but because I loved and honored my father. For six months +I toiled in the mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to know +every minute detail of the business. + +Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow who had +devoted the better part of a long life to the perfection of a +mechanical subterranean prospector. As relaxation he studied +paleontology. I looked over his plans, listened to his arguments, +inspected his working model—and then, convinced, I advanced the funds +necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. + +I shall not go into the details of its construction—it lies out there +in the desert now—about two miles from here. Tomorrow you may care to +ride out and see it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred feet +long, and jointed so that it may turn and twist through solid rock if +need be. At one end is a mighty revolving drill operated by an engine +which Perry said generated more power to the cubic inch than any other +engine did to the cubic foot. I remember that he used to claim that +that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy—we were going to +make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our first +secret trial—but Perry never returned from that trial trip, and I only +after ten years. + +I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous occasion +upon which we were to test the practicality of that wondrous invention. +It was near midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry +had constructed his “iron mole” as he was wont to call the thing. The +great nose rested upon the bare earth of the floor. We passed through +the doors into the outer jacket, secured them, and then passing on into +the cabin, which contained the controlling mechanism within the inner +tube, switched on the electric lights. + +Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the +life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air to +replace that which we consumed in breathing; to his instruments for +recording temperatures, speed, distance, and for examining the +materials through which we were to pass. + +He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which +transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose of +his strange craft. + +Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon +transverse bars that we would be upright whether the craft were +ploughing her way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running +horizontally along some great seam of coal, or rising vertically toward +the surface again. + +At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a moment +we were silent, and then the old man’s hand grasped the starting lever. +There was a frightful roaring beneath us—the giant frame trembled and +vibrated—there was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through +the hollow space between the inner and outer jackets to be deposited in +our wake. We were off! + +The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full minute +neither of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial desperation +of the drowning man to the handrails of our swinging seats. Then Perry +glanced at the thermometer. + +“Gad!” he cried, “it cannot be possible—quick! What does the distance +meter read?” + +That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as I +turned to take a reading from the former I could see Perry muttering. + +“Ten degrees rise—it cannot be possible!” and then I saw him tug +frantically upon the steering wheel. + +As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated +Perry’s evident excitement, and my heart sank within me. But when I +spoke I hid the fear which haunted me. “It will be seven hundred feet, +Perry,” I said, “by the time you can turn her into the horizontal.” + +“You’d better lend me a hand then, my boy,” he replied, “for I cannot +budge her out of the vertical alone. God give that our combined +strength may be equal to the task, for else we are lost.” + +I wormed my way to the old man’s side with never a doubt but that the +great wheel would yield on the instant to the power of my young and +vigorous muscles. Nor was my belief mere vanity, for always had my +physique been the envy and despair of my fellows. And for that very +reason it had waxed even greater than nature had intended, since my +natural pride in my great strength had led me to care for and develop +my body and my muscles by every means within my power. What with +boxing, football, and baseball, I had been in training since childhood. + +And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of the huge +iron rim; but though I threw every ounce of my strength into it, my +best effort was as unavailing as Perry’s had been—the thing would not +budge—the grim, insensate, horrible thing that was holding us upon the +straight road to death! + +At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word returned +to my seat. There was no need for words—at least none that I could +imagine, unless Perry desired to pray. And I was quite sure that he +would, for he never left an opportunity neglected where he might +sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when he arose in the morning, he prayed +before he ate, he prayed when he had finished eating, and before he +went to bed at night he prayed again. In between he often found excuses +to pray even when the provocation seemed far-fetched to my worldly +eyes—now that he was about to die I felt positive that I should witness +a perfect orgy of prayer—if one may allude with such a simile to so +solemn an act. + +But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring him in the +face Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. From his lips there +flowed—not prayer—but a clear and limpid stream of undiluted profanity, +and it was all directed at that quietly stubborn piece of unyielding +mechanism. + +“I should think, Perry,” I chided, “that a man of your professed +religiousness would rather be at his prayers than cursing in the +presence of imminent death.” + +“Death!” he cried. “Death is it that appalls you? That is nothing by +comparison with the loss the world must suffer. Why, David within this +iron cylinder we have demonstrated possibilities that science has +scarce dreamed. We have harnessed a new principle, and with it animated +a piece of steel with the power of ten thousand men. That two lives +will be snuffed out is nothing to the world calamity that entombs in +the bowels of the earth the discoveries that I have made and proved in +the successful construction of the thing that is now carrying us +farther and farther toward the eternal central fires.” + +I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more concerned with our +own immediate future than with any problematic loss which the world +might be about to suffer. The world was at least ignorant of its +bereavement, while to me it was a real and terrible actuality. + +“What can we do?” I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath the mask of a +low and level voice. + +“We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere tanks +are empty,” replied Perry, “or we may continue on with the slight hope +that we may later sufficiently deflect the prospector from the vertical +to carry us along the arc of a great circle which must eventually +return us to the surface. If we succeed in so doing before we reach the +higher internal temperature we may even yet survive. There would seem +to me to be about one chance in several million that we shall +succeed—otherwise we shall die more quickly but no more surely than as +though we sat supinely waiting for the torture of a slow and horrible +death.” + +I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. While we were +talking the mighty iron mole had bored its way over a mile into the +rock of the earth’s crust. + +“Let us continue on, then,” I replied. “It should soon be over at this +rate. You never intimated that the speed of this thing would be so +high, Perry. Didn’t you know it?” + +“No,” he answered. “I could not figure the speed exactly, for I had no +instrument for measuring the mighty power of my generator. I reasoned, +however, that we should make about five hundred yards an hour.” + +“And we are making seven miles an hour,” I concluded for him, as I sat +with my eyes upon the distance meter. “How thick is the Earth’s crust, +Perry?” I asked. + +“There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there are +geologists,” was his answer. “One estimates it thirty miles, because +the internal heat, increasing at the rate of about one degree to each +sixty to seventy feet depth, would be sufficient to fuse the most +refractory substances at that distance beneath the surface. Another +finds that the phenomena of precession and nutation require that the +earth, if not entirely solid, must at least have a shell not less than +eight hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. So there you are. You +may take your choice.” + +“And if it should prove solid?” I asked. + +“It will be all the same to us in the end, David,” replied Perry. “At +the best our fuel will suffice to carry us but three or four days, +while our atmosphere cannot last to exceed three. Neither, then, is +sufficient to bear us in safety through eight thousand miles of rock to +the antipodes.” + +“If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a final stop +between six and seven hundred miles beneath the earth’s surface; but +during the last hundred and fifty miles of our journey we shall be +corpses. Am I correct?” I asked. + +“Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?” + +“I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce believe that +either of us realizes the real terrors of our position. I feel that I +should be reduced to panic; but yet I am not. I imagine that the shock +has been so great as to partially stun our sensibilities.” + +Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising with less +rapidity. It was now but 140 degrees, although we had penetrated to a +depth of nearly four miles. I told Perry, and he smiled. + +“We have shattered one theory at least,” was his only comment, and then +he returned to his self-assumed occupation of fluently cursing the +steering wheel. I once heard a pirate swear, but his best efforts would +have seemed like those of a tyro alongside of Perry’s masterful and +scientific imprecations. + +Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well have +essayed to swing the earth itself. At my suggestion Perry stopped the +generator, and as we came to rest I again threw all my strength into a +supreme effort to move the thing even a hair’s breadth—but the results +were as barren as when we had been traveling at top speed. + +I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. Perry pulled +it toward him, and once again we were plunging downward toward eternity +at the rate of seven miles an hour. I sat with my eyes glued to the +thermometer and the distance meter. The mercury was rising very slowly +now, though even at 145 degrees it was almost unbearable within the +narrow confines of our metal prison. + +About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this unfortunate +journey, we had bored to a depth of eighty-four miles, at which point +the mercury registered 153 degrees F. + +Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager food he +sustained his optimism I could not conjecture. From cursing he had +turned to singing—I felt that the strain had at last affected his mind. +For several hours we had not spoken except as he asked me for the +readings of the instruments from time to time, and I announced them. My +thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I recalled numerous acts of my +past life which I should have been glad to have had a few more years to +live down. There was the affair in the Latin Commons at Andover when +Calhoun and I had put gunpowder in the stove—and nearly killed one of +the masters. And then—but what was the use, I was about to die and +atone for all these things and several more. Already the heat was +sufficient to give me a foretaste of the hereafter. A few more degrees +and I felt that I should lose consciousness. + +“What are the readings now, David?” Perry’s voice broke in upon my +somber reflections. + +“Ninety miles and 153 degrees,” I replied. + +“Gad, but we’ve knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory into a cocked +hat!” he cried gleefully. + +“Precious lot of good it will do us,” I growled back. + +“But my boy,” he continued, “doesn’t that temperature reading mean +anything to you? Why it hasn’t gone up in six miles. Think of it, son!” + +“Yes, I’m thinking of it,” I answered; “but what difference will it +make when our air supply is exhausted whether the temperature is 153 +degrees or 153,000? We’ll be just as dead, and no one will know the +difference, anyhow.” But I must admit that for some unaccountable +reason the stationary temperature did renew my waning hope. What I +hoped for I could not have explained, nor did I try. The very fact, as +Perry took pains to explain, of the blasting of several very exact and +learned scientific hypotheses made it apparent that we could not know +what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, and so we might +continue to hope for the best, at least until we were dead—when hope +would no longer be essential to our happiness. It was very good, and +logical reasoning, and so I embraced it. + +At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 DEGREES! +When I announced it Perry reached over and hugged me. + +From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to drop until +it became as uncomfortably cold as it had been unbearably hot before. +At the depth of two hundred and forty miles our nostrils were assailed +by almost overpowering ammonia fumes, and the temperature had dropped +to TEN BELOW ZERO! We suffered nearly two hours of this intense and +bitter cold, until at about two hundred and forty-five miles from the +surface of the earth we entered a stratum of solid ice, when the +mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees. During the next three hours we +passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging into another +series of ammonia-impregnated strata, where the mercury again fell to +ten degrees below zero. + +Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at last we were +nearing the molten interior of the earth. At four hundred miles the +temperature had reached 153 degrees. Feverishly I watched the +thermometer. Slowly it rose. Perry had ceased singing and was at last +praying. + +Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually increasing +heat seemed to our distorted imaginations much greater than it really +was. For another hour I saw that pitiless column of mercury rise and +rise until at four hundred and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. Now +it was that we began to hang upon those readings in almost breathless +anxiety. + +One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum temperature +above the ice stratum. Would it stop at this point again, or would it +continue its merciless climb? We knew that there was no hope, and yet +with the persistence of life itself we continued to hope against +practical certainty. + +Already the air tanks were at low ebb—there was barely enough of the +precious gases to sustain us for another twelve hours. But would we be +alive to know or care? It seemed incredible. + +At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading. + +“Perry!” I shouted. “Perry, man! She’s going down! She’s going down! +She’s 152 degrees again.” + +“Gad!” he cried. “What can it mean? Can the earth be cold at the +center?” + +“I do not know, Perry,” I answered; “but thank God, if I am to die it +shall not be by fire—that is all that I have feared. I can face the +thought of any death but that.” + +Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had seven miles +from the surface of the earth, and then of a sudden the realization +broke upon us that death was very near. Perry was the first to discover +it. I saw him fussing with the valves that regulate the air supply. And +at the same time I experienced difficulty in breathing. My head felt +dizzy—my limbs heavy. + +I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and sat erect +again. Then he turned toward me. + +“Good-bye, David,” he said. “I guess this is the end,” and then he +smiled and closed his eyes. + +“Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you,” I answered, smiling back at +him. But I fought off that awful lethargy. I was very young—I did not +want to die. + +For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death that +surrounded me upon all sides. At first I found that by climbing high +into the framework above me I could find more of the precious +life-giving elements, and for a while these sustained me. It must have +been an hour after Perry had succumbed that I at last came to the +realization that I could no longer carry on this unequal struggle +against the inevitable. + +With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned mechanically +toward the distance meter. It stood at exactly five hundred miles from +the earth’s surface—and then of a sudden the huge thing that bore us +came to a stop. The rattle of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket +ceased. The wild racing of the giant drill betokened that it was +running loose in AIR—and then another truth flashed upon me. The point +of the prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it dawned on me that since +passing through the ice strata it had been above. We had turned in the +ice and sped upward toward the earth’s crust. Thank God! We were safe! + +I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were to have +been taken during the passage of the prospector through the earth, and +my fondest hopes were realized—a flood of fresh air was pouring into +the iron cabin. The reaction left me in a state of collapse, and I lost +consciousness. + + + + +II +A STRANGE WORLD + + +I was unconscious little more than an instant, for as I lunged forward +from the crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash +to the floor of the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. + +My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought that +upon the very threshold of salvation he might be dead. Tearing open his +shirt I placed my ear to his breast. I could have cried with relief—his +heart was beating quite regularly. + +At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly across +his forehead and face several times. In a moment I was rewarded by the +raising of his lids. For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite +uncomprehending. Then his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he +sat up sniffing the air with an expression of wonderment upon his face. + +“Why, David,” he cried at last, “it’s air, as sure as I live. Why—why +what does it mean? Where in the world are we? What has happened?” + +“It means that we’re back at the surface all right, Perry,” I cried; +“but where, I don’t know. I haven’t opened her up yet. Been too busy +reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a close squeak!” + +“You say we’re back at the surface, David? How can that be? How long +have I been unconscious?” + +“Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don’t you recall the sudden +whirling of our seats? After that the drill was above you instead of +below. We didn’t notice it at the time; but I recall it now.” + +“You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, David? That is +not possible. The prospector cannot turn unless its nose is deflected +from the outside—by some external force or resistance—the steering +wheel within would have moved in response. The steering wheel has not +budged, David, since we started. You know that.” + +I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in pure air, and +copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin. + +“We couldn’t have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know as well as +you,” I replied; “but the fact remains that we did, for here we are +this minute at the surface of the earth again, and I am going out to +see just where.” + +“Better wait till morning, David—it must be midnight now.” + +I glanced at the chronometer. + +“Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, so it must be +midnight. Nevertheless I am going to have a look at the blessed sky +that I had given up all hope of ever seeing again,” and so saying I +lifted the bars from the inner door, and swung it open. There was quite +a quantity of loose material in the jacket, and this I had to remove +with a shovel to get at the opposite door in the outer shell. + +In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock to the floor +of the cabin to expose the door beyond. Perry was directly behind me as +I threw it open. The upper half was above the surface of the ground. +With an expression of surprise I turned and looked at Perry—it was +broad daylight without! + +“Something seems to have gone wrong either with our calculations or the +chronometer,” I said. Perry shook his head—there was a strange +expression in his eyes. + +“Let’s have a look beyond that door, David,” he cried. + +Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a landscape +at once weird and beautiful. Before us a low and level shore stretched +down to a silent sea. As far as the eye could reach the surface of the +water was dotted with countless tiny isles—some of towering, barren, +granitic rock—others resplendent in gorgeous trappings of tropical +vegetation, myriad starred with the magnificent splendor of vivid +blooms. + +Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns +intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest. +Huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense +under-brush overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. Upon +the outer verge we could see the same splendid coloring of countless +blossoms that glorified the islands, but within the dense shadows all +seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. + +And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays out of a cloudless +sky. + +“Where on earth can we be?” I asked, turning to Perry. + +For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with bowed head, +buried in deep thought. But at last he spoke. + +“David,” he said, “I am not so sure that we are ON earth.” + +“What do you mean, Perry?” I cried. “Do you think that we are dead, and +this is heaven?” He smiled, and turning, pointing to the nose of the +prospector protruding from the ground at our backs. + +“But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed come to the +country beyond the Styx. The prospector renders that theory +untenable—it, certainly, could never have gone to heaven. However I am +willing to concede that we actually may be in another world from that +which we have always known. If we are not ON earth, there is every +reason to believe that we may be IN it.” + +“We may have quartered through the earth’s crust and come out upon some +tropical island of the West Indies,” I suggested. Again Perry shook his +head. + +“Let us wait and see, David,” he replied, “and in the meantime suppose +we do a bit of exploring up and down the coast—we may find a native who +can enlighten us.” + +As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly across the +water. Evidently he was wrestling with a mighty problem. + +“David,” he said abruptly, “do you perceive anything unusual about the +horizon?” + +As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the strangeness of the +landscape that had haunted me from the first with an illusive +suggestion of the bizarre and unnatural—THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as +the eye could reach out the sea continued and upon its bosom floated +tiny islands, those in the distance reduced to mere specks; but ever +beyond them was the sea, until the impression became quite real that +one was LOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyes could +fathom—the distance was lost in the distance. That was all—there was no +clear-cut horizontal line marking the dip of the globe below the line +of vision. + +“A great light is commencing to break on me,” continued Perry, taking +out his watch. “I believe that I have partially solved the riddle. It +is now two o’clock. When we emerged from the prospector the sun was +directly above us. Where is it now?” + +I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the center of +the heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely noticed it before. Fully +thrice the size of the sun I had known throughout my life, and +apparently so near that the sight of it carried the conviction that one +might almost reach up and touch it. + +“My God, Perry, where are we?” I exclaimed. “This thing is beginning to +get on my nerves.” + +“I think that I may state quite positively, David,” he commenced, “that +we are—” but he got no further. From behind us in the vicinity of the +prospector there came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever +had fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned to discover the +author of that fearsome noise. + +Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the sight that +met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it. Emerging from the +forest was a colossal beast which closely resembled a bear. It was +fully as large as the largest elephant and with great forepaws armed +with huge claws. Its nose, or snout, depended nearly a foot below its +lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk. The giant body +was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair. + +Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling trot. I +turned to Perry to suggest that it might be wise to seek other +surroundings—the idea had evidently occurred to Perry previously, for +he was already a hundred paces away, and with each second his +prodigious bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed what +latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed. + +I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest which ran +out toward the sea not far from where we had been standing, and as the +mighty creature, the sight of which had galvanized him into such +remarkable action, was forging steadily toward me, I set off after +Perry, though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It was evident that the +massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed, so all that I +considered necessary was to gain the trees sufficiently ahead of it to +enable me to climb to the safety of some great branch before it came +up. + +Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at Perry’s +frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety of the lower branches +of the trees he now had reached. The stems were bare for a distance of +some fifteen feet—at least on those trees which Perry attempted to +ascend, for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger of the +forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. A dozen times he +scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back to the ground +once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over his +shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken +shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest. + +At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of one’s wrist, +and when I reached the trees he was racing madly up it, hand over hand. +He had almost reached the lowest branch of the tree from which the +creeper depended when the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell +sprawling at my feet. + +The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was already too +close to us for comfort. Seizing Perry by the shoulder I dragged him to +his feet, and rushing to a smaller tree—one that he could easily +encircle with his arms and legs—I boosted him as far up as I could, and +then left him to his fate, for a glance over my shoulder revealed the +awful beast almost upon me. + +It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous +bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with the agility of my +young muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of its way and run +completely behind it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit. + +The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged in +the branches of a tree a few paces from that in which Perry had at last +found a haven. + +Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, and +so did Perry. He was praying—raising his voice in thanksgiving at our +deliverance—and had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that +the thing couldn’t climb a tree when without warning it reared up +beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and reached those +fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon which he crouched. + +The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry’s scream of fright, +and he came near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws beneath him, so +precipitate was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. It +was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him gain a higher branch in +safety. + +And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror. +Grasping the tree’s stem with his powerful paws he dragged down with +all the great weight of his huge bulk and all the irresistible force of +those mighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began to bend toward +him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward as the tree leaned more and +more from the perpendicular. Perry clung chattering in a panic of +terror. Higher and higher into the bending and swaying tree he +clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward the +ground. + +I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. The +use that he was putting them to was precisely that for which nature had +intended them. The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed +that mighty carcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage. The +reason for its attacking us might easily be accounted for on the +supposition of an ugly disposition such as that which the fierce and +stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. But these were later +reflections. At the moment I was too frantic with apprehension on +Perry’s behalf to consider aught other than a means to save him from +the death that loomed so close. + +Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open, I +dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only on distracting the thing’s +attention from Perry long enough to enable the old man to gain the +safety of a larger tree. There were many close by which not even the +terrific strength of that titanic monster could bend. + +As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the tangled mass +that matted the jungle-like floor of the forest and, leaping unnoticed +behind the shaggy back, dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked +like magic. From the previous slowness of the beast I had been led to +look for no such marvelous agility as he now displayed. Releasing his +hold upon the tree he dropped on all fours and at the same time swung +his great, wicked tail with a force that would have broken every bone +in my body had it struck me; but, fortunately, I had turned to flee at +the very instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering back. + +As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running along the +edge of the forest rather than making for the open beach. In a moment I +was knee-deep in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing behind me was +gaining rapidly as I floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate +myself. + +A fallen log gave me an instant’s advantage, for climbing upon it I +leaped to another a few paces farther on, and in this way was able to +keep clear of the mush that carpeted the surrounding ground. But the +zigzag course that this necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap +upon me that my pursuer was steadily gaining upon me. + +Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, piercing +barks—much the sound that a pack of wolves raises when in full cry. +Involuntarily I glanced backward to discover the origin of this new and +menacing note with the result that I missed my footing and went +sprawling once more upon my face in the deep muck. + +My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I must feel the +weight of one of his terrible paws before I could rise, but to my +surprise the blow did not fall upon me. The howling and snapping and +barking of the new element which had been infused into the melee now +seemed centered quite close behind me, and as I raised myself upon my +hands and glanced around I saw what it was that had distracted the +DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called, from my trail. + +It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like creatures—wild +dogs they seemed—that rushed growling and snapping in upon it from all +sides, so that they sank their white fangs into the slow brute and were +away again before it could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping +tail. + +But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. Chattering and +gibbering through the lower branches of the trees came a company of +manlike creatures evidently urging on the dog pack. They were to all +appearances strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their +skins were very black, and their features much like those of the more +pronounced Negroid type except that the head receded more rapidly above +the eyes, leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were rather longer +and their legs shorter in proportion to the torso than in man, and +later I noticed that their great toes protruded at right angles from +their feet—because of their arboreal habits, I presume. Behind them +trailed long, slender tails which they used in climbing quite as much +as they did either their hands or feet. + +I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that the +wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay. At sight of me several of the +savage creatures left off worrying the great brute to come slinking +with bared fangs toward me, and as I turned to run toward the trees +again to seek safety among the lower branches, I saw a number of the +man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage of the nearest tree. + +Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, but at +least there was a doubt as to the reception these grotesque parodies on +humanity would accord me, while there was none as to the fate which +awaited me beneath the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers. + +And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath that which +held the man-things and take refuge in another farther on; but the +wolf-dogs were very close behind me—so close that I had despaired of +escaping them, when one of the creatures in the tree above swung down +headforemost, his tail looped about a great limb, and grasping me +beneath my armpits swung me in safety up among his fellows. + +There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement and +curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair, and my flesh. They +turned me about to see if I had a tail, and when they discovered that I +was not so equipped they fell into roars of laughter. Their teeth were +very large and white and even, except for the upper canines which were +a trifle longer than the others—protruding just a bit when the mouth +was closed. + +When they had examined me for a few moments one of them discovered that +my clothing was not a part of me, with the result that garment by +garment they tore it from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter. +Apelike, they essayed to don the apparel themselves, but their +ingenuity was not sufficient to the task and so they gave it up. + +In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of +Perry, but nowhere about could I see him, although the clump of trees +in which he had first taken refuge was in full view. I was much +exercised by fear that something had befallen him, and though I called +his name aloud several times there was no response. + +Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures threw it to the +ground, and catching me, one on either side, by an arm, started off at +a most terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have I experienced +such a journey before or since—even now I oftentimes awake from a deep +sleep haunted by the horrid remembrance of that awful experience. + +From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, +while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as I glimpsed the depths +beneath, into which a single misstep on the part of either of my +bearers would hurl me. As they bore me along, my mind was occupied with +a thousand bewildering thoughts. What had become of Perry? Would I ever +see him again? What were the intentions of these half-human things into +whose hands I had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the same world into +which I had been born? No! It could not be. But yet where else? I had +not left that earth—of that I was sure. Still neither could I reconcile +the things which I had seen to a belief that I was still in the world +of my birth. With a sigh I gave it up. + + + + +III +A CHANGE OF MASTERS + + +We must have traveled several miles through the dark and dismal wood +when we came suddenly upon a dense village built high among the +branches of the trees. As we approached it my escort broke into wild +shouting which was immediately answered from within, and a moment later +a swarm of creatures of the same strange race as those who had captured +me poured out to meet us. Again I was the center of a wildly chattering +horde. I was pulled this way and that. Pinched, pounded, and thumped +until I was black and blue, yet I do not think that their treatment was +dictated by either cruelty or malice—I was a curiosity, a freak, a new +plaything, and their childish minds required the added evidence of all +their senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. + +Presently they dragged me within the village, which consisted of +several hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves supported upon the +branches of the trees. + +Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, were dead +branches and the trunks of small trees which connected the huts upon +one tree to those within adjoining trees; the whole network of huts and +pathways forming an almost solid flooring a good fifty feet above the +ground. + +I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges +between the trees, but later when I saw the motley aggregation of +half-savage beasts which they kept within their village I realized the +necessity for the pathways. There were a number of the same vicious +wolf-dogs which we had left worrying the dyryth, and many goatlike +animals whose distended udders explained the reasons for their +presence. + +My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; then +two of the creatures squatted down before the entrance—to prevent my +escape, doubtless. Though where I should have escaped to I certainly +had not the remotest conception. I had no more than entered the dark +shadows of the interior than there fell upon my ears the tones of a +familiar voice, in prayer. + +“Perry!” I cried. “Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you are safe.” + +“David! Can it be possible that you escaped?” And the old man stumbled +toward me and threw his arms about me. + +He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been seized by a +number of the ape-creatures and borne through the tree tops to their +village. His captors had been as inquisitive as to his strange clothing +as had mine, with the same result. As we looked at each other we could +not help but laugh. + +“With a tail, David,” remarked Perry, “you would make a very handsome +ape.” + +“Maybe we can borrow a couple,” I rejoined. “They seem to be quite the +thing this season. I wonder what the creatures intend doing with us, +Perry. They don’t seem really savage. What do you suppose they can be? +You were about to tell me where we are when that great hairy frigate +bore down upon us—have you really any idea at all?” + +“Yes, David,” he replied, “I know precisely where we are. We have made +a magnificent discovery, my boy! We have proved that the earth is +hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust to the inner world.” + +“Perry, you are mad!” + +“Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our prospector bore +us through the crust beneath our outer world. At that point it reached +the center of gravity of the five-hundred-mile-thick crust. Up to that +point we had been descending—direction is, of course, merely relative. +Then at the moment that our seats revolved—the thing that made you +believe that we had turned about and were speeding upward—we passed the +center of gravity and, though we did not alter the direction of our +progress, yet we were in reality moving upward—toward the surface of +the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and flora which we have +seen convince you that you are not in the world of your birth? And the +horizon—could it present the strange aspects which we both noted unless +we were indeed standing upon the inside surface of a sphere?” + +“But the sun, Perry!” I urged. “How in the world can the sun shine +through five hundred miles of solid crust?” + +“It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It is another +sun—an entirely different sun—that casts its eternal noonday effulgence +upon the face of the inner world. Look at it now, David—if you can see +it from the doorway of this hut—and you will see that it is still in +the exact center of the heavens. We have been here for many hours—yet +it is still noon. + +“And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a nebulous +mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. At length a thin crust of +solid matter formed upon its outer surface—a sort of shell; but within +it was partially molten matter and highly expanded gases. As it +continued to cool, what happened? Centrifugal force hurled the +particles of the nebulous center toward the crust as rapidly as they +approached a solid state. You have seen the same principle practically +applied in the modern cream separator. Presently there was only a small +super-heated core of gaseous matter remaining within a huge vacant +interior left by the contraction of the cooling gases. The equal +attraction of the solid crust from all directions maintained this +luminous core in the exact center of the hollow globe. What remains of +it is the sun you saw today—a relatively tiny thing at the exact center +of the earth. Equally to every part of this inner world it diffuses its +perpetual noonday light and torrid heat. + +“This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal life +long ages after life appeared upon the outer crust, but that the same +agencies were at work here is evident from the similar forms of both +animal and vegetable creation which we have already seen. Take the +great beast which attacked us, for example. Unquestionably a +counterpart of the Megatherium of the post-Pliocene period of the outer +crust, whose fossilized skeleton has been found in South America.” + +“But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?” I urged. “Surely they +have no counterpart in the earth’s history.” + +“Who can tell?” he rejoined. “They may constitute the link between ape +and man, all traces of which have been swallowed by the countless +convulsions which have racked the outer crust, or they may be merely +the result of evolution along slightly different lines—either is quite +possible.” + +Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of several of our +captors before the entrance of the hut. Two of them entered and dragged +us forth. The perilous pathways and the surrounding trees were filled +with the black ape-men, their females, and their young. There was not +an ornament, a weapon, or a garment among the lot. + +“Quite low in the scale of creation,” commented Perry. + +“Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though,” I replied. “Now +what do you suppose they intend doing with us?” + +We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip to the +village we were seized by a couple of the powerful creatures and +whirled away through the tree tops, while about us and in our wake +raced a chattering, jabbering, grinning horde of sleek, black +ape-things. + +Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased beating as +we plunged toward instant death among the tangled deadwood beneath. But +on both occasions those lithe, powerful tails reached out and found +sustaining branches, nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp +upon me. In fact, it seemed that the incidents were of no greater +moment to them than would be the stubbing of one’s toe at a street +crossing in the outer world—they but laughed uproariously and sped on +with me. + +For some time they continued through the forest—how long I could not +guess for I was learning, what was later borne very forcefully to my +mind, that time ceases to be a factor the moment means for measuring it +cease to exist. Our watches were gone, and we were living beneath a +stationary sun. Already I was puzzled to compute the period of time +which had elapsed since we broke through the crust of the inner world. +It might be hours, or it might be days—who in the world could tell +where it was always noon! By the sun, no time had elapsed—but my +judgment told me that we must have been several hours in this strange +world. + +Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a level plain. A +short distance before us rose a few low, rocky hills. Toward these our +captors urged us, and after a short time led us through a narrow pass +into a tiny, circular valley. Here they got down to work, and we were +soon convinced that if we were not to die to make a Roman holiday, we +were to die for some other purpose. The attitude of our captors altered +immediately as they entered the natural arena within the rocky hills. +Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity marked their bestial faces—bared +fangs menaced us. + +We were placed in the center of the amphitheater—the thousand creatures +forming a great ring about us. Then a wolf-dog was brought—HYAENODON +Perry called it—and turned loose with us inside the circle. The thing’s +body was as large as that of a full-grown mastiff, its legs were short +and powerful, and its jaws broad and strong. Dark, shaggy hair covered +its back and sides, while its breast and belly were quite white. As it +slunk toward us it presented a most formidable aspect with its upcurled +lips baring its mighty fangs. + +Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a small stone. +At my movement the beast veered off a bit and commenced circling us. +Evidently it had been a target for stones before. The ape-things were +dancing up and down urging the brute on with savage cries, until at +last, seeing that I did not throw, he charged us. + +At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball teams. My +speed and control must both have been above the ordinary, for I made +such a record during my senior year at college that overtures were made +to me in behalf of one of the great major-league teams; but in the +tightest pitch that ever had confronted me in the past I had never been +in such need for control as now. + +As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles under +absolute command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling toward me at +terrific speed. And then I let go, with every ounce of my weight and +muscle and science in back of that throw. The stone caught the +hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, and sent him bowling over upon +his back. + +At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from the circle +of spectators, so that for a moment I thought that the upsetting of +their champion was the cause; but in this I soon saw that I was +mistaken. As I looked, the ape-things broke in all directions toward +the surrounding hills, and then I distinguished the real cause of their +perturbation. Behind them, streaming through the pass which leads into +the valley, came a swarm of hairy men—gorilla-like creatures armed with +spears and hatchets, and bearing long, oval shields. Like demons they +set upon the ape-things, and before them the hyaenodon, which had now +regained its senses and its feet, fled howling with fright. Past us +swept the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy ones accord us +more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its +former occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to have +authority among them directed that we be brought with them. + +When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great plain we saw +a caravan of men and women—human beings like ourselves—and for the +first time hope and relief filled my heart, until I could have cried +out in the exuberance of my happiness. It is true that they were a +half-naked, wild-appearing aggregation; but they at least were +fashioned along the same lines as ourselves—there was nothing grotesque +or horrible about them as about the other creatures in this strange, +weird world. + +But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we discovered +that the poor wretches were chained neck to neck in a long line, and +that the gorilla-men were their guards. With little ceremony Perry and +I were chained at the end of the line, and without further ado the +interrupted march was resumed. + +Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now the +tiresome monotony of the long march across the sun-baked plain brought +on all the agonies consequent to a long-denied sleep. On and on we +stumbled beneath that hateful noonday sun. If we fell we were prodded +with a sharp point. Our companions in chains did not stumble. They +strode along proudly erect. Occasionally they would exchange words with +one another in a monosyllabic language. They were a noble-appearing +race with well-formed heads and perfect physiques. The men were heavily +bearded, tall and muscular; the women, smaller and more gracefully +molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into loose knots upon +their heads. The features of both sexes were well proportioned—there +was not a face among them that would have been called even plain if +judged by earthly standards. They wore no ornaments; but this I later +learned was due to the fact that their captors had stripped them of +everything of value. As garmenture the women possessed a single robe of +some light-colored, spotted hide, rather similar in appearance to a +leopard’s skin. This they wore either supported entirely about the +waist by a leathern thong, so that it hung partially below the knee on +one side, or possibly looped gracefully across one shoulder. Their feet +were shod with skin sandals. The men wore loin cloths of the hide of +some shaggy beast, long ends of which depended before and behind nearly +to the ground. In some instances these ends were finished with the +strong talons of the beast from which the hides had been taken. + +Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like men, were +rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so they were indeed +mighty creatures. Their arms and legs were proportioned more in +conformity with human standards, but their entire bodies were covered +with shaggy, brown hair, and their faces were quite as brutal as those +of the few stuffed specimens of the gorilla which I had seen in the +museums at home. + +Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head above +and back of the ears. In this respect they were not one whit less human +than we. They were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth which +reached to the knees. Beneath this they wore only a loin cloth of the +same material, while their feet were shod with thick hide of some +mammoth creature of this inner world. + +Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metal—silver +predominating—and on their tunics were sewn the heads of tiny reptiles +in odd and rather artistic designs. They talked among themselves as +they marched along on either side of us, but in a language which I +perceived differed from that employed by our fellow prisoners. When +they addressed the latter they used what appeared to be a third +language, and which I later learned is a mongrel tongue rather +analogous to the Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie. + +How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of us were +asleep much of the time for hours before a halt was called—then we +dropped in our tracks. I say “for hours,” but how may one measure time +where time does not exist! When our march commenced the sun stood at +zenith. When we halted our shadows still pointed toward nadir. Whether +an instant or an eternity of earthly time elapsed who may say. That +march may have occupied nine years and eleven months of the ten years +that I spent in the inner world, or it may have been accomplished in +the fraction of a second—I cannot tell. But this I do know that since +you have told me that ten years have elapsed since I departed from this +earth I have lost all respect for time—I am commencing to doubt that +such a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man. + + + + +IV +DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + + +When our guards aroused us from sleep we were much refreshed. They gave +us food. Strips of dried meat it was, but it put new life and strength +into us, so that now we too marched with high-held heads, and took +noble strides. At least I did, for I was young and proud; but poor +Perry hated walking. On earth I had often seen him call a cab to travel +a square—he was paying for it now, and his old legs wobbled so that I +put my arm about him and half carried him through the balance of those +frightful marches. + +The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the level +plain through mighty mountains of virgin granite. The tropical verdure +of the lowlands was replaced by hardier vegetation, but even here the +effects of constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity of +the trees and the profusion of foliage and blooms. Crystal streams +roared through their rocky channels, fed by the perpetual snows which +we could see far above us. Above the snowcapped heights hung masses of +heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, which evidently served the +double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and protecting them +from the direct rays of the sun. + +By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard language in +which our guards addressed us, as well as making good headway in the +rather charming tongue of our co-captives. Directly ahead of me in the +chain gang was a young woman. Three feet of chain linked us together in +a forced companionship which I, at least, soon rejoiced in. For I found +her a willing teacher, and from her I learned the language of her +tribe, and much of the life and customs of the inner world—at least +that part of it with which she was familiar. + +She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she +belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs above the +Darel Az, or shallow sea. + +“How came you here?” I asked her. + +“I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she answered, as though +that was explanation quite sufficient. + +“Who is Jubal the Ugly One?” I asked. “And why did you run away from +him?” + +She looked at me in surprise. + +“Why DOES a woman run away from a man?” she answered my question with +another. + +“They do not, where I come from,” I replied. “Sometimes they run after +them.” + +But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the fact +that I was of another world. She was quite as positive that creation +was originated solely to produce her own kind and the world she lived +in as are many of the outer world. + +“But Jubal,” I insisted. “Tell me about him, and why you ran away to be +chained by the neck and scourged across the face of a world.” + +“Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father’s house. It was +the head of a mighty tandor. It remained there and no greater trophy +was placed beside it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One would come and +take me as his mate. None other so powerful wished me, or they would +have slain a mightier beast and thus have won me from Jubal. My father +is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a sadok tossed him, and never +again had he the full use of his right arm. My brother, Dacor the +Strong One, had gone to the land of Sari to steal a mate for himself. +Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal +the Ugly One, and I ran away and hid among the hills that skirt the +land of Amoz. And there these Sagoths found me and made me captive.” + +“What will they do with you?” I asked. “Where are they taking us?” + +Again she looked her incredulity. + +“I can almost believe that you are of another world,” she said, “for +otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable. Do you really mean that you +do not know that the Sagoths are the creatures of the Mahars—the mighty +Mahars who think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon +its surface, or creeps or burrows beneath, or swims within its lakes +and oceans, or flies through its air? Next you will be telling me that +you never before heard of the Mahars!” + +I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there was no +alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a clean breast of +my pitiful ignorance as to the mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But she +did her very best to enlighten me, though much that she said was as +Greek would have been to her. She described the Mahars largely by +comparisons. In this way they were like unto thipdars, in that to the +hairless lidi. + +About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had +wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground; could +swim under water for great distances, and were very, very wise. The +Sagoths were their weapons of offense and defense, and the races like +herself were their hands and feet—they were the slaves and servants who +did all the manual labor. The Mahars were the heads—the brains—of the +inner world. I longed to see this wondrous race of supermen. + +Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we occasionally +did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he would join in the +conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just +ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He +too entered the conversation occasionally. Most of his remarks were +directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It didn’t take half an eye to see +that he had developed a bad case; but the girl appeared totally +oblivious to his thinly veiled advances. Did I say thinly veiled? There +is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have forgotten which, +who indicate their preference for the lady of their affections by +banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By comparison with this +method Hooja’s lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. At first it +caused me to blush violently although I have seen several Old Years out +at Rectors, and in other less fashionable places off Broadway, and in +Vienna, and Hamburg. + +But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she +considered herself as entirely above and apart from her present +surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with Perry, and with +the taciturn Ghak because we were respectful; but she couldn’t even see +Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, and that made him furious. He +tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up ahead of him in the +slave gang, but the fellow only poked him with his spear and told him +that he had selected the girl for his own property—that he would buy +her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, +was the city of our destination. + +After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt sea, +upon whose bosom swam countless horrid things. Seal-like creatures +there were with long necks stretching ten and more feet above their +enormous bodies and whose snake heads were split with gaping mouths +bristling with countless fangs. There were huge tortoises too, paddling +about among these other reptiles, which Perry said were Plesiosaurs of +the Lias. I didn’t question his veracity—they might have been most +anything. + +Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that the +other, and more fearsome reptiles, which occasionally rose from the +deep to do battle with them, were azdyryths, or sea-dyryths—Perry +called them Ichthyosaurs. They resembled a whale with the head of an +alligator. + +I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at school—about all +that remained was an impression of horror that the illustrations of +restored prehistoric monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined +belief that any man with a pig’s shank and a vivid imagination could +“restore” most any sort of paleolithic monster he saw fit, and take +rank as a first class paleontologist. But when I saw these sleek, shiny +carcasses shimmering in the sunlight as they emerged from the ocean, +shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll from their +sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided hither and +thither, now upon the surface, now half submerged; as I saw them meet, +open-mouthed, hissing and snorting, in their titanic and interminable +warring I realized how futile is man’s poor, weak imagination by +comparison with Nature’s incredible genius. + +And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so himself. + +“David,” he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside that +awful sea. “David, I used to teach geology, and I thought that I +believed what I taught; but now I see that I did not believe it—that it +is impossible for man to believe such things as these unless he sees +them with his own eyes. We take things for granted, perhaps, because we +are told them over and over again, and have no way of disproving +them—like religions, for example; but we don’t believe them, we only +think we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you will find that +the geologists and paleontologists will be the first to set you down a +liar, for they know that no such creatures as they restore ever +existed. It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an equally +imaginary epoch—but now? poof!” + +At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack chain +to permit him to worm himself back quite close to Dian. We were all +standing, and as he edged near the girl she turned her back upon him in +such a truly earthly feminine manner that I could scarce repress a +smile; but it was a short-lived smile for on the instant the Sly One’s +hand fell upon the girl’s bare arm, jerking her roughly toward him. + +I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics which +prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need the appealing +look which the girl shot to me from her magnificent eyes to influence +my subsequent act. What the Sly One’s intention was I paused not to +inquire; but instead, before he could lay hold of her with his other +hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw that felled him in his +tracks. + +A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and the +Sagoths who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I later learned, +because I had championed the girl, but for the neat and, to them, +astounding method by which I had bested Hooja. + +And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering eyes, and +then she dropped her head, her face half averted, and a delicate flush +suffused her cheek. For a moment she stood thus in silence, and then +her head went high, and she turned her back upon me as she had upon +Hooja. Some of the prisoners laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak the +Hairy One go very black as he looked at me searchingly. And what I +could see of Dian’s cheek went suddenly from red to white. + +Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that in +some way I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could not prevail upon her +to talk with me that I might learn wherein I had erred—in fact I might +quite as well have been addressing a sphinx for all the attention I +got. At last my own foolish pride stepped in and prevented my making +any further attempts, and thus a companionship that without my +realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me was cut off. +Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not renew his +advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture near me. + +Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became a perfect +nightmare of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed became the +realization that the girl’s friendship had meant so much to me, the +more I came to miss it; and the more impregnable the barrier of silly +pride. But I was very young and would not ask Ghak for the explanation +which I was sure he could give, and that might have made everything all +right again. + +On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice +me—when her eyes wandered in my direction she looked either over my +head or directly through me. At last I became desperate, and determined +to swallow my self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me how I had +offended, and how I might make reparation. I made up my mind that I +should do this at the next halt. We were approaching another range of +mountains at the time, and when we reached them, instead of winding +across them through some high-flung pass we entered a mighty natural +tunnel—a series of labyrinthine grottoes, dark as Erebus. + +The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we had +seen no artificial light or sign of fire since we had entered +Pellucidar. In a land of perpetual noon there is no need of light above +ground, yet I marveled that they had no means of lighting their way +through these dark, subterranean passages. So we crept along at a +snail’s pace, with much stumbling and falling—the guards keeping up a +singsong chant ahead of us, interspersed with certain high notes which +I found always indicated rough places and turns. + +Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian until +I could see from the expression of her face how she was receiving my +apologies. At last a faint glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the +tunnel, for which I for one was devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden +turn we emerged into the full light of the noonday sun. + +But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a real +catastrophe—Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen other prisoners. +The guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to +behold. Their awesome, bestial faces were contorted in the most +diabolical expressions, as they accused each other of responsibility +for the loss. Finally they fell upon us, beating us with their spear +shafts, and hatchets. They had already killed two near the head of the +line, and were like to have finished the balance of us when their +leader finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. Never in all my life +had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of bestial rage—I thanked +God that Dian had not been one of those left to endure it. + +Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each alternate +one had been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja was gone. Ghak remained. +What could it mean? How had it been accomplished? The commander of the +guards was investigating. Soon he discovered that the rude locks which +had held the neckbands in place had been deftly picked. + +“Hooja the Sly One,” murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. “He +has taken the girl that you would not have,” he continued, glancing at +me. + +“That I would not have!” I cried. “What do you mean?” + +He looked at me closely for a moment. + +“I have doubted your story that you are from another world,” he said at +last, “but yet upon no other grounds could your ignorance of the ways +of Pellucidar be explained. Do you really mean that you do not know +that you offended the Beautiful One, and how?” + +“I do not know, Ghak,” I replied. + +“Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes between +another man and the woman the other man would have, the woman belongs +to the victor. Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have +claimed her or released her. Had you taken her hand, it would have +indicated your desire to make her your mate, and had you raised her +hand above her head and then dropped it, it would have meant that you +did not wish her for a mate and that you released her from all +obligation to you. By doing neither you have put upon her the greatest +affront that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No man +will take her as mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall have +overcome you in combat, and men do not choose slave women as their +mates—at least not the men of Pellucidar.” + +“I did not know, Ghak,” I cried. “I did not know. Not for all +Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, or look, or +act of mine. I do not want her as my slave. I do not want her as my—” +but here I stopped. The vision of that sweet and innocent face floated +before me amidst the soft mists of imagination, and where I had on the +second believed that I clung only to the memory of a gentle friendship +I had lost, yet now it seemed that it would have been disloyalty to her +to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as my mate. I had +not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a strange, cruel +world. Even now I did not think that I loved her. + +I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than in +my words, for presently he laid his hand upon my shoulder. + +“Man of another world,” he said, “I believe you. Lips may lie, but when +the heart speaks through the eyes it tells only the truth. Your heart +has spoken to me. I know now that you meant no affront to Dian the +Beautiful. She is not of my tribe; but her mother is my sister. She +does not know it—her mother was stolen by Dian’s father who came with +many others of the tribe of Amoz to battle with us for our women—the +most beautiful women of Pellucidar. Then was her father king of Amoz, +and her mother was daughter of the king of Sari—to whose power I, his +son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, though her father +is no longer king since the sadok tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One +wrested his kingship from him. Because of her lineage the wrong you did +her was greatly magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never +forgive you.” + +I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the +girl from the bondage and ignominy I had unwittingly placed upon her. + +“If ever you find her, yes,” he answered. “Merely to raise her hand +above her head and drop it in the presence of others is sufficient to +release her; but how may you ever find her, you who are doomed to a +life of slavery yourself in the buried city of Phutra?” + +“Is there no escape?” I asked. + +“Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him,” replied Ghak. +“But there are no more dark places on the way to Phutra, and once there +it is not so easy—the Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from +Phutra there are the thipdars—they would find you, and then—” the Hairy +One shuddered. “No, you will never escape the Mahars.” + +It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought about it; but +he only shrugged his shoulders and continued a longwinded prayer he had +been at for some time. He was wont to say that the only redeeming +feature of our captivity was the ample time it gave him for the +improvisation of prayers—it was becoming an obsession with him. The +Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of declaiming throughout +entire marches. One of them asked him what he was saying—to whom he was +talking. The question gave me an idea, so I answered quickly before +Perry could say anything. + +“Do not interrupt him,” I said. “He is a very holy man in the world +from which we come. He is speaking to spirits which you cannot see—do +not interrupt him or they will spring out of the air upon you and rend +you limb from limb—like that,” and I jumped toward the great brute with +a loud “Boo!” that sent him stumbling backward. + +I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital out +of Perry’s harmless mania I wanted to make it while the making was +prime. It worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with marked +respect during the balance of the journey, and then passed the word +along to their masters, the Mahars. + +Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The +entrance to it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, which guarded +a flight of steps leading to the buried city. Sagoths were on guard +here as well as at a hundred or more other towers scattered about over +a large plain. + + + + +V +SLAVES + + +As we descended the broad staircase which led to the main avenue of +Phutra I caught my first sight of the dominant race of the inner world. +Involuntarily I shrank back as one of the creatures approached to +inspect us. A more hideous thing it would be impossible to imagine. The +all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar are great reptiles, some six or eight +feet in length, with long narrow heads and great round eyes. Their +beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, and the backs of +their huge, lizard bodies are serrated into bony ridges from their +necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are equipped with +three webbed toes, while from the fore feet membranous wings, which are +attached to their bodies just in front of the hind legs, protrude at an +angle of 45 degrees toward the rear, ending in sharp points several +feet above their bodies. + +I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. The old man +was gazing at the horrid creature with wide astonished eyes. When it +passed on, he turned to me. + +“A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David,” he said, “but, gad, +how enormous! The largest remains we ever have discovered have never +indicated a size greater than that attained by an ordinary crow.” + +As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw many +thousand of the creatures coming and going upon their daily duties. +They paid but little attention to us. Phutra is laid out underground +with a regularity that indicates remarkable engineering skill. It is +hewn from solid limestone strata. The streets are broad and of a +uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals tubes pierce the roof of +this underground city, and by means of lenses and reflectors transmit +the sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would otherwise be +Cimmerian darkness. In like manner air is introduced. + +Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, where +one of the Sagoths who had formed our guard explained to a Maharan +official the circumstances surrounding our capture. The method of +communication between these two was remarkable in that no spoken words +were exchanged. They employed a species of sign language. As I was to +learn later, the Mahars have no ears, not any spoken language. Among +themselves they communicate by means of what Perry says must be a sixth +sense which is cognizant of a fourth dimension. + +I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain it to me +upon numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, but he said no, that it +was not telepathy since they could only communicate when in each +others’ presence, nor could they talk with the Sagoths or the other +inhabitants of Pellucidar by the same method they used to converse with +one another. + +“What they do,” said Perry, “is to project their thoughts into the +fourth dimension, when they become appreciable to the sixth sense of +their listener. Do I make myself quite clear?” + +“You do not, Perry,” I replied. He shook his head in despair, and +returned to his work. They had set us to carrying a great accumulation +of Maharan literature from one apartment to another, and there +arranging it upon shelves. I suggested to Perry that we were in the +public library of Phutra, but later, as he commenced to discover the +key to their written language, he assured me that we were handling the +ancient archives of the race. + +During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian the +Beautiful. I was, of course, glad that she had escaped the Mahars, and +the fate that had been suggested by the Sagoth who had threatened to +purchase her upon our arrival at Phutra. I often wondered if the little +party of fugitives had been overtaken by the guards who had returned to +search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but that I should have +been more contented to know that Dian was here in Phutra, than to think +of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. Ghak, Perry, and I often +talked together of possible escape, but the Sarian was so steeped in +his lifelong belief that no one could escape from the Mahars except by +a miracle, that he was not much aid to us—his attitude was of one who +waits for the miracle to come to him. + +At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps of iron +which we discovered among some rubbish in the cells where we slept, for +we were permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action within the +limits of the building to which we had been assigned. So great were the +number of slaves who waited upon the inhabitants of Phutra that none of +us was apt to be overburdened with work, nor were our masters unkind to +us. + +We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and +then Perry conceived the idea of making bows and arrows—weapons +apparently unknown within Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these I +found it easier to steal from the walls of the outer guardroom of the +building. + +We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving +Phutra when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture the escaped +prisoners returned with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian and +two others had eluded them. It so happened that Hooja was confined in +the same building with us. He told Ghak that he had not seen Dian or +the others after releasing them within the dark grotto. What had become +of them he had not the faintest conception—they might be wandering yet, +lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not dead from starvation. + +I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at +this time, I imagine, came the first realization that my affection for +the girl might be prompted by more than friendship. During my waking +hours she was constantly the subject of my thoughts, and when I slept +her dear face haunted my dreams. More than ever was I determined to +escape the Mahars. + +“Perry,” I confided to the old man, “if I have to search every inch of +this diminutive world I am going to find Dian the Beautiful and right +the wrong I unintentionally did her.” That was the excuse I made for +Perry’s benefit. + +“Diminutive world!” he scoffed. “You don’t know what you are talking +about, my boy,” and then he showed me a map of Pellucidar which he had +recently discovered among the manuscript he was arranging. + +“Look,” he cried, pointing to it, “this is evidently water, and all +this land. Do you notice the general configuration of the two areas? +Where the oceans are upon the outer crust, is land here. These +relatively small areas of ocean follow the general lines of the +continents of the outer world. + +“We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; then +the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 miles, and the +superficial area 165,480,000 square miles. Three-fourths of this is +land. Think of it! A land area of 124,110,000 square miles! Our own +world contains but 53,000,000 square miles of land, the balance of its +surface being covered by water. Just as we often compare nations by +their relative land areas, so if we compare these two worlds in the +same way we have the strange anomaly of a larger world within a smaller +one! + +“Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your Dian? Without +stars, or moon, or changing sun how could you find her even though you +knew where she might be found?” + +The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; but I found +that it left me all the more determined to attempt it. + +“If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it,” I suggested. + +Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight to him. + +“Ghak,” I said, “we are determined to escape from this bondage. Will +you accompany us?” + +“They will set the thipdars upon us,” he said, “and then we shall be +killed; but—” he hesitated—“I would take the chance if I thought that I +might possibly escape and return to my own people.” + +“Could you find your way back to your own land?” asked Perry. “And +could you aid David in his search for Dian?” + +“Yes.” + +“But how,” persisted Perry, “could you travel to strange country +without heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?” + +Ghak didn’t know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a compass, but +he assured us that you might blindfold any man of Pellucidar and carry +him to the farthermost corner of the world, yet he would be able to +come directly to his own home again by the shortest route. He seemed +surprised to think that we found anything wonderful in it. Perry said +it must be some sort of homing instinct such as is possessed by certain +breeds of earthly pigeons. I didn’t know, of course, but it gave me an +idea. + +“Then Dian could have found her way directly to her own people?” I +asked. + +“Surely,” replied Ghak, “unless some mighty beast of prey killed her.” + +I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry and Ghak +counseled waiting for some propitious accident which would insure us +some small degree of success. I didn’t see what accident could befall a +whole community in a land of perpetual daylight where the inhabitants +had no fixed habits of sleep. Why, I am sure that some of the Mahars +never sleep, while others may, at long intervals, crawl into the dark +recesses beneath their dwellings and curl up in protracted slumber. +Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for three years he will make up +all his lost sleep in a long year’s snooze. That may be all true, but I +never saw but three of them asleep, and it was the sight of these three +that gave me a suggestion for our means of escape. + +I had been searching about far below the levels that we slaves were +supposed to frequent—possibly fifty feet beneath the main floor of the +building—among a network of corridors and apartments, when I came +suddenly upon three Mahars curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I +thought they were dead, but later their regular breathing convinced me +of my error. Like a flash the thought came to me of the marvelous +opportunity these sleeping reptiles offered as a means of eluding the +watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth guards. + +Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, to me, +meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. To my surprise +he was horrified. + +“It would be murder, David,” he cried. + +“Murder to kill a reptilian monster?” I asked in astonishment. + +“Here they are not monsters, David,” he replied. “Here they are the +dominant race—we are the ‘monsters’—the lower orders. In Pellucidar +evolution has progressed along different lines than upon the outer +earth. These terrible convulsions of nature time and time again wiped +out the existing species—but for this fact some monster of the +Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own world. We see here what +might well have occurred in our own history had conditions been what +they have been here. + +“Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. Here +man has but reached a stage analogous to the Stone Age of our own +world’s history, but for countless millions of years these reptiles +have been progressing. Possibly it is the sixth sense which I am sure +they possess that has given them an advantage over the other and more +frightfully armed of their fellows; but this we may never know. They +look upon us as we look upon the beasts of our fields, and I learn from +their written records that other races of Mahars feed upon men—they +keep them in great droves, as we keep cattle. They breed them most +carefully, and when they are quite fat, they kill and eat them.” + +I shuddered. + +“What is there horrible about it, David?” the old man asked. “They +understand us no better than we understand the lower animals of our own +world. Why, I have come across here very learned discussions of the +question as to whether gilaks, that is men, have any means of +communication. One writer claims that we do not even reason—that our +every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race of +Pellucidar, David, have not yet learned that men converse among +themselves, or reason. Because we do not converse as they do it is +beyond them to imagine that we converse at all. It is thus that we +reason in relation to the brutes of our own world. They know that the +Sagoths have a spoken language, but they cannot comprehend it, or how +it manifests itself, since they have no auditory apparatus. They +believe that the motions of the lips alone convey the meaning. That the +Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible to them. + +“Yes, David,” he concluded, “it would entail murder to carry out your +plan.” + +“Very well then, Perry.” I replied. “I shall become a murderer.” + +He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for some reason +which was not at the time clear to me insisted upon a very careful +description of the apartments and corridors I had just explored. + +“I wonder, David,” he said at length, “as you are determined to carry +out your wild scheme, if we could not accomplish something of very real +and lasting benefit for the human race of Pellucidar at the same time. +Listen, I have learned much of a most surprising nature from these +archives of the Mahars. That you may appreciate my plan I shall briefly +outline the history of the race. + +“Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, little by +little, assumed the mastery. For other ages no noticeable change took +place in the race of Mahars. It continued to progress under the +intelligent and beneficent rule of the ladies. Science took vast +strides. This was especially true of the sciences which we know as +biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female scientist announced the +fact that she had discovered a method whereby eggs might be fertilized +by chemical means after they were laid—all true reptiles, you know, are +hatched from eggs. + +“What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased to exist—the +race was no longer dependent upon them. More ages elapsed until at the +present time we find a race consisting exclusively of females. But here +is the point. The secret of this chemical formula is kept by a single +race of Mahars. It is in the city of Phutra, and unless I am greatly in +error I judge from your description of the vaults through which you +passed today that it lies hidden in the cellar of this building. + +“For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. First, +because upon it depends the very life of the race of Mahars, and +second, owing to the fact that when it was public property as at first +so many were experimenting with it that the danger of over-population +became very grave. + +“David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us this great +secret what will we not have accomplished for the human race within +Pellucidar!” The very thought of it fairly overpowered me. Why, we two +would be the means of placing the men of the inner world in their +rightful place among created things. Only the Sagoths would then stand +between them and absolute supremacy, and I was not quite sure but that +the Sagoths owed all their power to the greater intelligence of the +Mahars—I could not believe that these gorilla-like beasts were the +mental superiors of the human race of Pellucidar. + +“Why, Perry,” I exclaimed, “you and I may reclaim a whole world! +Together we can lead the races of men out of the darkness of ignorance +into the light of advancement and civilization. At one step we may +carry them from the Age of Stone to the twentieth century. It’s +marvelous—absolutely marvelous just to think about it.” + +“David,” said the old man, “I believe that God sent us here for just +that purpose—it shall be my life work to teach them His word—to lead +them into the light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and +hands in the ways of culture and civilization.” + +“You are right, Perry,” I said, “and while you are teaching them to +pray I’ll be teaching them to fight, and between us we’ll make a race +of men that will be an honor to us both.” + +Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded our +conversation, and now he wanted to know what we were so excited about. +Perry thought we had best not tell him too much, and so I only +explained that I had a plan for escape. When I had outlined it to him, +he seemed about as horror-struck as Perry had been; but for a different +reason. The Hairy One only considered the horrible fate that would be +ours were we discovered; but at last I prevailed upon him to accept my +plan as the only feasible one, and when I had assured him that I would +take all the responsibility for it were we captured, he accorded a +reluctant assent. + + + + +VI +THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + + +Within Pellucidar one time is as good as another. There were no nights +to mask our attempted escape. All must be done in broad daylight—all +but the work I had to do in the apartment beneath the building. So we +determined to put our plan to an immediate test lest the Mahars who +made it possible should awake before I reached them; but we were doomed +to disappointment, for no sooner had we reached the main floor of the +building on our way to the pits beneath, than we encountered hurrying +bands of slaves being hastened under strong Sagoth guard out of the +edifice to the avenue beyond. + +Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of other +slaves, and the moment that we appeared we were pounced upon and +hustled into the line of marching humans. + +What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not know, but +presently through the line of captives ran the rumor that two escaped +slaves had been recaptured—a man and a woman—and that we were marching +to witness their punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth of the +detachment that had pursued and overtaken them. + +At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was sure that +the two were of those who escaped in the dark grotto with Hooja the Sly +One, and that Dian must be the woman. Ghak thought so too, as did +Perry. + +“Is there naught that we may do to save her?” I asked Ghak. + +“Naught,” he replied. + +Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing unusual cruelty +toward us, as though we, too, had been implicated in the murder of +their fellow. The occasion was to serve as an object-lesson to all +other slaves of the danger and futility of attempted escape, and the +fatal consequences of taking the life of a superior being, and so I +imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making the entire +proceeding as uncomfortable and painful to us as possible. + +They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets at +the least provocation, and at no provocation at all. It was a most +uncomfortable half-hour that we spent before we were finally herded +through a low entrance into a huge building the center of which was +given up to a good-sized arena. Benches surrounded this open space upon +three sides, and along the fourth were heaped huge bowlders which rose +in receding tiers toward the roof. + +At first I couldn’t make out the purpose of this mighty pile of rock, +unless it were intended as a rough and picturesque background for the +scenes which were enacted in the arena before it, but presently, after +the wooden benches had been pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, I +discovered the purpose of the bowlders, for then the Mahars began to +file into the enclosure. + +They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon the +opposite side, where, spreading their bat-like wings, they rose above +the high wall of the pit, settling down upon the bowlders above. These +were the reserved seats, the boxes of the elect. + +Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone is to them +as plush as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, blinking their hideous +eyes, and doubtless conversing with one another in their +sixth-sense-fourth-dimension language. + +For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from the others +in no feature that was appreciable to my earthly eyes, in fact all +Mahars look alike to me: but when she crossed the arena after the +balance of her female subjects had found their bowlders, she was +preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, the largest I ever had seen, and +on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, while behind came another +score of Sagoth guardsmen. + +At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly +apelike agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose upon her +wings with her two frightful dragons close beside her, and settled down +upon the largest bowlder of them all in the exact center of that side +of the amphitheater which is reserved for the dominant race. Here she +squatted, a most repulsive and uninteresting queen; though doubtless +quite as well assured of her beauty and divine right to rule as the +proudest monarch of the outer world. + +And then the music started—music without sound! The Mahars cannot hear, +so the drums and fifes and horns of earthly bands are unknown among +them. The “band” consists of a score or more Mahars. It filed out in +the center of the arena where the creatures upon the rocks might see +it, and there it performed for fifteen or twenty minutes. + +Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their heads in +a regular succession of measured movements resulting in a cadence which +evidently pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence of our own +instrumental music pleases our ears. Sometimes the band took measured +steps in unison to one side or the other, or backward and again +forward—it all seemed very silly and meaningless to me, but at the end +of the first piece the Mahars upon the rocks showed the first +indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by the dominant +race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up and down, and smote +their rocky perches with their mighty tails until the ground shook. +Then the band started another piece, and all was again as silent as the +grave. That was one great beauty about Mahar music—if you didn’t happen +to like a piece that was being played all you had to do was shut your +eyes. + +When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and settled upon +the rocks above and behind the queen. Then the business of the day was +on. A man and woman were pushed into the arena by a couple of Sagoth +guardsmen. I leaned forward in my seat to scrutinize the female—hoping +against hope that she might prove to be another than Dian the +Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a while, and the sight of the +great mass of raven hair piled high upon her head filled me with alarm. + +Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to admit a +huge, shaggy, bull-like creature. + +“A Bos,” whispered Perry, excitedly. “His kind roamed the outer crust +with the cave bear and the mammoth ages and ages ago. We have been +carried back a million years, David, to the childhood of a planet—is it +not wondrous?” + +But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, and my heart stood +still in dumb misery at the sight of her, nor had I any eyes for the +wonders of natural history. But for Perry and Ghak I should have leaped +to the floor of the arena and shared whatever fate lay in store for +this priceless treasure of the Stone Age. + +With the advent of the Bos—they call the thing a thag within +Pellucidar—two spears were tossed into the arena at the feet of the +prisoners. It seemed to me that a bean shooter would have been as +effective against the mighty monster as these pitiful weapons. + +As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the ground with +the strength of many earthly bulls, another door directly beneath us +was opened, and from it issued the most terrific roar that ever had +fallen upon my outraged ears. I could not at first see the beast from +which emanated this fearsome challenge, but the sound had the effect of +bringing the two victims around with a sudden start, and then I saw the +girl’s face—she was not Dian! I could have wept for relief. + +And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of that +fearsome sound creeping stealthily into view. It was a huge tiger—such +as hunted the great Bos through the jungles primeval when the world was +young. In contour and markings it was not unlike the noblest of the +Bengals of our own world, but as its dimensions were exaggerated to +colossal proportions so too were its colorings exaggerated. Its vivid +yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites were as eider down; its +blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its coat long and +shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful animal there is no +gainsaying, but if its size and colors are magnified here within +Pellucidar, so is the ferocity of its disposition. It is not the +occasional member of its species that is a man hunter—all are man +hunters; but they do not confine their foraging to man alone, for there +is no flesh or fish within Pellucidar that they will not eat with +relish in the constant efforts which they make to furnish their huge +carcasses with sufficient sustenance to maintain their mighty thews. + +Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and advanced, and +upon the other tarag, the frightful, crept toward them with gaping +mouth and dripping fangs. + +The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. At the +sound of the roaring of the tiger the bull’s bellowing became a +veritable frenzy of rageful noise. Never in my life had I heard such an +infernal din as the two brutes made, and to think it was all lost upon +the hideous reptiles for whom the show was staged! + +The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from the other. +The two puny things standing between them seemed already lost, but at +the very moment that the beasts were upon them the man grasped his +companion by the arm and together they leaped to one side, while the +frenzied creatures came together like locomotives in collision. + +There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful ferocity +transcends the power of imagination or description. Time and again the +colossal bull tossed the enormous tiger high into the air, but each +time that the huge cat touched the ground he returned to the encounter +with apparently undiminished strength, and seemingly increased ire. + +For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with keeping out +of the way of the two creatures, but finally I saw them separate and +each creep stealthily toward one of the combatants. The tiger was now +upon the bull’s broad back, clinging to the huge neck with powerful +fangs while its long, strong talons ripped the heavy hide into shreds +and ribbons. + +For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with pain and rage, +its cloven hoofs widespread, its tail lashing viciously from side to +side, and then, in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening about the +arena in frenzied attempt to unseat its rending rider. It was with +difficulty that the girl avoided the first mad rush of the wounded +animal. + +All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, until in +desperation it threw itself upon the ground, rolling over and over. A +little of this so disconcerted the tiger, knocking its breath from it I +imagine, that it lost its hold and then, quick as a cat, the great thag +was up again and had buried those mighty horns deep in the tarag’s +abdomen, pinning him to the floor of the arena. + +The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears were gone, +and naught but a few strips of ragged, bloody flesh remained upon the +skull. Yet through all the agony of that fearful punishment the thag +still stood motionless pinning down his adversary, and then the man +leaped in, seeing that the blind bull would be the least formidable +enemy, and ran his spear through the tarag’s heart. + +As the animal’s fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his gory, +sightless head, and with a horrid roar ran headlong across the arena. +With great leaps and bounds he came, straight toward the arena wall +directly beneath where we sat, and then accident carried him, in one of +his mighty springs, completely over the barrier into the midst of the +slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. Swinging his bloody horns from +side to side the beast cut a wide swath before him straight upward +toward our seats. Before him slaves and gorilla-men fought in mad +stampede to escape the menace of the creature’s death agonies, for such +only could that frightful charge have been. + +Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for the exits, +many of which pierced the wall of the amphitheater behind us. Perry, +Ghak, and I became separated in the chaos which reigned for a few +moments after the beast cleared the wall of the arena, each intent upon +saving his own hide. + +I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the fear mad mob +that were battling to escape. One would have thought that an entire +herd of thags was loose behind them, rather than a single blinded, +dying beast; but such is the effect of panic upon a crowd. + + + + +VII +FREEDOM + + +Once out of the direct path of the animal, fear of it left me, but +another emotion as quickly gripped me—hope of escape that the +demoralized condition of the guards made possible for the instant. + +I thought of Perry, and but for the hope that I might better encompass +his release if myself free I should have put the thought of freedom +from me at once. As it was I hastened on toward the right searching for +an exit toward which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found it—a +low, narrow aperture leading into a dark corridor. + +Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into the shadows +of the tunnel, feeling my way along through the gloom for some +distance. The noises of the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter +until now all was as silent as the tomb about me. Faint light filtered +from above through occasional ventilating and lighting tubes, but it +was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes to cope with the +darkness, and so I was forced to move with extreme care, feeling my way +along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside me. + +Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my delight, I came +upon a flight of steps leading upward, at the top of which the +brilliant light of the noonday sun shone through an opening in the +ground. + +Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel’s end, and peering out +saw the broad plain of Phutra before me. The numerous lofty, granite +towers which mark the several entrances to the subterranean city were +all in front of me—behind, the plain stretched level and unbroken to +the nearby foothills. I had come to the surface, then, beyond the city, +and my chances for escape seemed much enhanced. + +My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to cross the +plain, so deeply implanted are habits of thought; but of a sudden I +recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance which envelops Pellucidar, +and with a smile I stepped forth into the daylight. + +Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of Phutra—the gorgeous +flowering grass of the inner world, each particular blade of which is +tipped with a tiny, five-pointed blossom—brilliant little stars of +varying colors that twinkle in the green foliage to add still another +charm to the weird, yet lovely, landscape. + +But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant hills in +which I hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, trampling the +myriad beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force of +gravity is less upon the surface of the inner world than upon that of +the outer. He explained it all to me once, but I was never particularly +brilliant in such matters and so most of it has escaped me. As I recall +it the difference is due in some part to the counter-attraction of that +portion of the earth’s crust directly opposite the spot upon the face +of Pellucidar at which one’s calculations are being made. Be that as it +may, it always seemed to me that I moved with greater speed and agility +within Pellucidar than upon the outer surface—there was a certain airy +lightness of step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily +detachment which I can only compare with that occasionally experienced +in dreams. + +And as I crossed Phutra’s flower-bespangled plain that time I seemed +almost to fly, though how much of the sensation was due to Perry’s +suggestion and how much to actuality I am sure I do not know. The more +I thought of Perry the less pleasure I took in my new-found freedom. +There could be no liberty for me within Pellucidar unless the old man +shared it with me, and only the hope that I might find some way to +encompass his release kept me from turning back to Phutra. + +Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that +some fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. It was +quite evident however that little less than a miracle could aid me, for +what could I accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed? It +was even doubtful that I could retrace my steps to Phutra should I once +pass beyond view of the plain, and even were that possible, what aid +could I bring to Perry no matter how far I wandered? + +The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, yet with +a stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward the foothills. Behind me +no sign of pursuit developed, before me I saw no living thing. It was +as though I moved through a dead and forgotten world. + +I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the limit of +the plain, but at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty +little canyon upward toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a +laughing brooklet, hurrying upon its noisy way down to the silent sea. +In its quieter pools I discovered many small fish, of four-or +five-pound weight I should imagine. In appearance, except as to size +and color, they were not unlike the whale of our own seas. As I watched +them playing about I discovered, not only that they suckled their +young, but that at intervals they rose to the surface to breathe as +well as to feed upon certain grasses and a strange, scarlet lichen +which grew upon the rocks just above the water line. + +It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved to capture +one of these herbivorous cetaceans—that is what Perry calls them—and +make as good a meal as one can on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had +become rather used, by this time, to the eating of food in its natural +state, though I still balked on the eyes and entrails, much to the +amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed these delicacies. + +Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive purple +whales rose to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water, and +then, like the beast of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my +victim, appeasing my hunger while he yet wriggled to escape. + +Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands and face +continued my flight. Above the source of the brook I encountered a +rugged climb to the summit of a long ridge. Beyond was a steep +declivity to the shore of a placid, inland sea, upon the quiet surface +of which lay several beautiful islands. + +The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast was to be +seen that might threaten my new-found liberty, I slid over the edge of +the bluff, and half sliding, half falling, dropped into the delightful +valley, the very aspect of which seemed to offer a haven of peace and +security. + +The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with +strangely shaped, colored shells; some empty, others still housing as +varied a multitude of mollusks as ever might have drawn out their +sluggish lives along the silent shores of the antediluvian seas of the +outer crust. As I walked I could not but compare myself with the first +man of that other world, so complete the solitude which surrounded me, +so primal and untouched the virgin wonders and beauties of adolescent +nature. I felt myself a second Adam wending my lonely way through the +childhood of a world, searching for my Eve, and at the thought there +rose before my mind’s eye the exquisite outlines of a perfect face +surmounted by a loose pile of wondrous, raven hair. + +As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not until +I had come quite upon it that I discovered that which shattered all my +beautiful dream of solitude and safety and peace and primal +overlordship. The thing was a hollowed log drawn upon the sands, and in +the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. + +The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new form +of danger was still upon me when I heard a rattling of loose stones +from the direction of the bluff, and turning my eyes in that direction +I beheld the author of the disturbance, a great copper-colored man, +running rapidly toward me. + +There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite +sufficiently menacing, so that I did not need the added evidence of +brandishing spear and scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe +position, but whither to flee was indeed a momentous question. + +The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility of escaping +him upon the open beach. There was but a single alternative—the rude +skiff—and with a celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into +the sea and as it floated gave a final shove and clambered in over the +end. + +A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an +instant later his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed my shoulder and +buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. Then I grasped the paddle, +and with feverish haste urged the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the +surface of the sea. + +A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored one had +plunged in after me and was swimming rapidly in pursuit. His mighty +strokes bade fair to close up the distance between us in short order, +for at best I could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, +which nosed stubbornly in every direction but that which I desired to +follow, so that fully half my energy was expended in turning its blunt +prow back into the course. + +I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident that +my pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff within the next half-dozen +strokes. In a frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all +paddles in a hopeless effort to escape, and still the copper giant +behind me gained and gained. + +His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, sinuous +body shoot from the depths below. The man saw it too, and the look of +terror that overspread his face assured me that I need have no further +concern as to him, for the fear of certain death was in his look. + +And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster +of that prehistoric deep—a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws, +and darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protuberances +upon head and snout that formed short, stout horns. + +As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the doomed +man, and I could have sworn that in his I saw an expression of hopeless +appeal. But whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden +compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brother-man, and that he +might have killed me with pleasure had he caught me was forgotten in +the extremity of his danger. + +Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to engage my +pursuer, so now the skiff still drifted close beside the two. The +monster seemed to be but playing with his victim before he closed his +awful jaws upon him and dragged him down to his dark den beneath the +surface to devour him. The huge, snakelike body coiled and uncoiled +about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws snapped in the victim’s face. +The forked tongue, lightning-like, ran in and out upon the copper skin. + +Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet +against the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass; but for all +the damage he inflicted he might as well have struck with his open +palm. + +At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a fellowman +was dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile. +Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the spear that had been cast +after me by him whom I suddenly desired to save. With a wrench I tore +it loose, and standing upright in the wobbly log drove it with all the +strength of my two arms straight into the gaping jaws of the +hydrophidian. + +With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but +the spear, imbedded in its throat, prevented it from seizing me though +it came near to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me. + + + + +VIII +THE MAHAR TEMPLE + + +The aborigine, apparently uninjured, climbed quickly into the skiff, +and seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the infuriated +creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the waters +about us and soon from the weakening struggles it became evident that I +had inflicted a death wound upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us +ceased entirely, and with a few convulsive movements it turned upon its +back quite dead. + +And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament in +which I had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of the +savage man whose skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the spear I +looked into his face to find him scrutinizing me intently, and there we +stood for some several minutes, each clinging tenaciously to the weapon +the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at each other. + +What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely the +question as to how soon the fellow would recommence hostilities. + +Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable to +translate. I shook my head in an effort to indicate my ignorance of his +language, at the same time addressing him in the bastard tongue that +the Sagoths use to converse with the human slaves of the Mahars. + +To my delight he understood and answered me in the same jargon. + +“What do you want of my spear?” he asked. + +“Only to keep you from running it through me,” I replied. + +“I would not do that,” he said, “for you have just saved my life,” and +with that he released his hold upon it and squatted down in the bottom +of the skiff. + +“Who are you,” he continued, “and from what country do you come?” + +I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to explain how I +came to Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it was as impossible for him to +grasp or believe the strange tale I told him as I fear it is for you +upon the outer crust to believe in the existence of the inner world. To +him it seemed quite ridiculous to imagine that there was another world +far beneath his feet peopled by beings similar to himself, and he +laughed uproariously the more he thought upon it. But it was ever thus. +That which has never come within the scope of our really pitifully +meager world-experience cannot be—our finite minds cannot grasp that +which may not exist in accordance with the conditions which obtain +about us upon the outside of the insignificant grain of dust which +wends its tiny way among the bowlders of the universe—the speck of +moist dirt we so proudly call the World. + +So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a Mezop, +and that his name was Ja. + +“Who are the Mezops?” I asked. “Where do they live?” + +He looked at me in surprise. + +“I might indeed believe that you were from another world,” he said, +“for who of Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The Mezops live upon the +islands of the seas. In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop lives +elsewhere, and no others than Mezops dwell upon islands, but of course +it may be different in other far-distant lands. I do not know. At any +rate in this sea and those near by it is true that only people of my +race inhabit the islands. + +“We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going to +the mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon all but the +larger islands. And we are warriors also,” he added proudly. “Even the +Sagoths of the Mahars fear us. Once, when Pellucidar was young, the +Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves as they do the other men of +Pellucidar, it is handed down from father to son among us that this is +so; but we fought so desperately and slew so many Sagoths, and those of +us that were captured killed so many Mahars in their own cities that at +last they learned that it were better to leave us alone, and later came +the time that the Mahars became too indolent even to catch their own +fish, except for amusement, and then they needed us to supply their +wants, and so a truce was made between the races. Now they give us +certain things which we are unable to produce in return for the fish +that we catch, and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace. + +“The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far from the +prying eyes of their own Sagoths, that they practice their religious +rites in the temples they have builded there with our assistance. If +you live among us you will doubtless see the manner of their worship, +which is strange indeed, and most unpleasant for the poor slaves they +bring to take part in it.” + +As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him more +closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I should say six feet six or +seven inches, well developed and of a coppery red not unlike that of +our own North American Indian, nor were his features dissimilar to +theirs. He had the aquiline nose found among many of the higher tribes, +the prominent cheek bones, and black hair and eyes, but his mouth and +lips were better molded. All in all, Ja was an impressive and handsome +creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable makeshift +language we were compelled to use. + +During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was propelling the +skiff with vigorous strokes toward a large island that lay some +half-mile from the mainland. The skill with which he handled his crude +and awkward craft elicited my deepest admiration, since it had been so +short a time before that I had made such pitiful work of it. + +As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I followed him. +Together we dragged the skiff far up into the bushes that grew beyond +the sand. + +“We must hide our canoes,” explained Ja, “for the Mezops of Luana are +always at war with us and would steal them if they found them,” he +nodded toward an island farther out at sea, and at so great a distance +that it seemed but a blur hanging in the distant sky. The upward curve +of the surface of Pellucidar was constantly revealing the impossible to +the surprised eyes of the outer-earthly. To see land and water curving +upward in the distance until it seemed to stand on edge where it melted +into the distant sky, and to feel that seas and mountains hung +suspended directly above one’s head required such a complete reversal +of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to stupefy one. + +No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the jungle, +presently emerging into a narrow but well-defined trail which wound +hither and thither much after the manner of the highways of all +primitive folk, but there was one peculiarity about this Mezop trail +which I was later to find distinguished them from all other trails that +I ever have seen within or without the earth. + +It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end suddenly in +the midst of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja would turn directly +back in his tracks for a little distance, spring into a tree, climb +through it to the other side, drop onto a fallen log, leap over a low +bush and alight once more upon a distinct trail which he would follow +back for a short distance only to turn directly about and retrace his +steps until after a mile or less this new pathway ended as suddenly and +mysteriously as the former section. Then he would pass again across +some media which would reveal no spoor, to take up the broken thread of +the trail beyond. + +As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I could not but +admire the native shrewdness of the ancient progenitor of the Mezops +who hit upon this novel plan to throw his enemies from his track and +delay or thwart them in their attempts to follow him to his deep-buried +cities. + +To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous method of +traveling through the jungle, but were you of Pellucidar you would +realize that time is no factor where time does not exist. So +labyrinthine are the windings of these trails, so varied the connecting +links and the distances which one must retrace one’s steps from the +paths’ ends to find them that a Mezop often reaches man’s estate before +he is familiar even with those which lead from his own city to the sea. + +In fact three-fourths of the education of the young male Mezop consists +in familiarizing himself with these jungle avenues, and the status of +an adult is largely determined by the number of trails which he can +follow upon his own island. The females never learn them, since from +birth to death they never leave the clearing in which the village of +their nativity is situated except they be taken to mate by a male from +another village, or captured in war by the enemies of their tribe. + +After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been upward of +five miles we emerged suddenly into a large clearing in the exact +center of which stood as strange an appearing village as one might well +imagine. + +Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet above the +ground, and upon the tops of them spherical habitations of woven twigs, +mud covered, had been built. Each ball-like house was surmounted by +some manner of carven image, which Ja told me indicated the identity of +the owner. + +Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet wide, served to +admit light and ventilation. The entrances to the house were through +small apertures in the bases of the trees and thence upward by rude +ladders through the hollow trunks to the rooms above. The houses varied +in size from two to several rooms. The largest that I entered was +divided into two floors and eight apartments. + +All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay beautifully +cultivated fields in which the Mezops raised such cereals, fruits, and +vegetables as they required. Women and children were working in these +gardens as we crossed toward the village. At sight of Ja they saluted +deferentially, but to me they paid not the slightest attention. Among +them and about the outer verge of the cultivated area were many +warriors. These too saluted Ja, by touching the points of their spears +to the ground directly before them. + +Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the village—the house +with eight rooms—and taking me up into it gave me food and drink. There +I met his mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in her arms. Ja told +her of how I had saved his life, and she was thereafter most kind and +hospitable toward me, even permitting me to hold and amuse the tiny +bundle of humanity whom Ja told me would one day rule the tribe, for +Ja, it seemed, was the chief of the community. + +We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja’s amusement, for +it seemed that he seldom if ever did so, and then the red man proposed +that I accompany him to the temple of the Mahars which lay not far from +his village. “We are not supposed to visit it,” he said; “but the great +ones cannot hear and if we keep well out of sight they need never know +that we have been there. For my part I hate them and always have, but +the other chieftains of the island think it best that we continue to +maintain the amicable relations which exist between the two races; +otherwise I should like nothing better than to lead my warriors amongst +the hideous creatures and exterminate them—Pellucidar would be a better +place to live were there none of them.” + +I wholly concurred in Ja’s belief, but it seemed that it might be a +difficult matter to exterminate the dominant race of Pellucidar. Thus +conversing we followed the intricate trail toward the temple, which we +came upon in a small clearing surrounded by enormous trees similar to +those which must have flourished upon the outer crust during the +carboniferous age. + +Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of a rough +oval with rounded roof in which were several large openings. No doors +or windows were visible in the sides of the structure, nor was there +need of any, except one entrance for the slaves, since, as Ja +explained, the Mahars flew to and from their place of ceremonial, +entering and leaving the building by means of the apertures in the +roof. + +“But,” added Ja, “there is an entrance near the base of which even the +Mahars know nothing. Come,” and he led me across the clearing and about +the end to a pile of loose rock which lay against the foot of the wall. +Here he removed a couple of large bowlders, revealing a small opening +which led straight within the building, or so it seemed, though as I +entered after Ja I discovered myself in a narrow place of extreme +darkness. + +“We are within the outer wall,” said Ja. “It is hollow. Follow me +closely.” + +The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend a +primitive ladder similar to that which leads from the ground to the +upper stories of his house. We ascended for some forty feet when the +interior of the space between the walls commenced to grow lighter and +presently we came opposite an opening in the inner wall which gave us +an unobstructed view of the entire interior of the temple. + +The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous +hideous Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of granite +rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon several of them I saw men and +women like myself. + +“What are the human beings doing here?” I asked. + +“Wait and you shall see,” replied Ja. “They are to take a leading part +in the ceremonies which will follow the advent of the queen. You may be +thankful that you are not upon the same side of the wall as they.” + +Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above +and a moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of +Pellucidar winged slowly and majestically through the large central +opening in the roof and circled in stately manner about the temple. + +There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty awe-inspiring +pterodactyls—thipdars, they are called within Pellucidar. Behind these +came the queen, flanked by other thipdars as she had been when she +entered the amphitheater at Phutra. + +Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber, to +settle finally upon the damp, cold bowlders that fringe the outer edge +of the pool. In the center of one side the largest rock was reserved +for the queen, and here she took her place surrounded by her terrible +guard. + +All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. One +might have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor slaves upon the +diminutive islands watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. The +men, for the most part, stood erect and stately with folded arms, +awaiting their doom; but the women and children clung to one another, +hiding behind the males. They are a noble-looking race, these cave men +of Pellucidar, and if our progenitors were as they, the human race of +the outer crust has deteriorated rather than improved with the march of +the ages. All they lack is opportunity. We have opportunity, and little +else. + +Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking about; then very +slowly she crawled to the edge of her throne and slid noiselessly into +the water. Up and down the long tank she swam, turning at the ends as +you have seen captive seals turn in their tiny tanks, turning upon +their backs and diving below the surface. + +Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she remained at +rest before the largest, which was directly opposite her throne. +Raising her hideous head from the water she fixed her great, round eyes +upon the slaves. They were fat and sleek, for they had been brought +from a distant Mahar city where human beings are kept in droves, and +bred and fattened, as we breed and fatten beef cattle. + +The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her victim tried to +turn away, hiding her face in her hands and kneeling behind a woman; +but the reptile, with unblinking eyes, stared on with such fixity that +I could have sworn her vision penetrated the woman, and the girl’s arms +to reach at last the very center of her brain. + +Slowly the reptile’s head commenced to move to and fro, but the eyes +never ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, and then the victim +responded. She turned wide, fear-haunted eyes toward the Mahar queen, +slowly she rose to her feet, and then as though dragged by some unseen +power she moved as one in a trance straight toward the reptile, her +glassy eyes fixed upon those of her captor. To the water’s edge she +came, nor did she even pause, but stepped into the shallows beside the +little island. On she moved toward the Mahar, who now slowly retreated +as though leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl’s knees, +and still she advanced, chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was +at her waist; now her armpits. Her fellows upon the island looked on in +horror, helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast of +their own. + +The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were exposed +above the surface of the water, and the girl had advanced until the end +of that repulsive beak was but an inch or two from her face, her +horror-filled eyes riveted upon those of the reptile. + +Now the water passed above the girl’s mouth and nose—her eyes and +forehead all that showed—yet still she walked on after the retreating +Mahar. The queen’s head slowly disappeared beneath the surface and +after it went the eyes of her victim—only a slow ripple widened toward +the shores to mark where the two vanished. + +For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves were +motionless in terror. The Mahars watched the surface of the water for +the reappearance of their queen, and presently at one end of the tank +her head rose slowly into view. She was backing toward the surface, her +eyes fixed before her as they had been when she dragged the helpless +girl to her doom. + +And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes of the +maiden come slowly out of the depths, following the gaze of the reptile +just as when she had disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came +the girl until she stood in water that reached barely to her knees, and +though she had been beneath the surface sufficient time to have drowned +her thrice over there was no indication, other than her dripping hair +and glistening body, that she had been submerged at all. + +Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and out again, +until the uncanny weirdness of the thing got on my nerves so that I +could have leaped into the tank to the child’s rescue had I not taken a +firm hold of myself. + +Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came to the +surface I was horrified to see that one of the girl’s arms was +gone—gnawed completely off at the shoulder—but the poor thing gave no +indication of realizing pain, only the horror in her set eyes seemed +intensified. + +The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then the +breasts, and then a part of the face—it was awful. The poor creatures +on the islands awaiting their fate tried to cover their eyes with their +hands to hide the fearful sight, but now I saw that they too were under +the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that they could only crouch in +terror with their eyes fixed upon the terrible thing that was +transpiring before them. + +Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, and when she +rose she came alone and swam sleepily toward her bowlder. The moment +she mounted it seemed to be the signal for the other Mahars to enter +the tank, and then commenced, upon a larger scale, a repetition of the +uncanny performance through which the queen had led her victim. + +Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars—they being the +weakest and most tender—and when they had satisfied their appetite for +human flesh, some of them devouring two and three of the slaves, there +were only a score of full-grown men left, and I thought that for some +reason these were to be spared, but such was far from the case, for as +the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen’s thipdars darted into the +air, circled the temple once and then, hissing like steam engines, +swooped down upon the remaining slaves. + +There was no hypnotism here—just the plain, brutal ferocity of the +beast of prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat, but at that it +was less horrible than the uncanny method of the Mahars. By the time +the thipdars had disposed of the last of the slaves the Mahars were all +asleep upon their rocks, and a moment later the great pterodactyls +swung back to their posts beside the queen, and themselves dropped into +slumber. + +“I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept,” I said to Ja. + +“They do many things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere,” he +replied. “The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat human flesh, yet +slaves are brought here by thousands and almost always you will find +Mahars on hand to consume them. I imagine that they do not bring their +Sagoths here, because they are ashamed of the practice, which is +supposed to obtain only among the least advanced of their race; but I +would wager my canoe against a broken paddle that there is no Mahar but +eats human flesh whenever she can get it.” + +“Why should they object to eating human flesh,” I asked, “if it is true +that they look upon us as lower animals?” + +“It is not because they consider us their equals that they are supposed +to look with abhorrence upon those who eat our flesh,” replied Ja; “it +is merely that we are warm-blooded animals. They would not think of +eating the meat of a thag, which we consider such a delicacy, any more +than I would think of eating a snake. As a matter of fact it is +difficult to explain just why this sentiment should exist among them.” + +“I wonder if they left a single victim,” I remarked, leaning far out of +the opening in the rocky wall to inspect the temple better. Directly +below me the water lapped the very side of the wall, there being a +break in the bowlders at this point as there was at several other +places about the side of the temple. + +My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed a part +of the wall, and all my weight upon it proved too much for it. It +slipped and I lunged forward. There was nothing to save myself and I +plunged headforemost into the water below. + +Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered no injury +from the fall, but as I was rising to the surface my mind filled with +the horrors of my position as I thought of the terrible doom which +awaited me the moment the eyes of the reptiles fell upon the creature +that had disturbed their slumber. + +As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly in +the direction of the islands that I might prolong my life to the +utmost. At last I was forced to rise for air, and as I cast a terrified +glance in the direction of the Mahars and the thipdars I was almost +stunned to see that not a single one remained upon the rocks where I +had last seen them, nor as I searched the temple with my eyes could I +discern any within it. + +For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I realized +that the reptiles, being deaf, could not have been disturbed by the +noise my body made when it hit the water, and that as there is no such +thing as time within Pellucidar there was no telling how long I had +been beneath the surface. It was a difficult thing to attempt to figure +out by earthly standards—this matter of elapsed time—but when I set +myself to it I began to realize that I might have been submerged a +second or a month or not at all. You have no conception of the strange +contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all methods of +measuring time, as we know them upon earth, are non-existent. + +I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved me +for the moment, when the memory of the hypnotic powers of the Mahars +filled me with apprehension lest they be practicing their uncanny art +upon me to the end that I merely imagined that I was alone in the +temple. At the thought cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore, +and as I crawled from the water onto one of the tiny islands I was +trembling like a leaf—you cannot imagine the awful horror which even +the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar induces in the +human mind, and to feel that you are in their power—that they are +crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to drag you down beneath the waters and +devour you! It is frightful. + +But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that I was +indeed alone within the temple. How long I should be alone was the next +question to assail me as I swam frantically about once more in search +of a means to escape. + +Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled +into the tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless he had +felt as certain of my doom when he saw me topple from our hiding place +as I had, and lest he too should be discovered, had hastened from the +temple and back to his village. + +I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the +doorways in the roof, for it did not seem reasonable to believe that +the thousands of slaves which were brought here to feed the Mahars the +human flesh they craved would all be carried through the air, and so I +continued my search until at last it was rewarded by the discovery of +several loose granite blocks in the masonry at one end of the temple. + +A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones to +permit me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later I had +scurried across the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond. + +Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath the +giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the grinning fangs of +death out of the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers lay hidden in +this island jungle, there could be none so fearsome as those which I +had just escaped. I knew that I could meet death bravely enough if it +but came in the form of some familiar beast or man—anything other than +the hideous and uncanny Mahars. + + + + +IX +THE FACE OF DEATH + + +I must have fallen asleep from exhaustion. When I awoke I was very +hungry, and after busying myself searching for fruit for a while, I set +off through the jungle to find the beach. I knew that the island was +not so large but that I could easily find the sea if I did but move in +a straight line, but there came the difficulty as there was no way in +which I could direct my course and hold it, the sun, of course, being +always directly above my head, and the trees so thickly set that I +could see no distant object which might serve to guide me in a straight +line. + +As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four +times and slept twice before I reached the sea, but at last I did so, +and my pleasure at the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the chance +discovery of a hidden canoe among the bushes through which I had +stumbled just prior to coming upon the beach. + +I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft +down to the water and shove it far out from shore. My experience with +Ja had taught me that if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick +about it and get far beyond the owner’s reach as soon as possible. + +I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that at +which Ja and I had entered it, for the mainland was nowhere in sight. +For a long time I paddled around the shore, though well out, before I +saw the mainland in the distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in +directing my course toward it, for I had long since made up my mind to +return to Phutra and give myself up that I might be once more with +Perry and Ghak the Hairy One. + +I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, +especially in view of the fact that our plans were already well +formulated to make a break for freedom together. Of course I realized +that the chances of the success of our proposed venture were slim +indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy freedom without Perry so +long as the old man lived, and I had learned that the probability that +I might find him was less than slight. + +Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and wit +against the savage and primordial world in which I found myself. I +could have lived in seclusion within some rocky cave until I had found +the means to outfit myself with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, and +then set out in search of her whose image had now become the constant +companion of my waking hours, and the central and beloved figure of my +dreams. + +But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my duty +and wish to be again with him, that we might share the dangers and +vicissitudes of the strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; the +great, shaggy man had found a place in the hearts of us both, for he +was indeed every inch a man and king. Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, +too, if judged too harshly by the standards of effete twentieth-century +civilization, but withal noble, dignified, chivalrous, and loveable. + +Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered Ja’s +canoe, and a short time later I was scrambling up the steep bank to +retrace my steps from the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I +entered the canyon beyond the summit, for here I found that several of +them centered at the point where I crossed the divide, and which one I +had traversed to reach the pass I could not for the life of me +remember. + +It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which seemed +the easiest going, and in this I made the same mistake that many of us +do in selecting the path along which we shall follow out the course of +our lives, and again learned that it is not always best to follow the +line of least resistance. + +By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced +that I was upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra and the inland sea +I had not slept at all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps to +the summit of the divide and explore another canyon seemed the only +solution of my problem, but a sudden widening and levelness of the +canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it was about to open into +a level country, and with the lure of discovery strong upon me I +decided to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned back. + +The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before me I +saw a narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my right the side of +the canyon continued to the water’s edge, the valley lying to my left, +and the foot of it running gradually into the sea, where it formed a +broad level beach. + +Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost to +the water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. From the nature of +the vegetation I was convinced that the land between the ocean and the +foothills was swampy, though directly before me it seemed dry enough +all the way to the sandy strip along which the restless waters advanced +and retreated. + +Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene was very +beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and tangled vegetation of +the swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, but +though I stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, and if anything +lay hid there my eyes could not penetrate the dense foliage to discern +it. + +Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and lonely +sea across whose forbidding bosom no human being had yet ventured, to +discover what strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its +invisible islands held of riches, wonders, or adventure. What savage +faces, what fierce and formidable beasts were this very instant +watching the lapping of the waves upon its farther shore! How far did +it extend? Perry had told me that the seas of Pellucidar were small in +comparison with those of the outer crust, but even so this great ocean +might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For countless +ages it had rolled up and down its countless miles of shore, and yet +today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip that was visible +from its beaches. + +The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as though I +had been carried back to the birth time of our own outer world to look +upon its lands and seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was +a new world, all untouched. It called to me to explore it. I was +dreaming of the excitement and adventure which lay before us could +Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when something, a slight noise I +imagine, drew my attention behind me. + +As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took +wing before the terrible embodiment of all three in concrete form that +I beheld advancing upon me. + +A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the mighty jaws +of an alligator. Its immense carcass must have weighed tons, and yet it +moved swiftly and silently toward me. Upon one hand was the bluff that +ran from the canyon to the sea, on the other the fearsome swamp from +which the creature had sneaked upon me, behind lay the mighty untracked +sea, and before me in the center of the narrow way that led to safety +stood this huge mountain of terrible and menacing flesh. + +A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I was +facing one of those long-extinct, prehistoric creatures whose +fossilized remains are found within the outer crust as far back as the +Triassic formation, a gigantic labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, +and, with the exception of a loin cloth, as naked as I had come into +the world. I could imagine how my first ancestor felt that distant, +prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first time the terrifying +progenitor of the thing that had me cornered now beside the restless, +mysterious sea. + +Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within +Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at that moment that he had handed +down to me with the various attributes that I presumed I have inherited +from him, the specific application of the instinct of self-preservation +which saved him from the fate which loomed so close before me today. + +To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar to +jumping into a den of lions to escape one upon the outside. The sea and +swamp both were doubtless alive with these mighty, carnivorous +amphibians, and if not, the individual that menaced me would pursue me +into either the sea or the swamp with equal facility. + +There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. I +thought of Perry—how he would wonder what had become of me. I thought +of my friends of the outer world, and of how they all would go on +living their lives in total ignorance of the strange and terrible fate +that had overtaken me, or unguessing the weird surroundings which had +witnessed the last frightful agony of my extinction. And with these +thoughts came a realization of how unimportant to the life and +happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We may be +snuffed out without an instant’s warning, and for a brief day our +friends speak of us with subdued voices. The following morning, while +the first worm is busily engaged in testing the construction of our +coffin, they are teeing up for the first hole to suffer more acute +sorrow over a sliced ball than they did over our, to us, untimely +demise. The labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. He seemed to +realize that escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn that +his huge, fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of my +predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy morsel which would +so soon be pulp between those formidable teeth? + +He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to me from +the direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and could have shouted +in delight at the sight that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving +frantically to me, and urging me to run for it to the cliff’s base. + +I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked me for +his breakfast, but at least I should not die alone. Human eyes would +watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some +slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it. + +To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable +cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, agile as a monkey, +crawl down the precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small +projections, and the tough creepers that had found root-hold here and +there. + +The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double his +portion of human flesh, so he was in no haste to pursue me to the cliff +and frighten away this other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted along +behind me. + +As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, but +I doubted if the thing would prove successful. He had come down to +within twenty feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with one hand to +a small ledge, and with his feet resting precariously upon tiny bushes +that grew from the solid face of the rock, he lowered the point of his +long spear until it hung some six feet above the ground. + +To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and +precipitating both to the same doom from which the copper-colored one +was attempting to save me seemed utterly impossible, and as I came near +the spear I told Ja so, and that I could not risk him to try to save +myself. + +But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no danger +himself. + +“The danger is still yours,” he called, “for unless you move much more +rapidly than you are now, the sithic will be upon you and drag you back +before ever you are halfway up the spear—he can rear up and reach you +with ease anywhere below where I stand.” + +Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped the +spear and clambered up toward the red man as rapidly as I could—being +so far removed from my simian ancestors as I am. I imagine the +slow-witted sithic, as Ja called him, suddenly realized our intentions +and that he was quite likely to lose all his meal instead of having it +doubled as he had hoped. + +When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss that fairly +shook the ground, and came charging after me at a terrific rate. I had +reached the top of the spear by this time, or almost; another six +inches would give me a hold on Ja’s hand, when I felt a sudden wrench +from below and glancing fearfully downward saw the mighty jaws of the +monster close on the sharp point of the weapon. + +I made a frantic effort to reach Ja’s hand, the sithic gave a +tremendous tug that came near to jerking Ja from his frail hold on the +surface of the rock, the spear slipped from his fingers, and still +clinging to it I plunged feet foremost toward my executioner. + +At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja’s hand the +creature must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, for when I came +down, still clinging to the butt end of the weapon, the point yet +rested in his mouth and the result was that the sharpened end +transfixed his lower jaw. + +With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, lost +my hold upon the spear, rolled the length of his face and head, across +his short neck onto his broad back and from there to the ground. + +Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing madly +for the path by which I had entered this horrible valley. A glance over +my shoulder showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear stuck +through his lower jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in this +occupation that I had gained the safety of the cliff top before he was +ready to take up the pursuit. When he did not discover me in sight +within the valley he dashed, hissing, into the rank vegetation of the +swamp and that was the last I saw of him. + + + + +X +PHUTRA AGAIN + + +I hastened to the cliff edge above Ja and helped him to a secure +footing. He would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to save me, +which had come so near miscarrying. + +“I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple,” +he said, “for not even I could save you from their clutches, and you +may imagine my surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon the +beach of the mainland I discovered your own footprints in the sand +beside it. + +“I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you must +be entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers which lurk +upon the mainland both in the form of savage beasts and reptiles, and +men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you to this point. It is +well that I arrived when I did.” + +“But why did you do it?” I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship on +the part of a man of another world and a different race and color. + +“You saved my life,” he replied; “from that moment it became my duty to +protect and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop had I evaded +my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this instance for I like you. I +wish that you would come and live with me. You shall become a member of +my tribe. Among us there is the best of hunting and fishing, and you +shall have, to choose a mate from, the most beautiful girls of +Pellucidar. Will you come?” + +I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty +was to them first. Afterward I should return and visit him—if I could +ever find his island. + +“Oh, that is easy, my friend,” he said. “You need merely to come to the +foot of the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds. There you will +find a river which flows into the Lural Az. Directly opposite the mouth +of the river you will see three large islands far out, so far that they +are barely discernible, the one to the extreme left as you face them +from the mouth of the river is Anoroc, where I rule the tribe of +Anoroc.” + +“But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?” I asked. “Men say +that they are visible from half Pellucidar,” he replied. + +“How large is Pellucidar?” I asked, wondering what sort of theory these +primitive men had concerning the form and substance of their world. + +“The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell,” he +answered, “but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, we should fall +back were we to travel far in any direction, and all the waters of +Pellucidar would run to one spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite +flat and extends no man knows how far in all directions. At the edges, +so my ancestors have reported and handed down to me, is a great wall +that prevents the earth and waters from escaping over into the burning +sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never have been so far from Anoroc +as to have seen this wall with my own eyes. However, it is quite +reasonable to believe that this is true, whereas there is no reason at +all in the foolish belief of the Mahars. According to them +Pellucidarians who live upon the opposite side walk always with their +heads pointed downward!” and Ja laughed uproariously at the very +thought. + +It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had not +advanced far in learning, and the thought that the ugly Mahars had so +outstripped them was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered how many +ages it would take to lift these people out of their ignorance even +were it given to Perry and me to attempt it. Possibly we would be +killed for our pains as were those men of the outer world who dared +challenge the dense ignorance and superstitions of the earth’s younger +days. But it was worth the effort if the opportunity ever presented +itself. + +And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity—that I might +make a small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, and thus note the +effect of my teaching upon a Pellucidarian. + +“Ja,” I said, “what would you say were I to tell you that in so far as +the Mahars’ theory of the shape of Pellucidar is concerned it is +correct?” + +“I would say,” he replied, “that either you are a fool, or took me for +one.” + +“But, Ja,” I insisted, “if their theory is incorrect how do you account +for the fact that I was able to pass through the earth from the outer +crust to Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a sea of flame +beneath us, wherein no peoples could exist, and yet I come from a great +world that is covered with human beings, and beasts, and birds, and +fishes in mighty oceans.” + +“You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with your +head pointed downward?” he scoffed. “And were I to believe that, my +friend, I should indeed be mad.” + +I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means of +the dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it would be for a body +to fall off the earth under any circumstances. He listened so intently +that I thought I had made an impression, and started the train of +thought that would lead him to a partial understanding of the truth. +But I was mistaken. + +“Your own illustration,” he said finally, “proves the falsity of your +theory.” He dropped a fruit from his hand to the ground. “See,” he +said, “without support even this tiny fruit falls until it strikes +something that stops it. If Pellucidar were not supported upon the +flaming sea it too would fall as the fruit falls—you have proven it +yourself!” He had me, that time—you could see it in his eye. + +It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for +when I contemplated the necessity explanation of our solar system and +the universe I realized how futile it would be to attempt to picture to +Ja or any other Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the planets, and the +countless stars. Those born within the inner world could no more +conceive of such things than can we of the outer crust reduce to +factors appreciable to our finite minds such terms as space and +eternity. + +“Well, Ja,” I laughed, “whether we be walking with our feet up or down, +here we are, and the question of greatest importance is not so much +where we came from as where we are going now. For my part I wish that +you could guide me to Phutra where I may give myself up to the Mahars +once more that my friends and I may work out the plan of escape which +the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us together and drove us to +the arena to witness the punishment of the slaves who killed the +guardsman. I wish now that I had not left the arena for by this time my +friends and I might have made good our escape, whereas this delay may +mean the wrecking of all our plans, which depended for their +consummation upon the continued sleep of the three Mahars who lay in +the pit beneath the building in which we were confined.” + +“You would return to captivity?” cried Ja. + +“My friends are there,” I replied, “the only friends I have in +Pellucidar, except yourself. What else may I do under the +circumstances?” + +He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head sorrowfully. + +“It is what a brave man and a good friend should do,” he said; “yet it +seems most foolish, for the Mahars will most certainly condemn you to +death for running away, and so you will be accomplishing nothing for +your friends by returning. Never in all my life have I heard of a +prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free will. There are but +few who escape them, though some do, and these would rather die than be +recaptured.” + +“I see no other way, Ja,” I said, “though I can assure you that I would +rather go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. However, Perry is much +too pious to make the probability at all great that I should ever be +called upon to rescue him from the former locality.” + +Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could, he +said, “You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea upon which +Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried in the ground go there. +Piece by piece they are carried down to Molop Az by the little demons +who dwell there. We know this because when graves are opened we find +that the bodies have been partially or entirely borne off. That is why +we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees where the birds may find them +and bear them bit by bit to the Dead World above the Land of Awful +Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground that it may +go to Molop Az.” + +As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come to +the great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to dissuade me from +returning to Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to do so, he +consented to guide me to a point from which I could see the plain where +lay the city. To my surprise the distance was but short from the beach +where I had again met Ja. It was evident that I had spent much time +following the windings of a tortuous canyon, while just beyond the +ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which I must have come several +times. + +As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the +flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final effort to persuade me to +abandon my mad purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was firm in +my resolve, and at last he bid me good-bye, assured in his own mind +that he was looking upon me for the last time. + +I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much +indeed. With his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as a base, and +his savage warriors as escort Perry and I could have accomplished much +in the line of exploration, and I hoped that were we successful in our +effort to escape we might return to Anoroc later. + +There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished first—at least +it was the great thing to me—the finding of Dian the Beautiful. I +wanted to make amends for the affront I had put upon her in my +ignorance, and I wanted to—well, I wanted to see her again, and to be +with her. + +Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers, and +then across the rolling land toward the shadowless columns that guard +the ways to buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile from the nearest entrance +I was discovered by the Sagoth guard, and in an instant four of the +gorilla-men were dashing toward me. + +Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches +I paid not the slightest attention to them, walking quietly toward them +as though unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect upon +them that I had hoped, and as we came quite near together they ceased +their savage shouting. It was evident that they had expected me to turn +and flee at sight of them, thus presenting that which they most +enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast their spears. + +“What do you here?” shouted one, and then as he recognized me, “Ho! It +is the slave who claims to be from another world—he who escaped when +the thag ran amuck within the amphitheater. But why do you return, +having once made good your escape?” + +“I did not ‘escape’,” I replied. “I but ran away to avoid the thag, as +did others, and coming into a long passage I became confused and lost +my way in the foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my way +back.” + +“And you come of your free will back to Phutra!” exclaimed one of the +guardsmen. + +“Where else might I go?” I asked. “I am a stranger within Pellucidar +and know no other where than Phutra. Why should I not desire to be in +Phutra? Am I not well fed and well treated? Am I not happy? What better +lot could man desire?” + +The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them, and so +being stupid brutes they took me to their masters whom they felt would +be better fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for riddle they +still considered it. + +I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing them +off the scent of my purposed attempt at escape. If they thought that I +was so satisfied with my lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily +return when I had once had so excellent an opportunity to escape, they +would never for an instant imagine that I could be occupied in +arranging another escape immediately upon my return to the city. + +So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within +the large room that was the thing’s office. With cold, reptilian eyes +the creature seemed to bore through the thin veneer of my deceit and +read my inmost thoughts. It heeded the story which the Sagoths told of +my return to Phutra, watching the gorilla-men’s lips and fingers during +the recital. Then it questioned me through one of the Sagoths. + +“You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because you +think yourself better off here than elsewhere—do you not know that you +may be the next chosen to give up your life in the interests of the +wonderful scientific investigations that our learned ones are +continually occupied with?” + +I hadn’t heard of anything of that nature, but I thought best not to +admit it. + +“I could be in no more danger here,” I said, “than naked and unarmed in +the savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar. I was +fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I barely +escaped death within the jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am sure that I am +safer in the hands of intelligent creatures such as rule Phutra. At +least such would be the case in my own world, where human beings like +myself rule supreme. There the higher races of man extend protection +and hospitality to the stranger within their gates, and being a +stranger here I naturally assumed that a like courtesy would be +accorded me.” + +The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased speaking +and the Sagoth had translated my words to his master. The creature +seemed deep in thought. Presently he communicated some message to the +Sagoth. The latter turned, and motioning me to follow him, left the +presence of the reptile. Behind and on either side of me marched the +balance of the guard. + +“What are they going to do with me?” I asked the fellow at my right. + +“You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you +regarding this strange world from which you say you come.” + +After a moment’s silence he turned to me again. + +“Do you happen to know,” he asked, “what the Mahars do to slaves who +lie to them?” + +“No,” I replied, “nor does it interest me, as I have no intention of +lying to the Mahars.” + +“Then be careful that you don’t repeat the impossible tale you told +Sol-to-to just now—another world, indeed, where human beings rule!” he +concluded in fine scorn. + +“But it is the truth,” I insisted. “From where else then did I come? I +am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could see that.” + +“It is your misfortune then,” he remarked dryly, “that you may not be +judged by one with but half an eye.” + +“What will they do with me,” I asked, “if they do not have a mind to +believe me?” + +“You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used in +research work by the learned ones,” he replied. + +“And what will they do with me there?” I persisted. + +“No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with them, +but as the latter never return, their knowledge does them but little +good. It is said that the learned ones cut up their subjects while they +are yet alive, thus learning many useful things. However I should not +imagine that it would prove very useful to him who was being cut up; +but of course this is all but conjecture. The chances are that ere long +you will know much more about it than I,” and he grinned as he spoke. +The Sagoths have a well-developed sense of humor. + +“And suppose it is the arena,” I continued; “what then?” + +“You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you +escaped?” he said. + +“Yes.” + +“Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for them,” +he explained, “though of course the same kinds of animals might not be +employed.” + +“It is sure death in either event?” I asked. + +“What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not +know, nor does any other,” he replied; “but those who go to the arena +may come out alive and thus regain their liberty, as did the two whom +you saw.” + +“They gained their liberty? And how?” + +“It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive +within the arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it has +happened that several mighty warriors from far distant lands, whom we +have captured on our slave raids, have battled the brutes turned in +upon them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom. In the +instance which you witnessed the beasts killed each other, but the +result was the same—the man and woman were liberated, furnished with +weapons, and started on their homeward journey. Upon the left shoulder +of each a mark was burned—the mark of the Mahars—which will forever +protect these two from slaving parties.” + +“There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena, and +none at all if the learned ones drag me to the pits?” + +“You are quite right,” he replied; “but do not felicitate yourself too +quickly should you be sent to the arena, for there is scarce one in a +thousand who comes out alive.” + +To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which I had +been confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. At the doorway I +was turned over to the guards there. + +“He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly,” said he +who had brought me back, “so have him in readiness.” + +The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I had +returned of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt that it would be +safe to give me liberty within the building as had been the custom +before I had escaped, and so I was told to return to whatever duty had +been mine formerly. + +My first act was to hunt up Perry, whom I found poring as usual over +the great tomes that he was supposed to be merely dusting and +rearranging upon new shelves. + +As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me, only +to resume his work as though I had never been away at all. I was both +astonished and hurt at his indifference. And to think that I was +risking death to return to him purely from a sense of duty and +affection! + +“Why, Perry!” I exclaimed, “haven’t you a word for me after my long +absence?” + +“Long absence!” he repeated in evident astonishment. “What do you +mean?” + +“Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed me +since that time we were separated by the charging thag within the +arena?” + +“‘That time’,” he repeated. “Why man, I have but just returned from the +arena! You reached here almost as soon as I. Had you been much later I +should indeed have been worried, and as it is I had intended asking you +about how you escaped the beast as soon as I had completed the +translation of this most interesting passage.” + +“Perry, you ARE mad,” I exclaimed. “Why, the Lord only knows how long I +have been away. I have been to other lands, discovered a new race of +humans within Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their worship in their +hidden temple, and barely escaped with my life from them and from a +great labyrinthodon that I met afterward, following my long and tedious +wanderings across an unknown world. I must have been away for months, +Perry, and now you barely look up from your work when I return and +insist that we have been separated but a moment. Is that any way to +treat a friend? I’m surprised at you, Perry, and if I’d thought for a +moment that you cared no more for me than this I should not have +returned to chance death at the hands of the Mahars for your sake.” + +The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There was a +puzzled expression upon his wrinkled face, and a look of hurt sorrow in +his eyes. + +“David, my boy,” he said, “how could you for a moment doubt my love for +you? There is something strange here that I cannot understand. I know +that I am not mad, and I am equally sure that you are not; but how in +the world are we to account for the strange hallucinations that each of +us seems to harbor relative to the passage of time since last we saw +each other. You are positive that months have gone by, while to me it +seems equally certain that not more than an hour ago I sat beside you +in the amphitheater. Can it be that both of us are right and at the +same time both are wrong? First tell me what time is, and then maybe I +can solve our problem. Do you catch my meaning?” + +I didn’t and said so. + +“Yes,” continued the old man, “we are both right. To me, bent over my +book here, there has been no lapse of time. I have done little or +nothing to waste my energies and so have required neither food nor +sleep, but you, on the contrary, have walked and fought and wasted +strength and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by nutriment and food, +and so, having eaten and slept many times since last you saw me you +naturally measure the lapse of time largely by these acts. As a matter +of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction that there is no +such thing as time—surely there can be no time here within Pellucidar, +where there are no means for measuring or recording time. Why, the +Mahars themselves take no account of such a thing as time. I find here +in all their literary works but a single tense, the present. There +seems to be neither past nor future with them. Of course it is +impossible for our outer-earthly minds to grasp such a condition, but +our recent experiences seem to demonstrate its existence.” + +It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to +enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it, and after listening with +interest to my account of the adventures through which I had passed he +returned once more to the subject, which he was enlarging upon with +considerable fluency when he was interrupted by the entrance of a +Sagoth. + +“Come!” commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. “The investigators +would speak with you.” + +“Good-bye, Perry!” I said, clasping the old man’s hand. “There may be +nothing but the present and no such thing as time, but I feel that I am +about to take a trip into the hereafter from which I shall never +return. If you and Ghak should manage to escape I want you to promise +me that you will find Dian the Beautiful and tell her that with my last +words I asked her forgiveness for the unintentional affront I put upon +her, and that my one wish was to be spared long enough to right the +wrong that I had done her.” + +Tears came to Perry’s eyes. + +“I cannot believe but that you will return, David,” he said. “It would +be awful to think of living out the balance of my life without you +among these hateful and repulsive creatures. If you are taken away I +shall never escape, for I feel that I am as well off here as I should +be anywhere within this buried world. Good-bye, my boy, good-bye!” and +then his old voice faltered and broke, and as he hid his face in his +hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by the shoulder and +hustled me from the chamber. + + + + +XI +FOUR DEAD MAHARS + + +A moment later I was standing before a dozen Mahars—the social +investigators of Phutra. They asked me many questions, through a Sagoth +interpreter. I answered them all truthfully. They seemed particularly +interested in my account of the outer earth and the strange vehicle +which had brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. I thought that I had +convinced them, and after they had sat in silence for a long time +following my examination, I expected to be ordered returned to my +quarters. + +During this apparent silence they were debating through the medium of +strange, unspoken language the merits of my tale. At last the head of +the tribunal communicated the result of their conference to the officer +in charge of the Sagoth guard. + +“Come,” he said to me, “you are sentenced to the experimental pits for +having dared to insult the intelligence of the mighty ones with the +ridiculous tale you have had the temerity to unfold to them.” + +“Do you mean that they do not believe me?” I asked, totally astonished. + +“Believe you!” he laughed. “Do you mean to say that you expected any +one to believe so impossible a lie?” + +It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard down +through the dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom. At a low +level we came upon a number of lighted chambers in which we saw many +Mahars engaged in various occupations. To one of these chambers my +guard escorted me, and before leaving they chained me to a side wall. +There were other humans similarly chained. Upon a long table lay a +victim even as I was ushered into the room. Several Mahars stood about +the poor creature holding him down so that he could not move. Another, +grasping a sharp knife with her three-toed fore foot, was laying open +the victim’s chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered and +the shrieks and groans of the tortured man were terrible to hear. This, +indeed, was vivisection with a vengeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me +as I realized that soon my turn would come. And to think that where +there was no such thing as time I might easily imagine that my +suffering was enduring for months before death finally released me! + +The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I had been +brought into the room. So deeply immersed were they in their work that +I am sure they did not even know that the Sagoths had entered with me. +The door was close by. Would that I could reach it! But those heavy +chains precluded any such possibility. I looked about for some means of +escape from my bonds. Upon the floor between me and the Mahars lay a +tiny surgical instrument which one of them must have dropped. It looked +not unlike a button-hook, but was much smaller, and its point was +sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood days had I picked locks with a +buttonhook. Could I but reach that little bit of polished steel I might +yet effect at least a temporary escape. + +Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching one hand as +far out as I could my fingers still fell an inch short of the coveted +instrument. It was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber of my being as I +would, I could not quite make it. + +At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the object. My +heart came to my throat! I could just touch the thing! But suppose that +in my effort to drag it toward me I should accidentally shove it still +farther away and thus entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke out upon +me from every pore. Slowly and cautiously I made the effort. My toes +dropped upon the cold metal. Gradually I worked it toward me until I +felt that it was within reach of my hand and a moment later I had +turned about and the precious thing was in my grasp. + +Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my chain. It +was pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and a moment later +I was free. The Mahars were now evidently completing their work at the +table. One already turned away and was examining other victims, +evidently with the intention of selecting the next subject. + +Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the creature +walking toward us I might have escaped that moment. Slowly the thing +approached me, when its attention was attracted by a huge slave chained +a few yards to my right. Here the reptile stopped and commenced to go +over the poor devil carefully, and as it did so its back turned toward +me for an instant, and in that instant I gave two mighty leaps that +carried me out of the chamber into the corridor beyond, down which I +raced with all the speed I could command. + +Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only thought was to +place as much distance as possible between me and that frightful +chamber of torture. + +Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later realizing the +danger of running into some new predicament, were I not careful, I +moved still more slowly and cautiously. After a time I came to a +passage that seemed in some mysterious way familiar to me, and +presently, chancing to glance within a chamber which led from the +corridor I saw three Mahars curled up in slumber upon a bed of skins. I +could have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the same corridor +and the same Mahars that I had intended to have lead so important a +role in our escape from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, +for the reptiles still slept. + +My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels in search +of Perry and Ghak, but there was nothing else to be done, and so I +hastened upward. When I came to the frequented portions of the +building, I found a large burden of skins in a corner and these I +lifted to my head, carrying them in such a way that ends and corners +fell down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. Thus disguised +I found Perry and Ghak together in the chamber where we had been wont +to eat and sleep. + +Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of course they +had known nothing of the fate that had been meted out to me by my +judges. It was decided that no time should now be lost before +attempting to put our plan of escape to the test, as I could not hope +to remain hidden from the Sagoths long, nor could I forever carry that +bale of skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion. However it +seemed likely that it would carry me once more safely through the +crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels, and so I set out +with Perry and Ghak—the stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking +me. + +Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the main +floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak halted to await me. The +buildings are cut out of the solid limestone formation. There is +nothing at all remarkable about their architecture. The rooms are +sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular, and again oval in shape. The +corridors which connect them are narrow and not always straight. The +chambers are lighted by diffused sunlight reflected through tubes +similar to those by which the avenues are lighted. The lower the tiers +of chambers, the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely unlighted. +The Mahars can see quite well in semidarkness. + +Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, and slaves; +but no attention was paid to us as we had become a part of the domestic +life of the building. There was but a single entrance leading from the +place into the avenue and this was well guarded by Sagoths—this doorway +alone were we forbidden to pass. It is true that we were not supposed +to enter the deeper corridors and apartments except on special +occasions when we were instructed to do so; but as we were considered a +lower order without intelligence there was little reason to fear that +we could accomplish any harm by so doing, and so we were not hindered +as we entered the corridor which led below. + +Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, and the +arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. As many slaves bore +skin-wrapped burdens to and fro my load attracted no comment. Where I +left Ghak and Perry there were no other creatures in sight, and so I +withdrew one sword from the package, and leaving the balance of the +weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the lower levels. + +Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept I entered +silently on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures were without the +sense of hearing. With a quick thrust through the heart I disposed of +the first but my second thrust was not so fortunate, so that before I +could kill the next of my victims it had hurled itself against the +third, who sprang quickly up, facing me with wide-distended jaws. But +fighting is not the occupation which the race of Mahars loves, and when +the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of its companions, and +that my sword was red with their blood, it made a dash to escape me. +But I was too quick for it, and so, half hopping, half flying, it +scurried down another corridor with me close upon its heels. + +Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all probability my +instant death. This thought lent wings to my feet; but even at my best +I could do no more than hold my own with the leaping thing before me. + +Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the corridor, +and an instant later as I rushed in I found myself facing two of the +Mahars. The one who had been there when we entered had been occupied +with a number of metal vessels, into which had been put powders and +liquids as I judged from the array of flasks standing about upon the +bench where it had been working. In an instant I realized what I had +stumbled upon. It was the very room for the finding of which Perry had +given me minute directions. It was the buried chamber in which was +hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. And on the bench beside +the flasks lay the skin-bound book which held the only copy of the +thing I was to have sought, after dispatching the three Mahars in their +sleep. + +There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in which I now +stood facing the two frightful reptiles. Cornered, I knew that they +would fight like demons, and they were well equipped to fight if fight +they must. Together they launched themselves upon me, and though I ran +one of them through the heart on the instant, the other fastened its +gleaming fangs about my sword arm above the elbow, and then with her +sharp talons commenced to rake me about the body, evidently intent upon +disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope that I might +release my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which seemed to be +severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered was intense, but it +only served to spur me to greater efforts to overcome my antagonist. + +Back and forth across the floor we struggled—the Mahar dealing me +terrific, cutting blows with her fore feet, while I attempted to +protect my body with my left hand, at the same time watching for an +opportunity to transfer my blade from my now useless sword hand to its +rapidly weakening mate. At last I was successful, and with what seemed +to me my last ounce of strength I ran the blade through the ugly body +of my foe. + +Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from pain and +loss of blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant pride that I +stepped across its convulsively stiffening corpse to snatch up the most +potent secret of a world. A single glance assured me it was the very +thing that Perry had described to me. + +And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the human race of +Pellucidar—did there flash through my mind the thought that countless +generations of my own kind yet unborn would have reason to worship me +for the thing that I had accomplished for them? I did not. I thought of +a beautiful oval face, gazing out of limpid eyes, through a waving mass +of jet-black hair. I thought of red, red lips, God-made for kissing. +And of a sudden, apropos of nothing, standing there alone in the secret +chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, I realized that I loved Dian the +Beautiful. + + + + +XII +PURSUIT + + +For an instant I stood there thinking of her, and then, with a sigh, I +tucked the book in the thong that supported my loin cloth, and turned +to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which leads aloft +from the lower chambers I whistled in accordance with the prearranged +signal which was to announce to Perry and Ghak that I had been +successful. A moment later they stood beside me, and to my surprise I +saw that Hooja the Sly One accompanied them. + +“He joined us,” explained Perry, “and would not be denied. The fellow +is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than be thwarted of our chance +now I told him that I would bring him to you, and let you decide +whether he might accompany us.” + +I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if +he thought it would profit him he would betray us; but I saw no way out +of it now, and the fact that I had killed four Mahars instead of only +the three I had expected to, made it possible to include the fellow in +our scheme of escape. + +“Very well,” I said, “you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first +intimation of treachery I shall run my sword through you. Do you +understand?” + +He said that he did. + +Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and so +succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves that there seemed an +excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an +easy thing to fasten the hides together where we had split them along +the belly to remove them from their carcasses, but by remaining out +until the others had all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving +an aperture in the breast of Perry’s skin through which he could pass +his hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design to +really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the +heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and by the same +means were enabled to move them about in a life-like manner. We had our +greatest difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that problem was +finally solved, so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. +Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats into which our heads were +thrust permitted us to see well enough to guide our progress. + +Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak headed +the strange procession, then came Perry, followed by Hooja, while I +brought up the rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my +sword that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise into his +vitals were he to show any indication of faltering. + +As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy +corridors of the main level, my heart came up into my mouth. It is with +no sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened—never before in my +life, nor since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing fear +and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I sweat +it then. + +Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when +they are not using their wings, we crept through throngs of busy +slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we reached +the outer door which leads into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths +loitered near the opening. They glanced at Ghak as he padded between +them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. Now it was my turn, and then +in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that the warm blood from +my wounded arm was trickling down through the dead foot of the Mahar +skin I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement, for I saw +a Sagoth call a companion’s attention to it. + +The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to +me in the sign language which these two races employ as a means of +communication. Even had I known what he was saying I could not have +replied with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen a great +Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look. It seemed my only hope, +and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I moved my sword so that it +made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the gorilla-man. +For a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow with those +dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started slowly on. For a moment +all hung in the balance, but before I touched him the guard stepped to +one side, and I passed on out into the avenue. + +On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very +numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. Fortunately, +there was a great concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake +which lies a mile or more from the city. They go there to indulge their +amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and enjoying the cool +depths of the water. It is a fresh-water lake, shallow, and free from +the larger reptiles which make the use of the great seas of Pellucidar +impossible for any but their own kind. + +In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the +plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the stream that was +traveling toward the lake, but finally, at the bottom of a little gully +he halted, and there we remained until all had passed and we were +alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set off directly away from +Phutra. + +The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible +prisons unbearable, so that after passing a low divide, and entering a +sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had +brought us thus far in safety. + +I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling +flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped in our tracks. +How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped +the cruel fangs of lions and tigers the size of which would dwarf into +pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world. + +On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between +ourselves and Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us to his own +land—the land of Sari. No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we +were sure that somewhere behind us relentless Sagoths were dogging our +tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt down their quarry until +they had captured it or themselves been turned back by a superior +force. + +Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite +strong enough in their mountain fastness to beat off any number of +Sagoths. + +At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have been +years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment which buttressed the +foothills of Sari. At almost the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever +quite as much behind as before, announced that he could see a body of +men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake. It was the +long-expected pursuit. + +I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them. + +“We may,” he replied; “but you will find that the Sagoths can move with +incredible swiftness, and as they are almost tireless they are +doubtless much fresher than we. Then—” he paused, glancing at Perry. + +I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the period +of our flight either Ghak or I had half supported him on the march. +With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily +overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights which confronted +us. + +“You and Hooja go on ahead,” I said. “Perry and I will make it if we +are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, and there is no +reason why all should be lost because of that. It can’t be helped—we +have simply to face it.” + +“I will not desert a companion,” was Ghak’s simple reply. I hadn’t +known that this great, hairy, primeval man had any such nobility of +character stowed away inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my +liking was added honor and respect. Yes, and love. + +But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach +his people he might be able to bring out a sufficient force to drive +off the Sagoths and rescue Perry and myself. + +No, he wouldn’t leave us, and that was all there was to it, but he +suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn the Sarians of the king’s +danger. It didn’t require much urging to start Hooja—the naked idea was +enough to send him leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we +now had reached. + +Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak’s life and mine and the +old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him, although I knew that +he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling +into the hands of the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in +part, by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying him. While the +act cut down Ghak’s speed he still could travel faster thus than when +half supporting the stumbling old man. + + + + +XIII +THE SLY ONE + + +The Sagoths were gaining on us rapidly, for once they had sighted us +they had greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up the +narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the heights of Sari. On +either side rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, parti-colored rock, +while beneath our feet a thick mountain grass formed a soft and +noiseless carpet. Since we had entered the canyon we had had no glimpse +of our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope that they had lost our +trail and that we would reach the now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to +scale them before we should be overtaken. + +Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the success +of Hooja’s mission. By now he should have reached the outposts of the +Sarians, and we should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmen +as they swarmed to arms in answer to their king’s appeal for succor. In +another moment the frowning cliffs ahead should be black with primeval +warriors. But nothing of the kind happened—as a matter of fact the Sly +One had betrayed us. At the moment that we expected to see Sarian +spearmen charging to our relief at Hooja’s back, the craven traitor was +sneaking around the outskirts of the nearest Sarian village, that he +might come up from the other side when it was too late to save us, +claiming that he had become lost among the mountains. + +Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had +struck in Dian’s protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal to +sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon me. + +As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians +appeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the sound +of rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me over +his shoulder that we were lost. + +A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at the +far end of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we had just +passed, and then a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view; +but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence +that the gorilla-man had sighted us. + +Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another +branch ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so that +appeared more like the main canyon than the lefthand branch. The +Sagoths were now not over two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I +saw that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape other than by a +ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, and as I +reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance. + +Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghak +and Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon, and as +the Sagoth’s savage yell announced that he had seen me I turned and +fled up the right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entire +party of man-hunters raced headlong after me up one canyon while Ghak +bore Perry to safety up the other. + +Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when my +very life depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I ran any +better than on the occasions when my pitiful base running had called +down upon my head the rooter’s raucous and reproachful cries of “Ice +Wagon,” and “Call a cab.” + +The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular, +fleeter than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon had +become a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed +a pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could not even +guess—possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of feet into the corresponding +valley upon the other side. Could it be that I had plunged into a +cul-de-sac? + +Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the top +of the canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to check them +temporarily, and to this end had unslung my rudely made bow and plucked +an arrow from the skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. As I +fitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped and wheeled toward the +gorilla-man. + +In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our +escape from Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game by +means of my arrows, and so, through necessity, had developed a fair +degree of accuracy. During our flight from Phutra I had restrung my bow +with a piece of heavy gut taken from a huge tiger which Ghak and I had +worried and finally dispatched with arrows, spear, and sword. The hard +wood of the bow was extremely tough and this, with the strength and +elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted confidence in my weapon. + +Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then—never were my +nerves and muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully and +deliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had never before +seen a bow and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over his dull +intellect that the thing I held toward him was some sort of engine of +destruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously swinging his +hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods in which they employ +this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they achieve, even under the +most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous. + +My shaft was drawn back its full length—my eye had centered its sharp +point upon the left breast of my adversary; and then he launched his +hatchet and I released my arrow. At the instant that our missiles flew +I leaped to one side, but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his +attack with a spear thrust. I felt the swish of the hatchet as it +grazed my head, and at the same instant my shaft pierced the Sagoth’s +savage heart, and with a single groan he lunged almost at my feet—stone +dead. Close behind him were two more—fifty yards perhaps—but the +distance gave me time to snatch up the dead guardsman’s shield, for the +close call his hatchet had just given me had borne in upon me the +urgent need I had for one. Those which I had purloined at Phutra we had +not been able to bring along because their size precluded our +concealing them within the skins of the Mahars which had brought us +safely from the city. + +With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with another +arrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his fellow’s +hatchet sped toward me I caught it upon the shield, and fitted another +shaft for him; but he did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned +and retreated toward the main body of gorilla-men. Evidently he had +seen enough of me for the moment. + +Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently +overanxious to press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested I +reached the top of the canyon where I found a sheer drop of two or +three hundred feet to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the left a +narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff. Along this +I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond the canyon’s +end, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening to a large +cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight about +another projecting buttress of the mountain. + +Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could +advance upon me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting him +until he came full upon me around the corner of the turn. About me lay +scattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were of various +sizes and shapes, but enough were of handy dimensions for use as +ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering a number of stones +into a little pile beside the mouth of the cave I waited the advance of +the Sagoths. + +As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint sound +that should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight noise from +within the cave’s black depths attracted my attention. It might have +been produced by the moving of the great body of some huge beast rising +from the rock floor of its lair. At almost the same instant I thought +that I caught the scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond the +turn. For the next few seconds my attention was considerably divided. + +And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes +glaring into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet above my +head. It is true that the beast who owned them might be standing upon a +ledge within the cave, or that it might be rearing up upon its hind +legs; but I had seen enough of the monsters of Pellucidar to know that +I might be facing some new and frightful Titan whose dimensions and +ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen before. + +Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the cave, +and now, deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and ominous growl. I +waited no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with the thing +which owned that voice. The noise had not been loud—I doubt if the +Sagoths heard it at all—but the suggestion of latent possibilities +behind it was such that I knew it would only emanate from a gigantic +and ferocious beast. + +As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the cave, +where I no longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but an instant +later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warily +advanced beyond the cliff’s turn on the far side of the cave’s mouth. +As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge in pursuit, and after +him came as many of his companions as could crowd upon each other’s +heels. At the same time the beast emerged from the cave, so that he and +the Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge. + +The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully +eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the end +of its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sighted +the Sagoths it emitted a most frightful roar, and with open mouth +charged full upon them. With a cry of terror the foremost gorilla-man +turned to escape, but behind him he ran full upon his on-rushing +companions. + +The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth +nearest the cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and leaped +deliberately to an awful death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feet +below. Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered in the next—there +was a sickening sound of crushing bones, and the mangled corpse was +dropped over the cliff’s edge. Nor did the mighty beast even pause in +his steady advance along the ledge. + +Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to escape +him, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing the +demoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long time I could hear +the horrid roaring of the brute intermingled with the screams and +shrieks of his victims, until finally the awful sounds dwindled and +disappeared in the distance. + +Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen and +returned with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is called, +pursued the Sagoths until it had exterminated the entire band. Ghak +was, of course, positive that I had fallen prey to the terrible +creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of beasts. + +Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall prey +either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along the ledge, +believing that by following around the mountain I could reach the land +of Sari from another direction. But I evidently became confused by the +twisting and turning of the canyons and gullies, for I did not come to +the land of Sari then, nor for a long time thereafter. + + + + +XIV +THE GARDEN OF EDEN + + +With no heavenly guide, it is little wonder that I became confused and +lost in the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. What, in reality, +I did was to pass entirely through them and come out above the valley +upon the farther side. I know that I wandered for a long time, until +tired and hungry I came upon a small cave in the face of the limestone +formation which had taken the place of the granite farther back. + +The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous side of a +lofty cliff. The way to it was such that I knew no extremely formidable +beast could frequent it, nor was it large enough to make a comfortable +habitat for any but the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet it was with +the utmost caution that I crawled within its dark interior. + +Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft in the +rock above which let the sunlight filter in in sufficient quantities +partially to dispel the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave +was entirely empty, nor were there any signs of its having been +recently occupied. The opening was comparatively small, so that after +considerable effort I was able to lug up a bowlder from the valley +below which entirely blocked it. + +Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and on +this trip was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, the diminutive +horse of Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of a fox terrier, +which abounds in all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food and +bedding I returned to my lair, where after a meal of raw meat, to which +I had now become quite accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the +entrance and curled myself upon a bed of grasses—a naked, primeval, +cave man, as savagely primitive as my prehistoric progenitors. + +I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled out +upon the little rocky shelf which was my front porch. Before me spread +a small but beautiful valley, through the center of which a clear and +sparkling river wound its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters of +which were just visible between the two mountain ranges which embraced +this little paradise. The sides of the opposite hills were green with +verdure, for a great forest clothed them to the foot of the red and +yellow and copper green of the towering crags which formed their +summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, while +here and there patches of wild flowers made great splashes of vivid +color against the prevailing green. + +Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike +trees—three or four together as a rule. Beneath these stood antelope, +while others grazed in the open, or wandered gracefully to a nearby +ford to drink. There were several species of this beautiful animal, the +most magnificent somewhat resembling the giant eland of Africa, except +that their spiral horns form a complete curve backward over their ears +and then forward again beneath them, ending in sharp and formidable +points some two feet before the face and above the eyes. In size they +remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet they are very agile and +fast. The broad yellow bands that stripe the dark roan of their coats +made me take them for zebra when I first saw them. All in all they are +handsome animals, and added the finishing touch to the strange and +lovely landscape that spread before my new home. + +I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with it as a +base make a systematic exploration of the surrounding country in search +of the land of Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcass of +the orthopi I had killed before my last sleep. Then I hid the Great +Secret in a deep niche at the back of my cave, rolled the bowlder +before my front door, and with bow, arrows, sword, and shield scrambled +down into the peaceful valley. + +The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, the +little orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and galloping to safest +distances. All the animals stopped feeding as I approached, and after +moving to what they considered a safe distance stood contemplating me +with serious eyes and up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bull +antelopes of the striped species lowered his head and bellowed +angrily—even taking a few steps in my direction, so that I thought he +meant to charge; but after I had passed, he resumed feeding as though +nothing had disturbed him. + +Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, and +across the river saw a great sadok, the enormous double-horned +progenitor of the modern rhinoceros. At the valley’s end the cliffs +upon the left ran out into the sea, so that to pass around them as I +desired to do it was necessary to scale them in search of a ledge along +which I might continue my journey. Some fifty feet from the base I came +upon a projection which formed a natural path along the face of the +cliff, and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff’s end. + +Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the cliffs—the +stratum which formed it evidently having been forced up at this steep +angle when the mountains behind it were born. As I climbed carefully up +the ascent my attention suddenly was attracted aloft by the sound of +strange hissing, and what resembled the flapping of wings. + +And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision the most +frightful thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. It was a giant +dragon such as is pictured in the legends and fairy tales of earth +folk. Its huge body must have measured forty feet in length, while the +batlike wings that supported it in midair had a spread of fully thirty. +Its gaping jaws were armed with long, sharp teeth, and its claw +equipped with horrible talons. + +The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was issuing +from its throat, and seemed to be directed at something beyond and +below me which I could not see. The ledge upon which I stood terminated +abruptly a few paces farther on, and as I reached the end I saw the +cause of the reptile’s agitation. + +Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at this +point, so that beyond the spot where I stood the strata had slipped +down a matter of twenty feet. The result was that the continuation of +my ledge lay twenty feet below me, where it ended as abruptly as did +the end upon which I stood. + +And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable break in +the ledge, stood the object of the creature’s attack—a girl cowering +upon the narrow platform, her face buried in her arms, as though to +shut out the sight of the frightful death which hovered just above her. + +The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in upon its +prey. There was no time to be lost, scarce an instant in which to weigh +the possible chances that I had against the awfully armed creature; but +the sight of that frightened girl below me called out to all that was +best in me, and the instinct for protection of the other sex, which +nearly must have equaled the instinct of self-preservation in primeval +man, drew me to the girl’s side like an irresistible magnet. + +Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the end of the +ledge upon which I stood, for the tiny shelf twenty feet below. At the +same instant the dragon darted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent +upon the scene must have startled him for he veered to one side, and +then rose above us once more. + +The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl that the end +had come, for she thought I was the dragon; but finally when no cruel +fangs closed upon her she raised her eyes in astonishment. As they fell +upon me the expression that came into them would be difficult to +describe; but her feelings could scarcely have been one whit more +complicated than my own—for the wide eyes that looked into mine were +those of Dian the Beautiful. + +“Dian!” I cried. “Dian! Thank God that I came in time.” + +“You?” she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor could I tell +whether she were glad or angry that I had come. + +Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly that I had +no time to unsling my bow. All that I could do was to snatch up a rock, +and hurl it at the thing’s hideous face. Again my aim was true, and +with a hiss of pain and rage the reptile wheeled once more and soared +away. + +Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the next attack, +and as I did so I looked down at the girl, so that I surprised her in a +surreptitious glance which she was stealing at me; but immediately, she +again covered her face with her hands. + +“Look at me, Dian,” I pleaded. “Are you not glad to see me?” + +She looked straight into my eyes. + +“I hate you,” she said, and then, as I was about to beg for a fair +hearing she pointed over my shoulder. “The thipdar comes,” she said, +and I turned again to meet the reptile. + +So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel bloodhound of +the Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl of the outer world. But this +time I met it with a weapon it never had faced before. I had selected +my longest arrow, and with all my strength had bent the bow until the +very tip of the shaft rested upon the thumb of my left hand, and then +as the great creature darted toward us I let drive straight for that +tough breast. + +Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty creature +fell turning and twisting into the sea below, my arrow buried +completely in its carcass. I turned toward the girl. She was looking +past me. It was evident that she had seen the thipdar die. + +“Dian,” I said, “won’t you tell me that you are not sorry that I have +found you?” + +“I hate you,” was her only reply; but I imagined that there was less +vehemence in it than before—yet it might have been but my imagination. + +“Why do you hate me, Dian?” I asked, but she did not answer me. + +“What are you doing here?” I asked, “and what has happened to you since +Hooja freed you from the Sagoths?” + +At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, but +finally she thought better of it. + +“I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she said. “After I +escaped from the Sagoths I made my way alone back to my own land; but +on account of Jubal I did not dare enter the villages or let any of my +friends know that I had returned for fear that Jubal might find out. By +watching for a long time I found that my brother had not yet returned, +and so I continued to live in a cave beside a valley which my race +seldom frequents, awaiting the time that he should come back and free +me from Jubal. + +“But at last one of Jubal’s hunters saw me as I was creeping toward my +father’s cave to see if my brother had yet returned and he gave the +alarm and Jubal set out after me. He has been pursuing me across many +lands. He cannot be far behind me now. When he comes he will kill you +and carry me back to his cave. He is a terrible man. I have gone as far +as I can go, and there is no escape,” and she looked hopelessly up at +the continuation of the ledge twenty feet above us. + +“But he shall not have me,” she suddenly cried, with great vehemence. +“The sea is there”—she pointed over the edge of the cliff—“and the sea +shall have me rather than Jubal.” + +“But I have you now Dian,” I cried; “nor shall Jubal, nor any other +have you, for you are mine,” and I seized her hand, nor did I lift it +above her head and let it fall in token of release. + +She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my eyes with +level gaze. + +“I do not believe you,” she said, “for if you meant it you would have +done this when the others were present to witness it—then I should +truly have been your mate; now there is no one to see you do it, for +you know that without witnesses your act does not bind you to me,” and +she withdrew her hand from mine and turned away. + +I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply couldn’t +forget the humiliation that I had put upon her on that other occasion. + +“If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to prove it,” +she said, “if Jubal does not catch and kill you. I am in your power, +and the treatment you accord me will be the best proof of your +intentions toward me. I am not your mate, and again I tell you that I +hate you, and that I should be glad if I never saw you again.” + +Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In fact I +found candor and directness to be quite a marked characteristic of the +cave men of Pellucidar. Finally I suggested that we make some attempt +to gain my cave, where we might escape the searching Jubal, for I am +free to admit that I had no considerable desire to meet the formidable +and ferocious creature, of whose mighty prowess Dian had told me when I +first met her. He it was who, armed with a puny knife, had met and +killed a cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was Jubal who could +cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass of the sadok at +fifty paces. It was he who had crushed the skull of a charging dyryth +with a single blow of his war club. No, I was not pining to meet the +Ugly One—and it was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for +him; but the matter was taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often +the way, and I did meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face. + +This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge the way +she had come, searching for a path that would lead us to the top of the +cliff, for I knew that we could then cross over to the edge of my own +little valley, where I felt certain we should find a means of ingress +from the cliff top. As we proceeded along the ledge I gave Dian minute +directions for finding my cave against the chance of something +happening to me. I knew that she would be quite safely hidden away from +pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, and the valley would +afford her ample means of sustenance. + +Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My heart was sad +and heavy, and I wanted to make her feel badly by suggesting that +something terrible might happen to me—that I might, in fact, be killed. +But it didn’t work worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive. +Dian simply shrugged those magnificent shoulders of hers, and murmured +something to the effect that one was not rid of trouble so easily as +that. + +For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to think that I +had twice protected her from attack—the last time risking my life to +save hers. It was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Age +could be so ungrateful—so heartless; but maybe her heart partook of the +qualities of her epoch. + +Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened and +extended by the action of the water draining through it from the +plateau above. It gave us a rather rough climb to the summit, but +finally we stood upon the level mesa which stretched back for several +miles to the mountain range. Behind us lay the broad inland sea, +curving upward in the horizonless distance to merge into the blue of +the sky, so that for all the world it looked as though the sea lapped +back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond the distant +mountains at our backs—the weird and uncanny aspect of the seascapes of +Pellucidar balk description. + +At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country was open +and clear to the plateau’s farther verge. It was in this direction that +our way led, and we had turned to resume our journey when Dian touched +my arm. I turned to her, thinking that she was about to make peace +overtures; but I was mistaken. + +“Jubal,” she said, and nodded toward the forest. + +I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a perfect whale +of a man. He must have been seven feet tall, and proportioned +accordingly. He still was too far off to distinguish his features. + +“Run,” I said to Dian. “I can engage him until you get a good start. +Maybe I can hold him until you have gotten entirely away,” and then, +without a backward glance, I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had hoped +that Dian would have a kind word to say to me before she went, for she +must have known that I was going to my death for her sake; but she +never even so much as bid me good-bye, and it was with a heavy heart +that I strode through the flower-bespangled grass to my doom. + +When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his features I +understood how it was that he had earned the sobriquet of Ugly One. +Apparently some fearful beast had ripped away one entire side of his +face. The eye was gone, the nose, and all the flesh, so that his jaws +and all his teeth were exposed and grinning through the horrible scar. + +Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others of his +handsome race, and it may be that the terrible result of this encounter +had tended to sour an already strong and brutal character. However this +may be it is quite certain that he was not a pretty sight, and now that +his features, or what remained of them, were distorted in rage at the +sight of Dian with another male, he was indeed most terrible to see—and +much more terrible to meet. + +He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised his mighty +spear, while I halted and fitting an arrow to my bow took as steady aim +as I could. I was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess that +the sight of this awful man had wrought upon my nerves to such an +extent that my knees were anything but steady. What chance had I +against this mighty warrior for whom even the fiercest cave bear had no +terrors! Could I hope to best one who slaughtered the sadok and dyryth +singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself, my fear was more +for Dian than for my own fate. + +And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped spear, and I +raised my shield to break the force of its terrific velocity. The +impact hurled me to my knees, but the shield had deflected the missile +and I was unscathed. Jubal was rushing upon me now with the only +remaining weapon that he carried—a murderous-looking knife. He was too +close for a careful bowshot, but I let drive at him as he came, without +taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part of his thigh, inflicting a +painful but not disabling wound. And then he was upon me. + +My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his raised arm, +and when he wheeled to come at me again he found a sword’s point in his +face. And a moment later he felt an inch or two of it in the muscles of +his knife arm, so that thereafter he went more warily. + +It was a duel of strategy now—the great, hairy man maneuvering to get +inside my guard where he could bring those giant thews to play, while +my wits were directed to the task of keeping him at arm’s length. +Thrice he rushed me, and thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield. +Each time my sword found his body—once penetrating to his lung. He was +covered with blood by this time, and the internal hemorrhage induced +paroxysms of coughing that brought the red stream through the hideous +mouth and nose, covering his face and breast with bloody froth. He was +a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead. + +As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be perfectly +candid, I had not expected to survive the first rush of that monstrous +engine of ungoverned rage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from +utter contempt of me, began to change to a feeling of respect, and then +in his primitive mind there evidently loomed the thought that perhaps +at last he had met his master, and was facing his end. + +At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can account for his +next act, which was in the nature of a last resort—a sort of forlorn +hope, which could only have been born of the belief that if he did not +kill me quickly I should kill him. It happened on the occasion of his +fourth charge, when, instead of striking at me with his knife, he +dropped that weapon, and seizing my sword blade in both his hands +wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily as from a babe. + +Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an instant +glaring into my face with such a horrid leer of malignant triumph as to +almost unnerve me—then he sprang for me with his bare hands. But it was +Jubal’s day to learn new methods of warfare. For the first time he had +seen a bow and arrows, never before that duel had he beheld a sword, +and now he learned what a man who knows may do with his bare fists. + +As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath his +outstretched arm, and as I came up planted as clean a blow upon his jaw +as ever you have seen. Down went that great mountain of flesh sprawling +upon the ground. He was so surprised and dazed that he lay there for +several seconds before he made any attempt to rise, and I stood over +him with another dose ready when he should gain his knees. + +Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; but +he didn’t stay up—I let him have a left fair on the point of the jaw +that sent him tumbling over on his back. By this time I think Jubal had +gone mad with hate, for no sane man would have come back for more as +many times as he did. Time after time I bowled him over as fast as he +could stagger up, until toward the last he lay longer on the ground +between blows, and each time came up weaker than before. + +He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, and +presently a terrific blow over the heart sent him reeling heavily to +the ground, where he lay very still, and somehow I knew at once that +Jubal the Ugly One would never get up again. But even as I looked upon +that massive body lying there so grim and terrible in death, I could +not believe that I, single-handed, had bested this slayer of fearful +beasts—this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age. + +Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the dead body of +my foeman, and as I thought of the battle I had just fought and won a +great idea was born in my brain—the outcome of this and the suggestion +that Perry had made within the city of Phutra. If skill and science +could render a comparative pygmy the master of this mighty brute, what +could not the brute’s fellows accomplish with the same skill and +science. Why all Pellucidar would be at their feet—and I would be their +king and Dian their queen. + +Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite within the +possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even were I king. She was +quite the most superior person I ever had met—with the most convincing +way of letting you know that she was superior. Well, I could go to the +cave, and tell her that I had killed Jubal, and then she might feel +more kindly toward me, since I had freed her of her tormentor. I hoped +that she had found the cave easily—it would be terrible had I lost her +again, and I turned to gather up my shield and bow to hurry after her, +when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten paces behind me. + +“Girl!” I cried, “what are you doing here? I thought that you had gone +to the cave, as I told you to do.” + +Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the majesty +out of me, and left me feeling more like the palace janitor—if palaces +have janitors. + +“As you told me to do!” she cried, stamping her little foot. “I do as I +please. I am the daughter of a king, and furthermore, I hate you.” + +I was dumbfounded—this was my thanks for saving her from Jubal! I +turned and looked at the corpse. “May be that I saved you from a worse +fate, old man,” I said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she never +seemed to notice it at all. + +“Let us go to my cave,” I said, “I am tired and hungry.” + +She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. I was too +angry, and she evidently didn’t care to converse with the lower orders. +I was mad all the way through, as I had certainly felt that at least a +word of thanks should have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own +standards, I must have done a very wonderful thing to have killed the +redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand encounter. + +We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went down into the +valley and bowled over a small antelope, which I dragged up the steep +ascent to the ledge before the door. Here we ate in silence. +Occasionally I glanced at her, thinking that the sight of her tearing +at raw flesh with her hands and teeth like some wild animal would cause +a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; but to my surprise I found +that she ate quite as daintily as the most civilized woman of my +acquaintance, and finally I found myself gazing in foolish rapture at +the beauties of her strong, white teeth. Such is love. + +After our repast we went down to the river together and bathed our +hands and faces, and then after drinking our fill went back to the +cave. Without a word I crawled into the farthest corner and, curling +up, was soon asleep. + +When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out across the +valley. As I came out she moved to one side to let me pass, but she had +no word for me. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn’t. Every time I +looked at her something came up in my throat, so that I nearly choked. +I had never been in love before, but I did not need any aid in +diagnosing my case—I certainly had it and had it bad. God, how I loved +that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl! + +After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended returning to her +tribe now that Jubal was dead, but she shook her head sadly, and said +that she did not dare, for there was still Jubal’s brother to be +considered—his oldest brother. + +“What has he to do with it?” I asked. “Does he too want you, or has the +option on you become a family heirloom, to be passed on down from +generation to generation?” + +She was not quite sure as to what I meant. + +“It is probable,” she said, “that they all will want revenge for the +death of Jubal—there are seven of them—seven terrible men. Someone may +have to kill them all, if I am to return to my people.” + +It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too large for +me—about seven sizes, in fact. + +“Had Jubal any cousins?” I asked. It was just as well to know the worst +at once. + +“Yes,” replied Dian, “but they don’t count—they all have mates. Jubal’s +brothers have no mates because Jubal could get none for himself. He was +so ugly that women ran away from him—some have even thrown themselves +from the cliffs of Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the +Ugly One.” + +“But what had that to do with his brothers?” I asked. + +“I forget that you are not of Pellucidar,” said Dian, with a look of +pity mixed with contempt, and the contempt seemed to be laid on a +little thicker than the circumstance warranted—as though to make quite +certain that I shouldn’t overlook it. “You see,” she continued, “a +younger brother may not take a mate until all his older brothers have +done so, unless the older brother waives his prerogative, which Jubal +would not do, knowing that as long as he kept them single they would be +all the keener in aiding him to secure a mate.” + +Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began to entertain +hopes that she might be warming up toward me a bit, although upon what +slender thread I hung my hopes I soon discovered. + +“As you dare not return to Amoz,” I ventured, “what is to become of you +since you cannot be happy here with me, hating me as you do?” + +“I shall have to put up with you,” she replied coldly, “until you see +fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace, then I shall get along very +well alone.” + +I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible that even a +prehistoric woman could be so cold and heartless and ungrateful. Then I +arose. + +“I shall leave you NOW,” I said haughtily, “I have had quite enough of +your ingratitude and your insults,” and then I turned and strode +majestically down toward the valley. I had taken a hundred steps in +absolute silence, and then Dian spoke. + +“I hate you!” she shouted, and her voice broke—in rage, I thought. + +I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn’t gone too far when I began to +realize that I couldn’t leave her alone there without protection, to +hunt her own food amid the dangers of that savage world. She might hate +me, and revile me, and heap indignity after indignity upon me, as she +already had, until I should have hated her; but the pitiful fact +remained that I loved her, and I couldn’t leave her there alone. + +The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the time I +reached the valley I was furious, and the result of it was that I +turned right around and went up that cliff again as fast as I had come +down. I saw that Dian had left the ledge and gone within the cave, but +I bolted right in after her. She was lying upon her face on the pile of +grasses I had gathered for her bed. When she heard me enter she sprang +to her feet like a tigress. + +“I hate you!” she cried. + +Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the +semidarkness of the cave I could not see her features, and I was rather +glad, for I disliked to think of the hate that I should have read +there. + +I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across the cave and +grasped her by the wrists, and when she struggled, I put my arm around +her so as to pinion her hands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, +but I took my free hand and pushed her head back—I imagine that I had +suddenly turned brute, that I had gone back a thousand million years, +and was again a veritable cave man taking my mate by force—and then I +kissed that beautiful mouth again and again. + +“Dian,” I cried, shaking her roughly, “I love you. Can’t you understand +that I love you? That I love you better than all else in this world or +my own? That I am going to have you? That love like mine cannot be +denied?” + +I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my eyes became +accustomed to the light I saw that she was smiling—a very contented, +happy smile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, +she was trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened my grip upon them +so that she could do so. Slowly they came up and stole about my neck, +and then she drew my lips down to hers once more and held them there +for a long time. At last she spoke. + +“Why didn’t you do this at first, David? I have been waiting so long.” + +“What!” I cried. “You said that you hated me!” + +“Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I loved you +before I knew that you loved me?” she asked. + +“But I have told you right along that I love you,” I said. “Love speaks +in acts,” she replied. “You could have made your mouth say what you +wished it to say, but just now when you came and took me in your arms +your heart spoke to mine in the language that a woman’s heart +understands. What a silly man you are, David.” + +“Then you haven’t hated me at all, Dian?” I asked. + +“I have loved you always,” she whispered, “from the first moment that I +saw you, although I did not know it until that time you struck down +Hooja the Sly One, and then spurned me.” + +“But I didn’t spurn you, dear,” I cried. “I didn’t know your ways—I +doubt if I do now. It seems incredible that you could have reviled me +so, and yet have cared for me all the time.” + +“You might have known,” she said, “when I did not run away from you +that it was not hate which chained me to you. While you were battling +with Jubal, I could have run to the edge of the forest, and when I +learned the outcome of the combat it would have been a simple thing to +have eluded you and returned to my own people.” + +“But Jubal’s brothers—and cousins—” I reminded her, “how about them?” + +She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder. + +“I had to tell you SOMETHING, David,” she whispered. “I must needs have +SOME excuse for remaining near you.” + +“You little sinner!” I exclaimed. “And you have caused me all this +anguish for nothing!” + +“I have suffered even more,” she answered simply, “for I thought that +you did not love me, and I was helpless. I couldn’t come to you and +demand that my love be returned, as you have just come to me. Just now +when you went away hope went with you. I was wretched, terrified, +miserable, and my heart was breaking. I wept, and I have not done that +before since my mother died,” and now I saw that there was the moisture +of tears about her eyes. It was near to making me cry myself when I +thought of all that poor child had been through. Motherless and +unprotected; hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideous +brute of a man; exposed to the attacks of the countless fearsome +denizens of its mountains, its plains, and its jungles—it was a miracle +that she had survived it all. + +To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears must have +endured that the human race of the outer crust might survive. It made +me very proud to think that I had won the love of such a woman. Of +course she couldn’t read or write; there was nothing cultured or +refined about her as you judge culture and refinement; but she was the +essence of all that is best in woman, for she was good, and brave, and +noble, and virtuous. And she was all these things in spite of the fact +that their observance entailed suffering and danger and possible death. + +How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in the first +place! She would have been his lawful mate. She would have been queen +in her own land—and it meant just as much to the cave woman to be a +queen in the Stone Age as it does to the woman of today to be a queen +now; it’s all comparative glory any way you look at it, and if there +were only half-naked savages on the outer crust today, you’d find that +it would be considerable glory to be the wife of a Dahomey chief. + +I couldn’t help but compare Dian’s action with that of a splendid young +woman I had known in New York—I mean splendid to look at and to talk +to. She had been head over heels in love with a chum of mine—a clean, +manly chap—but she had married a broken-down, disreputable old +debauchee because he was a count in some dinky little European +principality that was not even accorded a distinctive color by Rand +McNally. + +Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian. + +After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious to see +Perry, and to know that all was right with him. I had told Dian about +our plan of emancipating the human race of Pellucidar, and she was +fairly wild over it. She said that if Dacor, her brother, would only +return he could easily be king of Amoz, and that then he and Ghak could +form an alliance. That would give us a flying start, for the Sarians +and the Amozites were both very powerful tribes. Once they had been +armed with swords, and bows and arrows, and trained in their use we +were confident that they could overcome any tribe that seemed +disinclined to join the great army of federated states with which we +were planning to march upon the Mahars. + +I explained the various destructive engines of war which Perry and I +could construct after a little experimentation—gunpowder, rifles, +cannon, and the like, and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms +about my neck, and tell me what a wonderful thing I was. She was +beginning to think that I was omnipotent although I really hadn’t done +anything but talk—but that is the way with women when they love. Perry +used to say that if a fellow was one-tenth as remarkable as his wife or +mother thought him, he would have the world by the tail with a +down-hill drag. + +The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of poisonous +vipers before we reached the valley. A little fellow stung me on the +ankle, and Dian made me come back to the cave. She said that I mustn’t +exercise, or it might prove fatal—if it had been a full-grown snake +that struck me she said, I wouldn’t have moved a single pace from the +nest—I’d have died in my tracks, so virulent is the poison. As it was I +must have been laid up for quite a while, though Dian’s poultices of +herbs and leaves finally reduced the swelling and drew out the poison. + +The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an idea which +added a thousand-fold to the value of my arrows as missiles of offense +and defense. As soon as I was able to be about again, I sought out some +adult vipers of the species which had stung me, and having killed them, +I extracted their virus, smearing it upon the tips of several arrows. +Later I shot a hyaenodon with one of these, and though my arrow +inflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beast crumpled in death +almost immediately after he was hit. + +We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it was with +feelings of sincere regret that we bade good-bye to our beautiful +Garden of Eden, in the comparative peace and harmony of which we had +lived the happiest moments of our lives. How long we had been there I +did not know, for as I have told you, time had ceased to exist for me +beneath that eternal noonday sun—it may have been an hour, or a month +of earthly time; I do not know. + + + + +XV +BACK TO EARTH + + +We crossed the river and passed through the mountains beyond, and +finally we came out upon a great level plain which stretched away as +far as the eye could reach. I cannot tell you in what direction it +stretched even if you would care to know, for all the while that I was +within Pellucidar I never discovered any but local methods of +indicating direction—there is no north, no south, no east, no west. UP +is about the only direction which is well defined, and that, of course, +is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun neither rises nor sets +there is no method of indicating direction beyond visible objects such +as high mountains, forests, lakes, and seas. + +The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the Darel Az +upon the shore nearest the Mountains of the Clouds is about as near to +any direction as any Pellucidarian can come. If you happen not to have +heard of the Darel Az, or the white cliffs, or the Mountains of the +Clouds you feel that there is something lacking, and long for the good +old understandable northeast and southwest of the outer world. + +We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two enormous +animals approaching us from a great distance. So far were they that we +could not distinguish what manner of beasts they might be, but as they +came closer, I saw that they were enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a +hundred feet long, with tiny heads perched at the top of very long +necks. Their heads must have been quite forty feet from the ground. The +beasts moved very slowly—that is their action was slow—but their +strides covered such a great distance that in reality they traveled +considerably faster than a man walks. + +As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back of each sat +a human being. Then Dian knew what they were, though she never before +had seen one. + +“They are lidis from the land of the Thorians,” she cried. “Thoria lies +at the outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. The Thorians alone of +all the races of Pellucidar ride the lidi, for nowhere else than beside +the dark country are they found.” + +“What is the Land of Awful Shadow?” I asked. + +“It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World,” replied Dian; “the +Dead World which hangs forever between the sun and Pellucidar above the +Land of Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World which makes the great shadow +upon this portion of Pellucidar.” + +I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure that I do yet, +for I have never been to that part of Pellucidar from which the Dead +World is visible; but Perry says that it is the moon of Pellucidar—a +tiny planet within a planet—and that it revolves around the earth’s +axis coincidently with the earth, and thus is always above the same +spot within Pellucidar. + +I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him about this +Dead World, for he seemed to think that it explained the hitherto +inexplicable phenomena of nutation and the precession of the equinoxes. + +When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we saw that one +was a man and the other a woman. The former had held up his two hands, +palms toward us, in sign of peace, and I had answered him in kind, when +he suddenly gave a cry of astonishment and pleasure, and slipping from +his enormous mount ran forward toward Dian, throwing his arms about +her. + +In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an instant; since +Dian quickly drew the man toward me, telling him that I was David, her +mate. + +“And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David,” she said to me. + +It appeared that the woman was Dacor’s mate. He had found none to his +liking among the Sari, nor farther on until he had come to the land of +the Thoria, and there he had found and fought for this very lovely +Thorian maiden whom he was bringing back to his own people. + +When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to accompany +us to Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come to an agreement relative to +an alliance, as Dacor was quite as enthusiastic about the proposed +annihilation of the Mahars and Sagoths as either Dian or I. + +After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, we came to +the first of the Sarian villages which consists of between one and two +hundred artificial caves cut into the face of a great cliff. Here to +our immense delight, we found both Perry and Ghak. The old man was +quite overcome at sight of me for he had long since given me up as +dead. + +When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn’t quite know what to say, +but he afterward remarked that with the pick of two worlds I could not +have done better. + +Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it was at a +council of the head men of the various tribes of the Sari that the +eventual form of government was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, the +various kingdoms were to remain virtually independent, but there was to +be one great overlord, or emperor. It was decided that I should be the +first of the dynasty of the emperors of Pellucidar. + +We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, and poison +pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which provided the virus, and +it was they who mined the iron ore, and fashioned the swords under +Perry’s direction. Rapidly the fever spread from one tribe to another +until representatives from nations so far distant that the Sarians had +never even heard of them came in to take the oath of allegiance which +we required, and to learn the art of making the new weapons and using +them. + +We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of the +federation, and the movement had reached colossal proportions before +the Mahars discovered it. The first intimation they had was when three +of their great slave caravans were annihilated in rapid succession. +They could not comprehend that the lower orders had suddenly developed +a power which rendered them really formidable. + +In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our Sarians took a +number of Sagoth prisoners, and among them were two who had been +members of the guards within the building where we had been confined at +Phutra. They told us that the Mahars were frantic with rage when they +discovered what had taken place in the cellars of the buildings. The +Sagoths knew that something very terrible had befallen their masters, +but the Mahars had been most careful to see that no inkling of the true +nature of their vital affliction reached beyond their own race. How +long it would take for the race to become extinct it was impossible +even to guess; but that this must eventually happen seemed inevitable. + +The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of any one of +us alive, and at the same time had threatened to inflict the direst +punishment upon whomever should harm us. The Sagoths could not +understand these seemingly paradoxical instructions, though their +purpose was quite evident to me. The Mahars wanted the Great Secret, +and they knew that we alone could deliver it to them. + +Perry’s experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the fashioning +of rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we had hoped—there was a +whole lot about these two arts which Perry didn’t know. We were both +assured that the solution of these problems would advance the cause of +civilization within Pellucidar thousands of years at a single stroke. +Then there were various other arts and sciences which we wished to +introduce, but our combined knowledge of them did not embrace the +mechanical details which alone could render them of commercial, or +practical value. + +“David,” said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to produce +gunpowder that would even burn, “one of us must return to the outer +world and bring back the information we lack. Here we have all the +labor and materials for reproducing anything that ever has been +produced above—what we lack is knowledge. Let us go back and get that +knowledge in the shape of books—then this world will indeed be at our +feet.” + +And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, which +still lay upon the edge of the forest at the point where we had first +penetrated to the surface of the inner world. Dian would not listen to +any arrangement for my going which did not include her, and I was not +sorry that she wished to accompany me, for I wanted her to see my +world, and I wanted my world to see her. + +With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, which +Perry soon had hoisted into position with its nose pointed back toward +the outer crust. He went over all the machinery carefully. He +replenished the air tanks, and manufactured oil for the engine. At last +everything was ready, and we were about to set out when our pickets, a +long, thin line of which had surrounded our camp at all times, reported +that a great body of what appeared to be Sagoths and Mahars were +approaching from the direction of Phutra. + +Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to witness the first +clash between two fair-sized armies of the opposing races of +Pellucidar. I realized that this was to mark the historic beginning of +a mighty struggle for possession of a world, and as the first emperor +of Pellucidar I felt that it was not alone my duty, but my right, to be +in the thick of that momentous struggle. + +As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many Mahars with +the Sagoth troops—an indication of the vast importance which the +dominant race placed upon the outcome of this campaign, for it was not +customary with them to take active part in the sorties which their +creatures made for slaves—the only form of warfare which they waged +upon the lower orders. + +Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to view the +prospector. I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians on the right of our +battle line. Dacor took the left, while I commanded the center. Behind +us I stationed a sufficient reserve under one of Ghak’s head men. The +Sagoths advanced steadily with menacing spears, and I let them come +until they were within easy bowshot before I gave the word to fire. + +At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front ranks of the +gorilla-men crumpled to the ground; but those behind charged over the +prostrate forms of their comrades in a wild, mad rush to be upon us +with their spears. A second volley stopped them for an instant, and +then my reserve sprang through the openings in the firing line to +engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy spears of the Sagoths +were no match for the swords of the Sarian and Amozite, who turned the +spear thrusts aside with their shields and leaped to close quarters +with their lighter, handier weapons. + +Ghak took his archers along the enemy’s flank, and while the swordsmen +engaged them in front, he poured volley after volley into their +unprotected left. The Mahars did little real fighting, and were more in +the way than otherwise, though occasionally one of them would fasten +its powerful jaw upon the arm or leg of a Sarian. + +The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I led our men +in upon the Sagoth’s right with naked swords they were already so +demoralized that they turned and fled before us. We pursued them for +some time, taking many prisoners and recovering nearly a hundred +slaves, among whom was Hooja the Sly One. + +He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his own land; +but that his life had been spared in hope that through him the Mahars +would learn the whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak and I were +inclined to think that the Sly One had been guiding this expedition to +the land of Sari, where he thought that the book might be found in +Perry’s possession; but we had no proof of this and so we took him in +and treated him as one of us, although none liked him. And how he +rewarded my generosity you will presently learn. + +There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so fearful were +our own people of them that they would not approach them unless +completely covered from the sight of the reptiles by a piece of skin. +Even Dian shared the popular superstition regarding the evil effects of +exposure to the eyes of angry Mahars, and though I laughed at her fears +I was willing enough to humor them if it would relieve her apprehension +in any degree, and so she sat apart from the prospector, near which the +Mahars had been chained, while Perry and I again inspected every +portion of the mechanism. + +At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to one of the +men without to fetch Dian. It happened that Hooja stood quite close to +the doorway of the prospector, so that it was he who, without my +knowledge, went to bring her; but how he succeeded in accomplishing the +fiendish thing he did, I cannot guess, unless there were others in the +plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, since all my people were loyal +to me and would have made short work of Hooja had he suggested the +heartless scheme, even had he had time to acquaint another with it. It +was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it was the result +of sudden impulse, aided by a number of, to Hooja, fortuitous +circumstances occurring at precisely the right moment. + +All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the prospector, +still wrapped from head to toe in the skin of an enormous cave lion +which covered her since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into camp. +He deposited his burden in the seat beside me. I was all ready to get +under way. The good-byes had been said. Perry had grasped my hand in +the last, long farewell. I closed and barred the outer and inner doors, +took my seat again at the driving mechanism, and pulled the starting +lever. + +As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our first trial of +the iron monster, there was a frightful roaring beneath us—the giant +frame trembled and vibrated—there was a rush of sound as the loose +earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner and outer +jackets to be deposited in our wake. Once more the thing was off. + +But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my seat by the +sudden lurching of the prospector. At first I did not realize what had +happened, but presently it dawned upon me that just before entering the +crust the towering body had fallen through its supporting scaffolding, +and that instead of entering the ground vertically we were plunging +into it at a different angle. Where it would bring us out upon the +upper crust I could not even conjecture. And then I turned to note the +effect of this strange experience upon Dian. She still sat shrouded in +the great skin. + +“Come, come,” I cried, laughing, “come out of your shell. No Mahar eyes +can reach you here,” and I leaned over and snatched the lion skin from +her. And then I shrank back upon my seat in utter horror. + +The thing beneath the skin was not Dian—it was a hideous Mahar. +Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja had played upon me, and the +purpose of it. Rid of me, forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would +be at his mercy. Frantically I tore at the steering wheel in an effort +to turn the prospector back toward Pellucidar; but, as on that other +occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair. + +It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of that journey. +It varied but little from the former one which had brought us from the +outer to the inner world. Because of the angle at which we had entered +the ground the trip required nearly a day longer, and brought me out +here upon the sand of the Sahara instead of in the United States as I +had hoped. + +For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. I dared +not leave the prospector for fear I should never be able to find it +again—the shifting sands of the desert would soon cover it, and then my +only hope of returning to my Dian and her Pellucidar would be gone +forever. + +That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, for how +may I know upon what part of Pellucidar my return journey may +terminate—and how, without a north or south or an east or a west may I +hope ever to find my way across that vast world to the tiny spot where +my lost love lies grieving for me? + +That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the goat-skin tent +upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. The next day he took me out to +see the prospector—it was precisely as he had described it. So huge was +it that it could have been brought to this inaccessible part of the +world by no means of transportation that existed there—it could only +have come in the way that David Innes said it came—up through the crust +of the earth from the inner world of Pellucidar. + +I spent a week with him, and then, abandoning my lion hunt, returned +directly to the coast and hurried to London where I purchased a great +quantity of stuff which he wished to take back to Pellucidar with him. +There were books, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, cameras, chemicals, +telephones, telegraph instruments, wire, tools and more books—books +upon every subject under the sun. He said he wanted a library with +which they could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth century in the +Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I got it for him. + +I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied them to the +end of the railroad; but from here I was recalled to America upon +important business. However, I was able to employ a very trustworthy +man to take charge of the caravan—the same guide, in fact, who had +accompanied me on the previous trip into the Sahara—and after writing a +long letter to Innes in which I gave him my American address, I saw the +expedition head south. + +Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five hundred +miles of double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. I had it packed +on a special reel at his suggestion, as it was his idea that he could +fasten one end here before he left and by paying it out through the end +of the prospector lay a telegraph line between the outer and inner +worlds. In my letter I told him to be sure to mark the terminus of the +line very plainly with a high cairn, in case I was not able to reach +him before he set out, so that I might easily find and communicate with +him should he be so fortunate as to reach Pellucidar. + +I received several letters from him after I returned to America—in fact +he took advantage of every northward-passing caravan to drop me word of +some sort. His last letter was written the day before he intended to +depart. Here it is. + +MY DEAR FRIEND: + + +Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. That is if +the Arabs don’t get me. They have been very nasty of late. I don’t know +the cause, but on two occasions they have threatened my life. One, more +friendly than the rest, told me today that they intended attacking me +tonight. It would be unfortunate should anything of that sort happen +now that I am so nearly ready to depart. + +However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the hour +approaches, the slenderer my chances for success appear. + +Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north for me, so +good-bye, and God bless you for your kindness to me. + +The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand to the south—he +thinks it is the party coming to murder me, and he doesn’t want to be +found with me. So good-bye again. + +Yours, +DAVID INNES. + + +A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, headed for +the spot where I had left Innes. My first disappointment was when I +discovered that my old guide had died within a few weeks of my return, +nor could I find any member of my former party who could lead me to the +same spot. + +For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing countless +desert sheiks in the hope that at last I might find one who had heard +of Innes and his wonderful iron mole. Constantly my eyes scanned the +blinding waste of sand for the rocky cairn beneath which I was to find +the wires leading to Pellucidar—but always was I unsuccessful. + +And always do these awful questions harass me when I think of David +Innes and his strange adventures. + +Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? +Or, did he again turn the nose of his iron monster toward the inner +world? Did he reach it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of the +great crust? And if he did come again to Pellucidar was it to break +through into the bottom of one of her great island seas, or among some +savage race far, far from the land of his heart’s desire? + +Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, at +the end of two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost cairn? I wonder. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE EARTH’S CORE *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: At the Earth’s Core</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April, 1994 [eBook #123]<br /> +[Most recently updated: July 13, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Judith Boss</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE EARTH’S CORE ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>At the Earth’s Core</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap00">PROLOG</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. A STRANGE WORLD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. A CHANGE OF MASTERS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. SLAVES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. THE BEGINNING OF HORROR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. FREEDOM</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. THE MAHAR TEMPLE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. THE FACE OF DEATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. PHUTRA AGAIN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. FOUR DEAD MAHARS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. PURSUIT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE SLY ONE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE GARDEN OF EDEN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. BACK TO EARTH</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a>PROLOG</h2> + +<p> +In the first place please bear in mind that I do not expect you to believe this +story. Nor could you wonder had you witnessed a recent experience of mine when, +in the armor of blissful and stupendous ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of +it to a Fellow of the Royal Geological Society on the occasion of my last trip +to London. +</p> + +<p> +You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no less a heinous +crime than the purloining of the Crown Jewels from the Tower, or putting poison +in the coffee of His Majesty the King. +</p> + +<p> +The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I was half +through!—it is all that saved him from exploding—and my dreams of an Honorary +Fellowship, gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame faded into the thin, +cold air of his arctic atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the learned Fellow of +the Royal Geological Society, had you and he heard it from the lips of the man +who told it to me. Had you seen, as I did, the fire of truth in those gray +eyes; had you felt the ring of sincerity in that quiet voice; had you realized +the pathos of it all—you, too, would believe. You would not have needed the +final ocular proof that I had—the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature which he +had brought back with him from the inner world. +</p> + +<p> +I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the rim of the +great Sahara Desert. He was standing before a goat-skin tent amidst a clump of +date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by was an Arab douar of some eight or ten +tents. +</p> + +<p> +I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted of a dozen +children of the desert—I was the only “white” man. As we approached the little +clump of verdure I saw the man come from his tent and with hand-shaded eyes +peer intently at us. At sight of me he advanced rapidly to meet us. +</p> + +<p> +“A white man!” he cried. “May the good Lord be praised! I have been watching +you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS time there would be a white man. +Tell me the date. What year is it?” +</p> + +<p> +And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck full in the +face, so that he was compelled to grasp my stirrup leather for support. +</p> + +<p> +“It cannot be!” he cried after a moment. “It cannot be! Tell me that you are +mistaken, or that you are but joking.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am telling you the truth, my friend,” I replied. “Why should I deceive a +stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a matter as the date?” +</p> + +<p> +For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head. +</p> + +<p> +“Ten years!” he murmured, at last. “Ten years, and I thought that at the most +it could be scarce more than one!” That night he told me his story—the story +that I give you here as nearly in his own words as I can recall them. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>I<br/> +TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES </h2> + +<p> +I was born in Connecticut about thirty years ago. My name is David Innes. My +father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen he died. All his property +was to be mine when I had attained my majority—provided that I had devoted the +two years intervening in close application to the great business I was to +inherit. +</p> + +<p> +I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent—not because of the +inheritance, but because I loved and honored my father. For six months I toiled +in the mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to know every minute +detail of the business. +</p> + +<p> +Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow who had devoted +the better part of a long life to the perfection of a mechanical subterranean +prospector. As relaxation he studied paleontology. I looked over his plans, +listened to his arguments, inspected his working model—and then, convinced, I +advanced the funds necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. +</p> + +<p> +I shall not go into the details of its construction—it lies out there in the +desert now—about two miles from here. Tomorrow you may care to ride out and see +it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred feet long, and jointed so that it +may turn and twist through solid rock if need be. At one end is a mighty +revolving drill operated by an engine which Perry said generated more power to +the cubic inch than any other engine did to the cubic foot. I remember that he +used to claim that that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy—we +were going to make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our +first secret trial—but Perry never returned from that trial trip, and I only +after ten years. +</p> + +<p> +I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous occasion upon +which we were to test the practicality of that wondrous invention. It was near +midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry had constructed his +“iron mole” as he was wont to call the thing. The great nose rested upon the +bare earth of the floor. We passed through the doors into the outer jacket, +secured them, and then passing on into the cabin, which contained the +controlling mechanism within the inner tube, switched on the electric lights. +</p> + +<p> +Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the life-giving +chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air to replace that which we +consumed in breathing; to his instruments for recording temperatures, speed, +distance, and for examining the materials through which we were to pass. +</p> + +<p> +He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which transmitted +its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose of his strange craft. +</p> + +<p> +Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon transverse +bars that we would be upright whether the craft were ploughing her way downward +into the bowels of the earth, or running horizontally along some great seam of +coal, or rising vertically toward the surface again. +</p> + +<p> +At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a moment we were +silent, and then the old man’s hand grasped the starting lever. There was a +frightful roaring beneath us—the giant frame trembled and vibrated—there was a +rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through the hollow space between the +inner and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. We were off! +</p> + +<p> +The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full minute neither +of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial desperation of the drowning +man to the handrails of our swinging seats. Then Perry glanced at the +thermometer. +</p> + +<p> +“Gad!” he cried, “it cannot be possible—quick! What does the distance meter +read?” +</p> + +<p> +That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as I turned to +take a reading from the former I could see Perry muttering. +</p> + +<p> +“Ten degrees rise—it cannot be possible!” and then I saw him tug frantically +upon the steering wheel. +</p> + +<p> +As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated Perry’s +evident excitement, and my heart sank within me. But when I spoke I hid the +fear which haunted me. “It will be seven hundred feet, Perry,” I said, “by the +time you can turn her into the horizontal.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better lend me a hand then, my boy,” he replied, “for I cannot budge her +out of the vertical alone. God give that our combined strength may be equal to +the task, for else we are lost.” +</p> + +<p> +I wormed my way to the old man’s side with never a doubt but that the great +wheel would yield on the instant to the power of my young and vigorous muscles. +Nor was my belief mere vanity, for always had my physique been the envy and +despair of my fellows. And for that very reason it had waxed even greater than +nature had intended, since my natural pride in my great strength had led me to +care for and develop my body and my muscles by every means within my power. +What with boxing, football, and baseball, I had been in training since +childhood. +</p> + +<p> +And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of the huge iron rim; +but though I threw every ounce of my strength into it, my best effort was as +unavailing as Perry’s had been—the thing would not budge—the grim, insensate, +horrible thing that was holding us upon the straight road to death! +</p> + +<p> +At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word returned to my +seat. There was no need for words—at least none that I could imagine, unless +Perry desired to pray. And I was quite sure that he would, for he never left an +opportunity neglected where he might sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when he +arose in the morning, he prayed before he ate, he prayed when he had finished +eating, and before he went to bed at night he prayed again. In between he often +found excuses to pray even when the provocation seemed far-fetched to my +worldly eyes—now that he was about to die I felt positive that I should witness +a perfect orgy of prayer—if one may allude with such a simile to so solemn an +act. +</p> + +<p> +But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring him in the face +Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. From his lips there flowed—not +prayer—but a clear and limpid stream of undiluted profanity, and it was all +directed at that quietly stubborn piece of unyielding mechanism. +</p> + +<p> +“I should think, Perry,” I chided, “that a man of your professed religiousness +would rather be at his prayers than cursing in the presence of imminent death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Death!” he cried. “Death is it that appalls you? That is nothing by comparison +with the loss the world must suffer. Why, David within this iron cylinder we +have demonstrated possibilities that science has scarce dreamed. We have +harnessed a new principle, and with it animated a piece of steel with the power +of ten thousand men. That two lives will be snuffed out is nothing to the world +calamity that entombs in the bowels of the earth the discoveries that I have +made and proved in the successful construction of the thing that is now +carrying us farther and farther toward the eternal central fires.” +</p> + +<p> +I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more concerned with our own +immediate future than with any problematic loss which the world might be about +to suffer. The world was at least ignorant of its bereavement, while to me it +was a real and terrible actuality. +</p> + +<p> +“What can we do?” I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath the mask of a low and +level voice. +</p> + +<p> +“We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere tanks are +empty,” replied Perry, “or we may continue on with the slight hope that we may +later sufficiently deflect the prospector from the vertical to carry us along +the arc of a great circle which must eventually return us to the surface. If we +succeed in so doing before we reach the higher internal temperature we may even +yet survive. There would seem to me to be about one chance in several million +that we shall succeed—otherwise we shall die more quickly but no more surely +than as though we sat supinely waiting for the torture of a slow and horrible +death.” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. While we were talking +the mighty iron mole had bored its way over a mile into the rock of the earth’s +crust. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us continue on, then,” I replied. “It should soon be over at this rate. +You never intimated that the speed of this thing would be so high, Perry. +Didn’t you know it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he answered. “I could not figure the speed exactly, for I had no +instrument for measuring the mighty power of my generator. I reasoned, however, +that we should make about five hundred yards an hour.” +</p> + +<p> +“And we are making seven miles an hour,” I concluded for him, as I sat with my +eyes upon the distance meter. “How thick is the Earth’s crust, Perry?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there are geologists,” was +his answer. “One estimates it thirty miles, because the internal heat, +increasing at the rate of about one degree to each sixty to seventy feet depth, +would be sufficient to fuse the most refractory substances at that distance +beneath the surface. Another finds that the phenomena of precession and +nutation require that the earth, if not entirely solid, must at least have a +shell not less than eight hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. So there +you are. You may take your choice.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if it should prove solid?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“It will be all the same to us in the end, David,” replied Perry. “At the best +our fuel will suffice to carry us but three or four days, while our atmosphere +cannot last to exceed three. Neither, then, is sufficient to bear us in safety +through eight thousand miles of rock to the antipodes.” +</p> + +<p> +“If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a final stop between +six and seven hundred miles beneath the earth’s surface; but during the last +hundred and fifty miles of our journey we shall be corpses. Am I correct?” I +asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce believe that either +of us realizes the real terrors of our position. I feel that I should be +reduced to panic; but yet I am not. I imagine that the shock has been so great +as to partially stun our sensibilities.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising with less rapidity. +It was now but 140 degrees, although we had penetrated to a depth of nearly +four miles. I told Perry, and he smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“We have shattered one theory at least,” was his only comment, and then he +returned to his self-assumed occupation of fluently cursing the steering wheel. +I once heard a pirate swear, but his best efforts would have seemed like those +of a tyro alongside of Perry’s masterful and scientific imprecations. +</p> + +<p> +Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well have essayed to +swing the earth itself. At my suggestion Perry stopped the generator, and as we +came to rest I again threw all my strength into a supreme effort to move the +thing even a hair’s breadth—but the results were as barren as when we had been +traveling at top speed. +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. Perry pulled it +toward him, and once again we were plunging downward toward eternity at the +rate of seven miles an hour. I sat with my eyes glued to the thermometer and +the distance meter. The mercury was rising very slowly now, though even at 145 +degrees it was almost unbearable within the narrow confines of our metal +prison. +</p> + +<p> +About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this unfortunate journey, we +had bored to a depth of eighty-four miles, at which point the mercury +registered 153 degrees F. +</p> + +<p> +Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager food he sustained +his optimism I could not conjecture. From cursing he had turned to singing—I +felt that the strain had at last affected his mind. For several hours we had +not spoken except as he asked me for the readings of the instruments from time +to time, and I announced them. My thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I +recalled numerous acts of my past life which I should have been glad to have +had a few more years to live down. There was the affair in the Latin Commons at +Andover when Calhoun and I had put gunpowder in the stove—and nearly killed one +of the masters. And then—but what was the use, I was about to die and atone for +all these things and several more. Already the heat was sufficient to give me a +foretaste of the hereafter. A few more degrees and I felt that I should lose +consciousness. +</p> + +<p> +“What are the readings now, David?” Perry’s voice broke in upon my somber +reflections. +</p> + +<p> +“Ninety miles and 153 degrees,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Gad, but we’ve knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory into a cocked hat!” he +cried gleefully. +</p> + +<p> +“Precious lot of good it will do us,” I growled back. +</p> + +<p> +“But my boy,” he continued, “doesn’t that temperature reading mean anything to +you? Why it hasn’t gone up in six miles. Think of it, son!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I’m thinking of it,” I answered; “but what difference will it make when +our air supply is exhausted whether the temperature is 153 degrees or 153,000? +We’ll be just as dead, and no one will know the difference, anyhow.” But I must +admit that for some unaccountable reason the stationary temperature did renew +my waning hope. What I hoped for I could not have explained, nor did I try. The +very fact, as Perry took pains to explain, of the blasting of several very +exact and learned scientific hypotheses made it apparent that we could not know +what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, and so we might continue to +hope for the best, at least until we were dead—when hope would no longer be +essential to our happiness. It was very good, and logical reasoning, and so I +embraced it. +</p> + +<p> +At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 DEGREES! When I +announced it Perry reached over and hugged me. +</p> + +<p> +From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to drop until it became +as uncomfortably cold as it had been unbearably hot before. At the depth of two +hundred and forty miles our nostrils were assailed by almost overpowering +ammonia fumes, and the temperature had dropped to TEN BELOW ZERO! We suffered +nearly two hours of this intense and bitter cold, until at about two hundred +and forty-five miles from the surface of the earth we entered a stratum of +solid ice, when the mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees. During the next three +hours we passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging into another +series of ammonia-impregnated strata, where the mercury again fell to ten +degrees below zero. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at last we were nearing +the molten interior of the earth. At four hundred miles the temperature had +reached 153 degrees. Feverishly I watched the thermometer. Slowly it rose. +Perry had ceased singing and was at last praying. +</p> + +<p> +Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually increasing heat +seemed to our distorted imaginations much greater than it really was. For +another hour I saw that pitiless column of mercury rise and rise until at four +hundred and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. Now it was that we began to hang +upon those readings in almost breathless anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum temperature above the +ice stratum. Would it stop at this point again, or would it continue its +merciless climb? We knew that there was no hope, and yet with the persistence +of life itself we continued to hope against practical certainty. +</p> + +<p> +Already the air tanks were at low ebb—there was barely enough of the precious +gases to sustain us for another twelve hours. But would we be alive to know or +care? It seemed incredible. +</p> + +<p> +At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading. +</p> + +<p> +“Perry!” I shouted. “Perry, man! She’s going down! She’s going down! She’s 152 +degrees again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gad!” he cried. “What can it mean? Can the earth be cold at the center?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Perry,” I answered; “but thank God, if I am to die it shall not +be by fire—that is all that I have feared. I can face the thought of any death +but that.” +</p> + +<p> +Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had seven miles from +the surface of the earth, and then of a sudden the realization broke upon us +that death was very near. Perry was the first to discover it. I saw him fussing +with the valves that regulate the air supply. And at the same time I +experienced difficulty in breathing. My head felt dizzy—my limbs heavy. +</p> + +<p> +I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and sat erect again. +Then he turned toward me. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye, David,” he said. “I guess this is the end,” and then he smiled and +closed his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you,” I answered, smiling back at him. But I +fought off that awful lethargy. I was very young—I did not want to die. +</p> + +<p> +For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death that surrounded me +upon all sides. At first I found that by climbing high into the framework above +me I could find more of the precious life-giving elements, and for a while +these sustained me. It must have been an hour after Perry had succumbed that I +at last came to the realization that I could no longer carry on this unequal +struggle against the inevitable. +</p> + +<p> +With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned mechanically toward the +distance meter. It stood at exactly five hundred miles from the earth’s +surface—and then of a sudden the huge thing that bore us came to a stop. The +rattle of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket ceased. The wild racing of +the giant drill betokened that it was running loose in AIR—and then another +truth flashed upon me. The point of the prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it +dawned on me that since passing through the ice strata it had been above. We +had turned in the ice and sped upward toward the earth’s crust. Thank God! We +were safe! +</p> + +<p> +I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were to have been taken +during the passage of the prospector through the earth, and my fondest hopes +were realized—a flood of fresh air was pouring into the iron cabin. The +reaction left me in a state of collapse, and I lost consciousness. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>II<br/> +A STRANGE WORLD </h2> + +<p> +I was unconscious little more than an instant, for as I lunged forward from the +crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floor of +the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. +</p> + +<p> +My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought that upon the +very threshold of salvation he might be dead. Tearing open his shirt I placed +my ear to his breast. I could have cried with relief—his heart was beating +quite regularly. +</p> + +<p> +At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly across his +forehead and face several times. In a moment I was rewarded by the raising of +his lids. For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite uncomprehending. Then his +scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he sat up sniffing the air with an +expression of wonderment upon his face. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, David,” he cried at last, “it’s air, as sure as I live. Why—why what does +it mean? Where in the world are we? What has happened?” +</p> + +<p> +“It means that we’re back at the surface all right, Perry,” I cried; “but +where, I don’t know. I haven’t opened her up yet. Been too busy reviving you. +Lord, man, but you had a close squeak!” +</p> + +<p> +“You say we’re back at the surface, David? How can that be? How long have I +been unconscious?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don’t you recall the sudden whirling +of our seats? After that the drill was above you instead of below. We didn’t +notice it at the time; but I recall it now.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, David? That is not +possible. The prospector cannot turn unless its nose is deflected from the +outside—by some external force or resistance—the steering wheel within would +have moved in response. The steering wheel has not budged, David, since we +started. You know that.” +</p> + +<p> +I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in pure air, and copious +volumes of it pouring into the cabin. +</p> + +<p> +“We couldn’t have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know as well as you,” I +replied; “but the fact remains that we did, for here we are this minute at the +surface of the earth again, and I am going out to see just where.” +</p> + +<p> +“Better wait till morning, David—it must be midnight now.” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced at the chronometer. +</p> + +<p> +“Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, so it must be midnight. +Nevertheless I am going to have a look at the blessed sky that I had given up +all hope of ever seeing again,” and so saying I lifted the bars from the inner +door, and swung it open. There was quite a quantity of loose material in the +jacket, and this I had to remove with a shovel to get at the opposite door in +the outer shell. +</p> + +<p> +In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock to the floor of the +cabin to expose the door beyond. Perry was directly behind me as I threw it +open. The upper half was above the surface of the ground. With an expression of +surprise I turned and looked at Perry—it was broad daylight without! +</p> + +<p> +“Something seems to have gone wrong either with our calculations or the +chronometer,” I said. Perry shook his head—there was a strange expression in +his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s have a look beyond that door, David,” he cried. +</p> + +<p> +Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a landscape at once +weird and beautiful. Before us a low and level shore stretched down to a silent +sea. As far as the eye could reach the surface of the water was dotted with +countless tiny isles—some of towering, barren, granitic rock—others resplendent +in gorgeous trappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred with the +magnificent splendor of vivid blooms. +</p> + +<p> +Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns +intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest. Huge +creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense under-brush overgrew +a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. Upon the outer verge we could see +the same splendid coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands, +but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. +</p> + +<p> +And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays out of a cloudless sky. +</p> + +<p> +“Where on earth can we be?” I asked, turning to Perry. +</p> + +<p> +For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with bowed head, buried in +deep thought. But at last he spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” he said, “I am not so sure that we are ON earth.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean, Perry?” I cried. “Do you think that we are dead, and this is +heaven?” He smiled, and turning, pointing to the nose of the prospector +protruding from the ground at our backs. +</p> + +<p> +“But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed come to the country +beyond the Styx. The prospector renders that theory untenable—it, certainly, +could never have gone to heaven. However I am willing to concede that we +actually may be in another world from that which we have always known. If we +are not ON earth, there is every reason to believe that we may be IN it.” +</p> + +<p> +“We may have quartered through the earth’s crust and come out upon some +tropical island of the West Indies,” I suggested. Again Perry shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us wait and see, David,” he replied, “and in the meantime suppose we do a +bit of exploring up and down the coast—we may find a native who can enlighten +us.” +</p> + +<p> +As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly across the water. +Evidently he was wrestling with a mighty problem. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” he said abruptly, “do you perceive anything unusual about the +horizon?” +</p> + +<p> +As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the strangeness of the +landscape that had haunted me from the first with an illusive suggestion of the +bizarre and unnatural—THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as the eye could reach out +the sea continued and upon its bosom floated tiny islands, those in the +distance reduced to mere specks; but ever beyond them was the sea, until the +impression became quite real that one was LOOKING UP at the most distant point +that the eyes could fathom—the distance was lost in the distance. That was +all—there was no clear-cut horizontal line marking the dip of the globe below +the line of vision. +</p> + +<p> +“A great light is commencing to break on me,” continued Perry, taking out his +watch. “I believe that I have partially solved the riddle. It is now two +o’clock. When we emerged from the prospector the sun was directly above us. +Where is it now?” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the center of the +heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely noticed it before. Fully thrice the size +of the sun I had known throughout my life, and apparently so near that the +sight of it carried the conviction that one might almost reach up and touch it. +</p> + +<p> +“My God, Perry, where are we?” I exclaimed. “This thing is beginning to get on +my nerves.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think that I may state quite positively, David,” he commenced, “that we +are—” but he got no further. From behind us in the vicinity of the prospector +there came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever had fallen upon my +ears. With one accord we turned to discover the author of that fearsome noise. +</p> + +<p> +Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the sight that met my +eyes would quite entirely have banished it. Emerging from the forest was a +colossal beast which closely resembled a bear. It was fully as large as the +largest elephant and with great forepaws armed with huge claws. Its nose, or +snout, depended nearly a foot below its lower jaw, much after the manner of a +rudimentary trunk. The giant body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair. +</p> + +<p> +Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling trot. I turned to +Perry to suggest that it might be wise to seek other surroundings—the idea had +evidently occurred to Perry previously, for he was already a hundred paces +away, and with each second his prodigious bounds increased the distance. I had +never guessed what latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed. +</p> + +<p> +I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest which ran out +toward the sea not far from where we had been standing, and as the mighty +creature, the sight of which had galvanized him into such remarkable action, +was forging steadily toward me, I set off after Perry, though at a somewhat +more decorous pace. It was evident that the massive beast pursuing us was not +built for speed, so all that I considered necessary was to gain the trees +sufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safety of some great +branch before it came up. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at Perry’s frantic capers +as he essayed to gain the safety of the lower branches of the trees he now had +reached. The stems were bare for a distance of some fifteen feet—at least on +those trees which Perry attempted to ascend, for the suggestion of safety +carried by the larger of the forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. +A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back to +the ground once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over his +shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken shrieks +that awoke the echoes of the grim forest. +</p> + +<p> +At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of one’s wrist, and +when I reached the trees he was racing madly up it, hand over hand. He had +almost reached the lowest branch of the tree from which the creeper depended +when the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell sprawling at my feet. +</p> + +<p> +The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was already too close +to us for comfort. Seizing Perry by the shoulder I dragged him to his feet, and +rushing to a smaller tree—one that he could easily encircle with his arms and +legs—I boosted him as far up as I could, and then left him to his fate, for a +glance over my shoulder revealed the awful beast almost upon me. +</p> + +<p> +It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous bulk +rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with the agility of my young +muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of its way and run completely behind +it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit. +</p> + +<p> +The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged in the +branches of a tree a few paces from that in which Perry had at last found a +haven. +</p> + +<p> +Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, and so did +Perry. He was praying—raising his voice in thanksgiving at our deliverance—and +had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that the thing couldn’t climb a +tree when without warning it reared up beneath him on its enormous tail and +hind feet, and reached those fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon +which he crouched. +</p> + +<p> +The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry’s scream of fright, and he +came near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws beneath him, so precipitate +was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. It was with a deep sigh +of relief that I saw him gain a higher branch in safety. +</p> + +<p> +And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror. Grasping the +tree’s stem with his powerful paws he dragged down with all the great weight of +his huge bulk and all the irresistible force of those mighty muscles. Slowly, +but surely, the stem began to bend toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws +upward as the tree leaned more and more from the perpendicular. Perry clung +chattering in a panic of terror. Higher and higher into the bending and swaying +tree he clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward the +ground. +</p> + +<p> +I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. The use that +he was putting them to was precisely that for which nature had intended them. +The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed that mighty carcass entire +trees must be stripped of their foliage. The reason for its attacking us might +easily be accounted for on the supposition of an ugly disposition such as that +which the fierce and stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. But these were +later reflections. At the moment I was too frantic with apprehension on Perry’s +behalf to consider aught other than a means to save him from the death that +loomed so close. +</p> + +<p> +Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open, I dropped from +my leafy sanctuary intent only on distracting the thing’s attention from Perry +long enough to enable the old man to gain the safety of a larger tree. There +were many close by which not even the terrific strength of that titanic monster +could bend. +</p> + +<p> +As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the tangled mass that +matted the jungle-like floor of the forest and, leaping unnoticed behind the +shaggy back, dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked like magic. From +the previous slowness of the beast I had been led to look for no such marvelous +agility as he now displayed. Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all +fours and at the same time swung his great, wicked tail with a force that would +have broken every bone in my body had it struck me; but, fortunately, I had +turned to flee at the very instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering +back. +</p> + +<p> +As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running along the edge of +the forest rather than making for the open beach. In a moment I was knee-deep +in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing behind me was gaining rapidly as I +floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate myself. +</p> + +<p> +A fallen log gave me an instant’s advantage, for climbing upon it I leaped to +another a few paces farther on, and in this way was able to keep clear of the +mush that carpeted the surrounding ground. But the zigzag course that this +necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap upon me that my pursuer was +steadily gaining upon me. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, piercing barks—much +the sound that a pack of wolves raises when in full cry. Involuntarily I +glanced backward to discover the origin of this new and menacing note with the +result that I missed my footing and went sprawling once more upon my face in +the deep muck. +</p> + +<p> +My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I must feel the weight +of one of his terrible paws before I could rise, but to my surprise the blow +did not fall upon me. The howling and snapping and barking of the new element +which had been infused into the melee now seemed centered quite close behind +me, and as I raised myself upon my hands and glanced around I saw what it was +that had distracted the DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called, +from my trail. +</p> + +<p> +It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like creatures—wild dogs they +seemed—that rushed growling and snapping in upon it from all sides, so that +they sank their white fangs into the slow brute and were away again before it +could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping tail. +</p> + +<p> +But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. Chattering and +gibbering through the lower branches of the trees came a company of manlike +creatures evidently urging on the dog pack. They were to all appearances +strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their skins were very +black, and their features much like those of the more pronounced Negroid type +except that the head receded more rapidly above the eyes, leaving little or no +forehead. Their arms were rather longer and their legs shorter in proportion to +the torso than in man, and later I noticed that their great toes protruded at +right angles from their feet—because of their arboreal habits, I presume. +Behind them trailed long, slender tails which they used in climbing quite as +much as they did either their hands or feet. +</p> + +<p> +I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that the wolf-dogs were +holding the dyryth at bay. At sight of me several of the savage creatures left +off worrying the great brute to come slinking with bared fangs toward me, and +as I turned to run toward the trees again to seek safety among the lower +branches, I saw a number of the man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage +of the nearest tree. +</p> + +<p> +Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, but at least +there was a doubt as to the reception these grotesque parodies on humanity +would accord me, while there was none as to the fate which awaited me beneath +the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers. +</p> + +<p> +And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath that which held +the man-things and take refuge in another farther on; but the wolf-dogs were +very close behind me—so close that I had despaired of escaping them, when one +of the creatures in the tree above swung down headforemost, his tail looped +about a great limb, and grasping me beneath my armpits swung me in safety up +among his fellows. +</p> + +<p> +There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement and curiosity. They +picked at my clothing, my hair, and my flesh. They turned me about to see if I +had a tail, and when they discovered that I was not so equipped they fell into +roars of laughter. Their teeth were very large and white and even, except for +the upper canines which were a trifle longer than the others—protruding just a +bit when the mouth was closed. +</p> + +<p> +When they had examined me for a few moments one of them discovered that my +clothing was not a part of me, with the result that garment by garment they +tore it from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter. Apelike, they essayed to +don the apparel themselves, but their ingenuity was not sufficient to the task +and so they gave it up. +</p> + +<p> +In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of Perry, but +nowhere about could I see him, although the clump of trees in which he had +first taken refuge was in full view. I was much exercised by fear that +something had befallen him, and though I called his name aloud several times +there was no response. +</p> + +<p> +Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures threw it to the ground, +and catching me, one on either side, by an arm, started off at a most +terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have I experienced such a journey +before or since—even now I oftentimes awake from a deep sleep haunted by the +horrid remembrance of that awful experience. +</p> + +<p> +From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, while the +cold sweat stood upon my brow as I glimpsed the depths beneath, into which a +single misstep on the part of either of my bearers would hurl me. As they bore +me along, my mind was occupied with a thousand bewildering thoughts. What had +become of Perry? Would I ever see him again? What were the intentions of these +half-human things into whose hands I had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the +same world into which I had been born? No! It could not be. But yet where else? +I had not left that earth—of that I was sure. Still neither could I reconcile +the things which I had seen to a belief that I was still in the world of my +birth. With a sigh I gave it up. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>III<br/> +A CHANGE OF MASTERS </h2> + +<p> +We must have traveled several miles through the dark and dismal wood when we +came suddenly upon a dense village built high among the branches of the trees. +As we approached it my escort broke into wild shouting which was immediately +answered from within, and a moment later a swarm of creatures of the same +strange race as those who had captured me poured out to meet us. Again I was +the center of a wildly chattering horde. I was pulled this way and that. +Pinched, pounded, and thumped until I was black and blue, yet I do not think +that their treatment was dictated by either cruelty or malice—I was a +curiosity, a freak, a new plaything, and their childish minds required the +added evidence of all their senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Presently they dragged me within the village, which consisted of several +hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves supported upon the branches of the +trees. +</p> + +<p> +Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, were dead branches +and the trunks of small trees which connected the huts upon one tree to those +within adjoining trees; the whole network of huts and pathways forming an +almost solid flooring a good fifty feet above the ground. +</p> + +<p> +I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges between the +trees, but later when I saw the motley aggregation of half-savage beasts which +they kept within their village I realized the necessity for the pathways. There +were a number of the same vicious wolf-dogs which we had left worrying the +dyryth, and many goatlike animals whose distended udders explained the reasons +for their presence. +</p> + +<p> +My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; then two of the +creatures squatted down before the entrance—to prevent my escape, doubtless. +Though where I should have escaped to I certainly had not the remotest +conception. I had no more than entered the dark shadows of the interior than +there fell upon my ears the tones of a familiar voice, in prayer. +</p> + +<p> +“Perry!” I cried. “Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you are safe.” +</p> + +<p> +“David! Can it be possible that you escaped?” And the old man stumbled toward +me and threw his arms about me. +</p> + +<p> +He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been seized by a number +of the ape-creatures and borne through the tree tops to their village. His +captors had been as inquisitive as to his strange clothing as had mine, with +the same result. As we looked at each other we could not help but laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“With a tail, David,” remarked Perry, “you would make a very handsome ape.” +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe we can borrow a couple,” I rejoined. “They seem to be quite the thing +this season. I wonder what the creatures intend doing with us, Perry. They +don’t seem really savage. What do you suppose they can be? You were about to +tell me where we are when that great hairy frigate bore down upon us—have you +really any idea at all?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, David,” he replied, “I know precisely where we are. We have made a +magnificent discovery, my boy! We have proved that the earth is hollow. We have +passed entirely through its crust to the inner world.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perry, you are mad!” +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our prospector bore us +through the crust beneath our outer world. At that point it reached the center +of gravity of the five-hundred-mile-thick crust. Up to that point we had been +descending—direction is, of course, merely relative. Then at the moment that +our seats revolved—the thing that made you believe that we had turned about and +were speeding upward—we passed the center of gravity and, though we did not +alter the direction of our progress, yet we were in reality moving +upward—toward the surface of the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and +flora which we have seen convince you that you are not in the world of your +birth? And the horizon—could it present the strange aspects which we both noted +unless we were indeed standing upon the inside surface of a sphere?” +</p> + +<p> +“But the sun, Perry!” I urged. “How in the world can the sun shine through five +hundred miles of solid crust?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It is another sun—an +entirely different sun—that casts its eternal noonday effulgence upon the face +of the inner world. Look at it now, David—if you can see it from the doorway of +this hut—and you will see that it is still in the exact center of the heavens. +We have been here for many hours—yet it is still noon. +</p> + +<p> +“And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a nebulous mass. It +cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. At length a thin crust of solid matter +formed upon its outer surface—a sort of shell; but within it was partially +molten matter and highly expanded gases. As it continued to cool, what +happened? Centrifugal force hurled the particles of the nebulous center toward +the crust as rapidly as they approached a solid state. You have seen the same +principle practically applied in the modern cream separator. Presently there +was only a small super-heated core of gaseous matter remaining within a huge +vacant interior left by the contraction of the cooling gases. The equal +attraction of the solid crust from all directions maintained this luminous core +in the exact center of the hollow globe. What remains of it is the sun you saw +today—a relatively tiny thing at the exact center of the earth. Equally to +every part of this inner world it diffuses its perpetual noonday light and +torrid heat. +</p> + +<p> +“This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal life long +ages after life appeared upon the outer crust, but that the same agencies were +at work here is evident from the similar forms of both animal and vegetable +creation which we have already seen. Take the great beast which attacked us, +for example. Unquestionably a counterpart of the Megatherium of the +post-Pliocene period of the outer crust, whose fossilized skeleton has been +found in South America.” +</p> + +<p> +“But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?” I urged. “Surely they have no +counterpart in the earth’s history.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who can tell?” he rejoined. “They may constitute the link between ape and man, +all traces of which have been swallowed by the countless convulsions which have +racked the outer crust, or they may be merely the result of evolution along +slightly different lines—either is quite possible.” +</p> + +<p> +Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of several of our captors +before the entrance of the hut. Two of them entered and dragged us forth. The +perilous pathways and the surrounding trees were filled with the black ape-men, +their females, and their young. There was not an ornament, a weapon, or a +garment among the lot. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite low in the scale of creation,” commented Perry. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though,” I replied. “Now what do +you suppose they intend doing with us?” +</p> + +<p> +We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip to the village we +were seized by a couple of the powerful creatures and whirled away through the +tree tops, while about us and in our wake raced a chattering, jabbering, +grinning horde of sleek, black ape-things. +</p> + +<p> +Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased beating as we +plunged toward instant death among the tangled deadwood beneath. But on both +occasions those lithe, powerful tails reached out and found sustaining +branches, nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp upon me. In fact, +it seemed that the incidents were of no greater moment to them than would be +the stubbing of one’s toe at a street crossing in the outer world—they but +laughed uproariously and sped on with me. +</p> + +<p> +For some time they continued through the forest—how long I could not guess for +I was learning, what was later borne very forcefully to my mind, that time +ceases to be a factor the moment means for measuring it cease to exist. Our +watches were gone, and we were living beneath a stationary sun. Already I was +puzzled to compute the period of time which had elapsed since we broke through +the crust of the inner world. It might be hours, or it might be days—who in the +world could tell where it was always noon! By the sun, no time had elapsed—but +my judgment told me that we must have been several hours in this strange world. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a level plain. A short +distance before us rose a few low, rocky hills. Toward these our captors urged +us, and after a short time led us through a narrow pass into a tiny, circular +valley. Here they got down to work, and we were soon convinced that if we were +not to die to make a Roman holiday, we were to die for some other purpose. The +attitude of our captors altered immediately as they entered the natural arena +within the rocky hills. Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity marked their +bestial faces—bared fangs menaced us. +</p> + +<p> +We were placed in the center of the amphitheater—the thousand creatures forming +a great ring about us. Then a wolf-dog was brought—HYAENODON Perry called +it—and turned loose with us inside the circle. The thing’s body was as large as +that of a full-grown mastiff, its legs were short and powerful, and its jaws +broad and strong. Dark, shaggy hair covered its back and sides, while its +breast and belly were quite white. As it slunk toward us it presented a most +formidable aspect with its upcurled lips baring its mighty fangs. +</p> + +<p> +Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a small stone. At my +movement the beast veered off a bit and commenced circling us. Evidently it had +been a target for stones before. The ape-things were dancing up and down urging +the brute on with savage cries, until at last, seeing that I did not throw, he +charged us. +</p> + +<p> +At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball teams. My speed +and control must both have been above the ordinary, for I made such a record +during my senior year at college that overtures were made to me in behalf of +one of the great major-league teams; but in the tightest pitch that ever had +confronted me in the past I had never been in such need for control as now. +</p> + +<p> +As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles under absolute +command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling toward me at terrific speed. +And then I let go, with every ounce of my weight and muscle and science in back +of that throw. The stone caught the hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, +and sent him bowling over upon his back. +</p> + +<p> +At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from the circle of +spectators, so that for a moment I thought that the upsetting of their champion +was the cause; but in this I soon saw that I was mistaken. As I looked, the +ape-things broke in all directions toward the surrounding hills, and then I +distinguished the real cause of their perturbation. Behind them, streaming +through the pass which leads into the valley, came a swarm of hairy +men—gorilla-like creatures armed with spears and hatchets, and bearing long, +oval shields. Like demons they set upon the ape-things, and before them the +hyaenodon, which had now regained its senses and its feet, fled howling with +fright. Past us swept the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy ones +accord us more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its +former occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to have +authority among them directed that we be brought with them. +</p> + +<p> +When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great plain we saw a +caravan of men and women—human beings like ourselves—and for the first time +hope and relief filled my heart, until I could have cried out in the exuberance +of my happiness. It is true that they were a half-naked, wild-appearing +aggregation; but they at least were fashioned along the same lines as +ourselves—there was nothing grotesque or horrible about them as about the other +creatures in this strange, weird world. +</p> + +<p> +But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we discovered that the +poor wretches were chained neck to neck in a long line, and that the +gorilla-men were their guards. With little ceremony Perry and I were chained at +the end of the line, and without further ado the interrupted march was resumed. +</p> + +<p> +Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now the tiresome +monotony of the long march across the sun-baked plain brought on all the +agonies consequent to a long-denied sleep. On and on we stumbled beneath that +hateful noonday sun. If we fell we were prodded with a sharp point. Our +companions in chains did not stumble. They strode along proudly erect. +Occasionally they would exchange words with one another in a monosyllabic +language. They were a noble-appearing race with well-formed heads and perfect +physiques. The men were heavily bearded, tall and muscular; the women, smaller +and more gracefully molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into loose +knots upon their heads. The features of both sexes were well proportioned—there +was not a face among them that would have been called even plain if judged by +earthly standards. They wore no ornaments; but this I later learned was due to +the fact that their captors had stripped them of everything of value. As +garmenture the women possessed a single robe of some light-colored, spotted +hide, rather similar in appearance to a leopard’s skin. This they wore either +supported entirely about the waist by a leathern thong, so that it hung +partially below the knee on one side, or possibly looped gracefully across one +shoulder. Their feet were shod with skin sandals. The men wore loin cloths of +the hide of some shaggy beast, long ends of which depended before and behind +nearly to the ground. In some instances these ends were finished with the +strong talons of the beast from which the hides had been taken. +</p> + +<p> +Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like men, were rather +lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so they were indeed mighty creatures. +Their arms and legs were proportioned more in conformity with human standards, +but their entire bodies were covered with shaggy, brown hair, and their faces +were quite as brutal as those of the few stuffed specimens of the gorilla which +I had seen in the museums at home. +</p> + +<p> +Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head above and back +of the ears. In this respect they were not one whit less human than we. They +were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth which reached to the knees. +Beneath this they wore only a loin cloth of the same material, while their feet +were shod with thick hide of some mammoth creature of this inner world. +</p> + +<p> +Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metal—silver +predominating—and on their tunics were sewn the heads of tiny reptiles in odd +and rather artistic designs. They talked among themselves as they marched along +on either side of us, but in a language which I perceived differed from that +employed by our fellow prisoners. When they addressed the latter they used what +appeared to be a third language, and which I later learned is a mongrel tongue +rather analogous to the Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie. +</p> + +<p> +How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of us were asleep +much of the time for hours before a halt was called—then we dropped in our +tracks. I say “for hours,” but how may one measure time where time does not +exist! When our march commenced the sun stood at zenith. When we halted our +shadows still pointed toward nadir. Whether an instant or an eternity of +earthly time elapsed who may say. That march may have occupied nine years and +eleven months of the ten years that I spent in the inner world, or it may have +been accomplished in the fraction of a second—I cannot tell. But this I do know +that since you have told me that ten years have elapsed since I departed from +this earth I have lost all respect for time—I am commencing to doubt that such +a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>IV<br/> +DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL </h2> + +<p> +When our guards aroused us from sleep we were much refreshed. They gave us +food. Strips of dried meat it was, but it put new life and strength into us, so +that now we too marched with high-held heads, and took noble strides. At least +I did, for I was young and proud; but poor Perry hated walking. On earth I had +often seen him call a cab to travel a square—he was paying for it now, and his +old legs wobbled so that I put my arm about him and half carried him through +the balance of those frightful marches. +</p> + +<p> +The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the level plain +through mighty mountains of virgin granite. The tropical verdure of the +lowlands was replaced by hardier vegetation, but even here the effects of +constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity of the trees and the +profusion of foliage and blooms. Crystal streams roared through their rocky +channels, fed by the perpetual snows which we could see far above us. Above the +snowcapped heights hung masses of heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, +which evidently served the double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and +protecting them from the direct rays of the sun. +</p> + +<p> +By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard language in which our +guards addressed us, as well as making good headway in the rather charming +tongue of our co-captives. Directly ahead of me in the chain gang was a young +woman. Three feet of chain linked us together in a forced companionship which +I, at least, soon rejoiced in. For I found her a willing teacher, and from her +I learned the language of her tribe, and much of the life and customs of the +inner world—at least that part of it with which she was familiar. +</p> + +<p> +She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she belonged to +the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs above the Darel Az, or shallow +sea. +</p> + +<p> +“How came you here?” I asked her. +</p> + +<p> +“I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she answered, as though that was +explanation quite sufficient. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is Jubal the Ugly One?” I asked. “And why did you run away from him?” +</p> + +<p> +She looked at me in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Why DOES a woman run away from a man?” she answered my question with another. +</p> + +<p> +“They do not, where I come from,” I replied. “Sometimes they run after them.” +</p> + +<p> +But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the fact that I was +of another world. She was quite as positive that creation was originated solely +to produce her own kind and the world she lived in as are many of the outer +world. +</p> + +<p> +“But Jubal,” I insisted. “Tell me about him, and why you ran away to be chained +by the neck and scourged across the face of a world.” +</p> + +<p> +“Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father’s house. It was the head +of a mighty tandor. It remained there and no greater trophy was placed beside +it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One would come and take me as his mate. None +other so powerful wished me, or they would have slain a mightier beast and thus +have won me from Jubal. My father is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a +sadok tossed him, and never again had he the full use of his right arm. My +brother, Dacor the Strong One, had gone to the land of Sari to steal a mate for +himself. Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal +the Ugly One, and I ran away and hid among the hills that skirt the land of +Amoz. And there these Sagoths found me and made me captive.” +</p> + +<p> +“What will they do with you?” I asked. “Where are they taking us?” +</p> + +<p> +Again she looked her incredulity. +</p> + +<p> +“I can almost believe that you are of another world,” she said, “for otherwise +such ignorance were inexplicable. Do you really mean that you do not know that +the Sagoths are the creatures of the Mahars—the mighty Mahars who think they +own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon its surface, or creeps or +burrows beneath, or swims within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its +air? Next you will be telling me that you never before heard of the Mahars!” +</p> + +<p> +I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there was no alternative +if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a clean breast of my pitiful ignorance +as to the mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But she did her very best to +enlighten me, though much that she said was as Greek would have been to her. +She described the Mahars largely by comparisons. In this way they were like +unto thipdars, in that to the hairless lidi. +</p> + +<p> +About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had wings, and +webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground; could swim under water +for great distances, and were very, very wise. The Sagoths were their weapons +of offense and defense, and the races like herself were their hands and +feet—they were the slaves and servants who did all the manual labor. The Mahars +were the heads—the brains—of the inner world. I longed to see this wondrous +race of supermen. +</p> + +<p> +Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we occasionally did, +though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he would join in the +conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just ahead of +Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the +conversation occasionally. Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the +Beautiful. It didn’t take half an eye to see that he had developed a bad case; +but the girl appeared totally oblivious to his thinly veiled advances. Did I +say thinly veiled? There is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have +forgotten which, who indicate their preference for the lady of their affections +by banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By comparison with this method +Hooja’s lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. At first it caused me to +blush violently although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in +other less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, and Hamburg. +</p> + +<p> +But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she considered +herself as entirely above and apart from her present surroundings and company. +She talked with me, and with Perry, and with the taciturn Ghak because we were +respectful; but she couldn’t even see Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, +and that made him furious. He tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl +up ahead of him in the slave gang, but the fellow only poked him with his spear +and told him that he had selected the girl for his own property—that he would +buy her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, was +the city of our destination. +</p> + +<p> +After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt sea, upon +whose bosom swam countless horrid things. Seal-like creatures there were with +long necks stretching ten and more feet above their enormous bodies and whose +snake heads were split with gaping mouths bristling with countless fangs. There +were huge tortoises too, paddling about among these other reptiles, which Perry +said were Plesiosaurs of the Lias. I didn’t question his veracity—they might +have been most anything. +</p> + +<p> +Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that the other, +and more fearsome reptiles, which occasionally rose from the deep to do battle +with them, were azdyryths, or sea-dyryths—Perry called them Ichthyosaurs. They +resembled a whale with the head of an alligator. +</p> + +<p> +I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at school—about all that +remained was an impression of horror that the illustrations of restored +prehistoric monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined belief that any man +with a pig’s shank and a vivid imagination could “restore” most any sort of +paleolithic monster he saw fit, and take rank as a first class paleontologist. +But when I saw these sleek, shiny carcasses shimmering in the sunlight as they +emerged from the ocean, shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll +from their sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided hither and +thither, now upon the surface, now half submerged; as I saw them meet, +open-mouthed, hissing and snorting, in their titanic and interminable warring I +realized how futile is man’s poor, weak imagination by comparison with Nature’s +incredible genius. +</p> + +<p> +And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so himself. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside that awful +sea. “David, I used to teach geology, and I thought that I believed what I +taught; but now I see that I did not believe it—that it is impossible for man +to believe such things as these unless he sees them with his own eyes. We take +things for granted, perhaps, because we are told them over and over again, and +have no way of disproving them—like religions, for example; but we don’t +believe them, we only think we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you +will find that the geologists and paleontologists will be the first to set you +down a liar, for they know that no such creatures as they restore ever existed. +It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an equally imaginary epoch—but +now? poof!” +</p> + +<p> +At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack chain to permit +him to worm himself back quite close to Dian. We were all standing, and as he +edged near the girl she turned her back upon him in such a truly earthly +feminine manner that I could scarce repress a smile; but it was a short-lived +smile for on the instant the Sly One’s hand fell upon the girl’s bare arm, +jerking her roughly toward him. +</p> + +<p> +I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics which prevailed +within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need the appealing look which the girl +shot to me from her magnificent eyes to influence my subsequent act. What the +Sly One’s intention was I paused not to inquire; but instead, before he could +lay hold of her with his other hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw +that felled him in his tracks. +</p> + +<p> +A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and the Sagoths +who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I later learned, because I had +championed the girl, but for the neat and, to them, astounding method by which +I had bested Hooja. +</p> + +<p> +And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering eyes, and then she +dropped her head, her face half averted, and a delicate flush suffused her +cheek. For a moment she stood thus in silence, and then her head went high, and +she turned her back upon me as she had upon Hooja. Some of the prisoners +laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak the Hairy One go very black as he looked at +me searchingly. And what I could see of Dian’s cheek went suddenly from red to +white. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that in some way +I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could not prevail upon her to talk with me +that I might learn wherein I had erred—in fact I might quite as well have been +addressing a sphinx for all the attention I got. At last my own foolish pride +stepped in and prevented my making any further attempts, and thus a +companionship that without my realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me +was cut off. Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not +renew his advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture near me. +</p> + +<p> +Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became a perfect nightmare +of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed became the realization that the girl’s +friendship had meant so much to me, the more I came to miss it; and the more +impregnable the barrier of silly pride. But I was very young and would not ask +Ghak for the explanation which I was sure he could give, and that might have +made everything all right again. +</p> + +<p> +On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice me—when her +eyes wandered in my direction she looked either over my head or directly +through me. At last I became desperate, and determined to swallow my +self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me how I had offended, and how I might +make reparation. I made up my mind that I should do this at the next halt. We +were approaching another range of mountains at the time, and when we reached +them, instead of winding across them through some high-flung pass we entered a +mighty natural tunnel—a series of labyrinthine grottoes, dark as Erebus. +</p> + +<p> +The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we had seen no +artificial light or sign of fire since we had entered Pellucidar. In a land of +perpetual noon there is no need of light above ground, yet I marveled that they +had no means of lighting their way through these dark, subterranean passages. +So we crept along at a snail’s pace, with much stumbling and falling—the guards +keeping up a singsong chant ahead of us, interspersed with certain high notes +which I found always indicated rough places and turns. +</p> + +<p> +Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian until I could +see from the expression of her face how she was receiving my apologies. At last +a faint glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the tunnel, for which I for one +was devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden turn we emerged into the full light of +the noonday sun. +</p> + +<p> +But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a real +catastrophe—Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen other prisoners. The +guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to behold. Their +awesome, bestial faces were contorted in the most diabolical expressions, as +they accused each other of responsibility for the loss. Finally they fell upon +us, beating us with their spear shafts, and hatchets. They had already killed +two near the head of the line, and were like to have finished the balance of us +when their leader finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. Never in all my +life had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of bestial rage—I thanked God +that Dian had not been one of those left to endure it. +</p> + +<p> +Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each alternate one had +been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja was gone. Ghak remained. What could it +mean? How had it been accomplished? The commander of the guards was +investigating. Soon he discovered that the rude locks which had held the +neckbands in place had been deftly picked. +</p> + +<p> +“Hooja the Sly One,” murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. “He has +taken the girl that you would not have,” he continued, glancing at me. +</p> + +<p> +“That I would not have!” I cried. “What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +He looked at me closely for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +“I have doubted your story that you are from another world,” he said at last, +“but yet upon no other grounds could your ignorance of the ways of Pellucidar +be explained. Do you really mean that you do not know that you offended the +Beautiful One, and how?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Ghak,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes between another man +and the woman the other man would have, the woman belongs to the victor. Dian +the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have claimed her or released her. Had +you taken her hand, it would have indicated your desire to make her your mate, +and had you raised her hand above her head and then dropped it, it would have +meant that you did not wish her for a mate and that you released her from all +obligation to you. By doing neither you have put upon her the greatest affront +that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No man will take her as +mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall have overcome you in combat, +and men do not choose slave women as their mates—at least not the men of +Pellucidar.” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not know, Ghak,” I cried. “I did not know. Not for all Pellucidar would +I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, or look, or act of mine. I do not +want her as my slave. I do not want her as my—” but here I stopped. The vision +of that sweet and innocent face floated before me amidst the soft mists of +imagination, and where I had on the second believed that I clung only to the +memory of a gentle friendship I had lost, yet now it seemed that it would have +been disloyalty to her to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as +my mate. I had not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a strange, +cruel world. Even now I did not think that I loved her. +</p> + +<p> +I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than in my words, +for presently he laid his hand upon my shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“Man of another world,” he said, “I believe you. Lips may lie, but when the +heart speaks through the eyes it tells only the truth. Your heart has spoken to +me. I know now that you meant no affront to Dian the Beautiful. She is not of +my tribe; but her mother is my sister. She does not know it—her mother was +stolen by Dian’s father who came with many others of the tribe of Amoz to +battle with us for our women—the most beautiful women of Pellucidar. Then was +her father king of Amoz, and her mother was daughter of the king of Sari—to +whose power I, his son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, though +her father is no longer king since the sadok tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One +wrested his kingship from him. Because of her lineage the wrong you did her was +greatly magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never forgive you.” +</p> + +<p> +I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the girl from +the bondage and ignominy I had unwittingly placed upon her. +</p> + +<p> +“If ever you find her, yes,” he answered. “Merely to raise her hand above her +head and drop it in the presence of others is sufficient to release her; but +how may you ever find her, you who are doomed to a life of slavery yourself in +the buried city of Phutra?” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there no escape?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him,” replied Ghak. “But +there are no more dark places on the way to Phutra, and once there it is not so +easy—the Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from Phutra there are the +thipdars—they would find you, and then—” the Hairy One shuddered. “No, you will +never escape the Mahars.” +</p> + +<p> +It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought about it; but he only +shrugged his shoulders and continued a longwinded prayer he had been at for +some time. He was wont to say that the only redeeming feature of our captivity +was the ample time it gave him for the improvisation of prayers—it was becoming +an obsession with him. The Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of +declaiming throughout entire marches. One of them asked him what he was +saying—to whom he was talking. The question gave me an idea, so I answered +quickly before Perry could say anything. +</p> + +<p> +“Do not interrupt him,” I said. “He is a very holy man in the world from which +we come. He is speaking to spirits which you cannot see—do not interrupt him or +they will spring out of the air upon you and rend you limb from limb—like +that,” and I jumped toward the great brute with a loud “Boo!” that sent him +stumbling backward. +</p> + +<p> +I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital out of +Perry’s harmless mania I wanted to make it while the making was prime. It +worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with marked respect during the +balance of the journey, and then passed the word along to their masters, the +Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The entrance to +it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, which guarded a flight of steps +leading to the buried city. Sagoths were on guard here as well as at a hundred +or more other towers scattered about over a large plain. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>V<br/> +SLAVES </h2> + +<p> +As we descended the broad staircase which led to the main avenue of Phutra I +caught my first sight of the dominant race of the inner world. Involuntarily I +shrank back as one of the creatures approached to inspect us. A more hideous +thing it would be impossible to imagine. The all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar +are great reptiles, some six or eight feet in length, with long narrow heads +and great round eyes. Their beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, +and the backs of their huge, lizard bodies are serrated into bony ridges from +their necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are equipped with three +webbed toes, while from the fore feet membranous wings, which are attached to +their bodies just in front of the hind legs, protrude at an angle of 45 degrees +toward the rear, ending in sharp points several feet above their bodies. +</p> + +<p> +I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. The old man was +gazing at the horrid creature with wide astonished eyes. When it passed on, he +turned to me. +</p> + +<p> +“A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David,” he said, “but, gad, how +enormous! The largest remains we ever have discovered have never indicated a +size greater than that attained by an ordinary crow.” +</p> + +<p> +As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw many thousand of +the creatures coming and going upon their daily duties. They paid but little +attention to us. Phutra is laid out underground with a regularity that +indicates remarkable engineering skill. It is hewn from solid limestone strata. +The streets are broad and of a uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals +tubes pierce the roof of this underground city, and by means of lenses and +reflectors transmit the sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would +otherwise be Cimmerian darkness. In like manner air is introduced. +</p> + +<p> +Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, where one of the +Sagoths who had formed our guard explained to a Maharan official the +circumstances surrounding our capture. The method of communication between +these two was remarkable in that no spoken words were exchanged. They employed +a species of sign language. As I was to learn later, the Mahars have no ears, +not any spoken language. Among themselves they communicate by means of what +Perry says must be a sixth sense which is cognizant of a fourth dimension. +</p> + +<p> +I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain it to me upon +numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, but he said no, that it was not +telepathy since they could only communicate when in each others’ presence, nor +could they talk with the Sagoths or the other inhabitants of Pellucidar by the +same method they used to converse with one another. +</p> + +<p> +“What they do,” said Perry, “is to project their thoughts into the fourth +dimension, when they become appreciable to the sixth sense of their listener. +Do I make myself quite clear?” +</p> + +<p> +“You do not, Perry,” I replied. He shook his head in despair, and returned to +his work. They had set us to carrying a great accumulation of Maharan +literature from one apartment to another, and there arranging it upon shelves. +I suggested to Perry that we were in the public library of Phutra, but later, +as he commenced to discover the key to their written language, he assured me +that we were handling the ancient archives of the race. +</p> + +<p> +During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian the Beautiful. I was, +of course, glad that she had escaped the Mahars, and the fate that had been +suggested by the Sagoth who had threatened to purchase her upon our arrival at +Phutra. I often wondered if the little party of fugitives had been overtaken by +the guards who had returned to search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but +that I should have been more contented to know that Dian was here in Phutra, +than to think of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. Ghak, Perry, and I +often talked together of possible escape, but the Sarian was so steeped in his +lifelong belief that no one could escape from the Mahars except by a miracle, +that he was not much aid to us—his attitude was of one who waits for the +miracle to come to him. +</p> + +<p> +At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps of iron which we +discovered among some rubbish in the cells where we slept, for we were +permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action within the limits of the +building to which we had been assigned. So great were the number of slaves who +waited upon the inhabitants of Phutra that none of us was apt to be +overburdened with work, nor were our masters unkind to us. +</p> + +<p> +We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and then Perry +conceived the idea of making bows and arrows—weapons apparently unknown within +Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these I found it easier to steal from the +walls of the outer guardroom of the building. +</p> + +<p> +We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving Phutra +when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture the escaped prisoners returned +with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian and two others had eluded them. +It so happened that Hooja was confined in the same building with us. He told +Ghak that he had not seen Dian or the others after releasing them within the +dark grotto. What had become of them he had not the faintest conception—they +might be wandering yet, lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not dead from +starvation. +</p> + +<p> +I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at this time, +I imagine, came the first realization that my affection for the girl might be +prompted by more than friendship. During my waking hours she was constantly the +subject of my thoughts, and when I slept her dear face haunted my dreams. More +than ever was I determined to escape the Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +“Perry,” I confided to the old man, “if I have to search every inch of this +diminutive world I am going to find Dian the Beautiful and right the wrong I +unintentionally did her.” That was the excuse I made for Perry’s benefit. +</p> + +<p> +“Diminutive world!” he scoffed. “You don’t know what you are talking about, my +boy,” and then he showed me a map of Pellucidar which he had recently +discovered among the manuscript he was arranging. +</p> + +<p> +“Look,” he cried, pointing to it, “this is evidently water, and all this land. +Do you notice the general configuration of the two areas? Where the oceans are +upon the outer crust, is land here. These relatively small areas of ocean +follow the general lines of the continents of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +“We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; then the inside +diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 miles, and the superficial area +165,480,000 square miles. Three-fourths of this is land. Think of it! A land +area of 124,110,000 square miles! Our own world contains but 53,000,000 square +miles of land, the balance of its surface being covered by water. Just as we +often compare nations by their relative land areas, so if we compare these two +worlds in the same way we have the strange anomaly of a larger world within a +smaller one! +</p> + +<p> +“Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your Dian? Without stars, or +moon, or changing sun how could you find her even though you knew where she +might be found?” +</p> + +<p> +The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; but I found that it +left me all the more determined to attempt it. +</p> + +<p> +“If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it,” I suggested. +</p> + +<p> +Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Ghak,” I said, “we are determined to escape from this bondage. Will you +accompany us?” +</p> + +<p> +“They will set the thipdars upon us,” he said, “and then we shall be killed; +but—” he hesitated—“I would take the chance if I thought that I might possibly +escape and return to my own people.” +</p> + +<p> +“Could you find your way back to your own land?” asked Perry. “And could you +aid David in his search for Dian?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how,” persisted Perry, “could you travel to strange country without +heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?” +</p> + +<p> +Ghak didn’t know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a compass, but he +assured us that you might blindfold any man of Pellucidar and carry him to the +farthermost corner of the world, yet he would be able to come directly to his +own home again by the shortest route. He seemed surprised to think that we +found anything wonderful in it. Perry said it must be some sort of homing +instinct such as is possessed by certain breeds of earthly pigeons. I didn’t +know, of course, but it gave me an idea. +</p> + +<p> +“Then Dian could have found her way directly to her own people?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” replied Ghak, “unless some mighty beast of prey killed her.” +</p> + +<p> +I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry and Ghak +counseled waiting for some propitious accident which would insure us some small +degree of success. I didn’t see what accident could befall a whole community in +a land of perpetual daylight where the inhabitants had no fixed habits of +sleep. Why, I am sure that some of the Mahars never sleep, while others may, at +long intervals, crawl into the dark recesses beneath their dwellings and curl +up in protracted slumber. Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for three +years he will make up all his lost sleep in a long year’s snooze. That may be +all true, but I never saw but three of them asleep, and it was the sight of +these three that gave me a suggestion for our means of escape. +</p> + +<p> +I had been searching about far below the levels that we slaves were supposed to +frequent—possibly fifty feet beneath the main floor of the building—among a +network of corridors and apartments, when I came suddenly upon three Mahars +curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I thought they were dead, but later +their regular breathing convinced me of my error. Like a flash the thought came +to me of the marvelous opportunity these sleeping reptiles offered as a means +of eluding the watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth guards. +</p> + +<p> +Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, to me, meaningless +hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. To my surprise he was horrified. +</p> + +<p> +“It would be murder, David,” he cried. +</p> + +<p> +“Murder to kill a reptilian monster?” I asked in astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +“Here they are not monsters, David,” he replied. “Here they are the dominant +race—we are the ‘monsters’—the lower orders. In Pellucidar evolution has +progressed along different lines than upon the outer earth. These terrible +convulsions of nature time and time again wiped out the existing species—but +for this fact some monster of the Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own +world. We see here what might well have occurred in our own history had +conditions been what they have been here. +</p> + +<p> +“Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. Here man has +but reached a stage analogous to the Stone Age of our own world’s history, but +for countless millions of years these reptiles have been progressing. Possibly +it is the sixth sense which I am sure they possess that has given them an +advantage over the other and more frightfully armed of their fellows; but this +we may never know. They look upon us as we look upon the beasts of our fields, +and I learn from their written records that other races of Mahars feed upon +men—they keep them in great droves, as we keep cattle. They breed them most +carefully, and when they are quite fat, they kill and eat them.” +</p> + +<p> +I shuddered. +</p> + +<p> +“What is there horrible about it, David?” the old man asked. “They understand +us no better than we understand the lower animals of our own world. Why, I have +come across here very learned discussions of the question as to whether gilaks, +that is men, have any means of communication. One writer claims that we do not +even reason—that our every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race +of Pellucidar, David, have not yet learned that men converse among themselves, +or reason. Because we do not converse as they do it is beyond them to imagine +that we converse at all. It is thus that we reason in relation to the brutes of +our own world. They know that the Sagoths have a spoken language, but they +cannot comprehend it, or how it manifests itself, since they have no auditory +apparatus. They believe that the motions of the lips alone convey the meaning. +That the Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible to them. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, David,” he concluded, “it would entail murder to carry out your plan.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well then, Perry.” I replied. “I shall become a murderer.” +</p> + +<p> +He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for some reason which +was not at the time clear to me insisted upon a very careful description of the +apartments and corridors I had just explored. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder, David,” he said at length, “as you are determined to carry out your +wild scheme, if we could not accomplish something of very real and lasting +benefit for the human race of Pellucidar at the same time. Listen, I have +learned much of a most surprising nature from these archives of the Mahars. +That you may appreciate my plan I shall briefly outline the history of the +race. +</p> + +<p> +“Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, little by little, +assumed the mastery. For other ages no noticeable change took place in the race +of Mahars. It continued to progress under the intelligent and beneficent rule +of the ladies. Science took vast strides. This was especially true of the +sciences which we know as biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female +scientist announced the fact that she had discovered a method whereby eggs +might be fertilized by chemical means after they were laid—all true reptiles, +you know, are hatched from eggs. +</p> + +<p> +“What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased to exist—the race +was no longer dependent upon them. More ages elapsed until at the present time +we find a race consisting exclusively of females. But here is the point. The +secret of this chemical formula is kept by a single race of Mahars. It is in +the city of Phutra, and unless I am greatly in error I judge from your +description of the vaults through which you passed today that it lies hidden in +the cellar of this building. +</p> + +<p> +“For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. First, because upon +it depends the very life of the race of Mahars, and second, owing to the fact +that when it was public property as at first so many were experimenting with it +that the danger of over-population became very grave. +</p> + +<p> +“David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us this great secret +what will we not have accomplished for the human race within Pellucidar!” The +very thought of it fairly overpowered me. Why, we two would be the means of +placing the men of the inner world in their rightful place among created +things. Only the Sagoths would then stand between them and absolute supremacy, +and I was not quite sure but that the Sagoths owed all their power to the +greater intelligence of the Mahars—I could not believe that these gorilla-like +beasts were the mental superiors of the human race of Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Perry,” I exclaimed, “you and I may reclaim a whole world! Together we +can lead the races of men out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of +advancement and civilization. At one step we may carry them from the Age of +Stone to the twentieth century. It’s marvelous—absolutely marvelous just to +think about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“David,” said the old man, “I believe that God sent us here for just that +purpose—it shall be my life work to teach them His word—to lead them into the +light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and hands in the ways of +culture and civilization.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right, Perry,” I said, “and while you are teaching them to pray I’ll +be teaching them to fight, and between us we’ll make a race of men that will be +an honor to us both.” +</p> + +<p> +Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded our conversation, +and now he wanted to know what we were so excited about. Perry thought we had +best not tell him too much, and so I only explained that I had a plan for +escape. When I had outlined it to him, he seemed about as horror-struck as +Perry had been; but for a different reason. The Hairy One only considered the +horrible fate that would be ours were we discovered; but at last I prevailed +upon him to accept my plan as the only feasible one, and when I had assured him +that I would take all the responsibility for it were we captured, he accorded a +reluctant assent. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>VI<br/> +THE BEGINNING OF HORROR </h2> + +<p> +Within Pellucidar one time is as good as another. There were no nights to mask +our attempted escape. All must be done in broad daylight—all but the work I had +to do in the apartment beneath the building. So we determined to put our plan +to an immediate test lest the Mahars who made it possible should awake before I +reached them; but we were doomed to disappointment, for no sooner had we +reached the main floor of the building on our way to the pits beneath, than we +encountered hurrying bands of slaves being hastened under strong Sagoth guard +out of the edifice to the avenue beyond. +</p> + +<p> +Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of other slaves, and +the moment that we appeared we were pounced upon and hustled into the line of +marching humans. +</p> + +<p> +What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not know, but presently +through the line of captives ran the rumor that two escaped slaves had been +recaptured—a man and a woman—and that we were marching to witness their +punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth of the detachment that had pursued +and overtaken them. +</p> + +<p> +At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was sure that the two +were of those who escaped in the dark grotto with Hooja the Sly One, and that +Dian must be the woman. Ghak thought so too, as did Perry. +</p> + +<p> +“Is there naught that we may do to save her?” I asked Ghak. +</p> + +<p> +“Naught,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing unusual cruelty toward +us, as though we, too, had been implicated in the murder of their fellow. The +occasion was to serve as an object-lesson to all other slaves of the danger and +futility of attempted escape, and the fatal consequences of taking the life of +a superior being, and so I imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making +the entire proceeding as uncomfortable and painful to us as possible. +</p> + +<p> +They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets at the +least provocation, and at no provocation at all. It was a most uncomfortable +half-hour that we spent before we were finally herded through a low entrance +into a huge building the center of which was given up to a good-sized arena. +Benches surrounded this open space upon three sides, and along the fourth were +heaped huge bowlders which rose in receding tiers toward the roof. +</p> + +<p> +At first I couldn’t make out the purpose of this mighty pile of rock, unless it +were intended as a rough and picturesque background for the scenes which were +enacted in the arena before it, but presently, after the wooden benches had +been pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, I discovered the purpose of the +bowlders, for then the Mahars began to file into the enclosure. +</p> + +<p> +They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon the opposite side, +where, spreading their bat-like wings, they rose above the high wall of the +pit, settling down upon the bowlders above. These were the reserved seats, the +boxes of the elect. +</p> + +<p> +Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone is to them as plush +as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, blinking their hideous eyes, and +doubtless conversing with one another in their sixth-sense-fourth-dimension +language. +</p> + +<p> +For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from the others in no +feature that was appreciable to my earthly eyes, in fact all Mahars look alike +to me: but when she crossed the arena after the balance of her female subjects +had found their bowlders, she was preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, the +largest I ever had seen, and on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, +while behind came another score of Sagoth guardsmen. +</p> + +<p> +At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly apelike +agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose upon her wings with her two +frightful dragons close beside her, and settled down upon the largest bowlder +of them all in the exact center of that side of the amphitheater which is +reserved for the dominant race. Here she squatted, a most repulsive and +uninteresting queen; though doubtless quite as well assured of her beauty and +divine right to rule as the proudest monarch of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +And then the music started—music without sound! The Mahars cannot hear, so the +drums and fifes and horns of earthly bands are unknown among them. The “band” +consists of a score or more Mahars. It filed out in the center of the arena +where the creatures upon the rocks might see it, and there it performed for +fifteen or twenty minutes. +</p> + +<p> +Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their heads in a +regular succession of measured movements resulting in a cadence which evidently +pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence of our own instrumental music +pleases our ears. Sometimes the band took measured steps in unison to one side +or the other, or backward and again forward—it all seemed very silly and +meaningless to me, but at the end of the first piece the Mahars upon the rocks +showed the first indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by the +dominant race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up and down, and smote +their rocky perches with their mighty tails until the ground shook. Then the +band started another piece, and all was again as silent as the grave. That was +one great beauty about Mahar music—if you didn’t happen to like a piece that +was being played all you had to do was shut your eyes. +</p> + +<p> +When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and settled upon the +rocks above and behind the queen. Then the business of the day was on. A man +and woman were pushed into the arena by a couple of Sagoth guardsmen. I leaned +forward in my seat to scrutinize the female—hoping against hope that she might +prove to be another than Dian the Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a +while, and the sight of the great mass of raven hair piled high upon her head +filled me with alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to admit a huge, +shaggy, bull-like creature. +</p> + +<p> +“A Bos,” whispered Perry, excitedly. “His kind roamed the outer crust with the +cave bear and the mammoth ages and ages ago. We have been carried back a +million years, David, to the childhood of a planet—is it not wondrous?” +</p> + +<p> +But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, and my heart stood still in +dumb misery at the sight of her, nor had I any eyes for the wonders of natural +history. But for Perry and Ghak I should have leaped to the floor of the arena +and shared whatever fate lay in store for this priceless treasure of the Stone +Age. +</p> + +<p> +With the advent of the Bos—they call the thing a thag within Pellucidar—two +spears were tossed into the arena at the feet of the prisoners. It seemed to me +that a bean shooter would have been as effective against the mighty monster as +these pitiful weapons. +</p> + +<p> +As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the ground with the +strength of many earthly bulls, another door directly beneath us was opened, +and from it issued the most terrific roar that ever had fallen upon my outraged +ears. I could not at first see the beast from which emanated this fearsome +challenge, but the sound had the effect of bringing the two victims around with +a sudden start, and then I saw the girl’s face—she was not Dian! I could have +wept for relief. +</p> + +<p> +And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of that fearsome +sound creeping stealthily into view. It was a huge tiger—such as hunted the +great Bos through the jungles primeval when the world was young. In contour and +markings it was not unlike the noblest of the Bengals of our own world, but as +its dimensions were exaggerated to colossal proportions so too were its +colorings exaggerated. Its vivid yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites were +as eider down; its blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its coat +long and shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful animal there is no +gainsaying, but if its size and colors are magnified here within Pellucidar, so +is the ferocity of its disposition. It is not the occasional member of its +species that is a man hunter—all are man hunters; but they do not confine their +foraging to man alone, for there is no flesh or fish within Pellucidar that +they will not eat with relish in the constant efforts which they make to +furnish their huge carcasses with sufficient sustenance to maintain their +mighty thews. +</p> + +<p> +Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and advanced, and upon the +other tarag, the frightful, crept toward them with gaping mouth and dripping +fangs. +</p> + +<p> +The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. At the sound of +the roaring of the tiger the bull’s bellowing became a veritable frenzy of +rageful noise. Never in my life had I heard such an infernal din as the two +brutes made, and to think it was all lost upon the hideous reptiles for whom +the show was staged! +</p> + +<p> +The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from the other. The two +puny things standing between them seemed already lost, but at the very moment +that the beasts were upon them the man grasped his companion by the arm and +together they leaped to one side, while the frenzied creatures came together +like locomotives in collision. +</p> + +<p> +There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful ferocity +transcends the power of imagination or description. Time and again the colossal +bull tossed the enormous tiger high into the air, but each time that the huge +cat touched the ground he returned to the encounter with apparently +undiminished strength, and seemingly increased ire. +</p> + +<p> +For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with keeping out of the +way of the two creatures, but finally I saw them separate and each creep +stealthily toward one of the combatants. The tiger was now upon the bull’s +broad back, clinging to the huge neck with powerful fangs while its long, +strong talons ripped the heavy hide into shreds and ribbons. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with pain and rage, its +cloven hoofs widespread, its tail lashing viciously from side to side, and +then, in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening about the arena in frenzied +attempt to unseat its rending rider. It was with difficulty that the girl +avoided the first mad rush of the wounded animal. +</p> + +<p> +All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, until in desperation +it threw itself upon the ground, rolling over and over. A little of this so +disconcerted the tiger, knocking its breath from it I imagine, that it lost its +hold and then, quick as a cat, the great thag was up again and had buried those +mighty horns deep in the tarag’s abdomen, pinning him to the floor of the +arena. +</p> + +<p> +The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears were gone, and +naught but a few strips of ragged, bloody flesh remained upon the skull. Yet +through all the agony of that fearful punishment the thag still stood +motionless pinning down his adversary, and then the man leaped in, seeing that +the blind bull would be the least formidable enemy, and ran his spear through +the tarag’s heart. +</p> + +<p> +As the animal’s fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his gory, sightless +head, and with a horrid roar ran headlong across the arena. With great leaps +and bounds he came, straight toward the arena wall directly beneath where we +sat, and then accident carried him, in one of his mighty springs, completely +over the barrier into the midst of the slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. +Swinging his bloody horns from side to side the beast cut a wide swath before +him straight upward toward our seats. Before him slaves and gorilla-men fought +in mad stampede to escape the menace of the creature’s death agonies, for such +only could that frightful charge have been. +</p> + +<p> +Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for the exits, many of +which pierced the wall of the amphitheater behind us. Perry, Ghak, and I became +separated in the chaos which reigned for a few moments after the beast cleared +the wall of the arena, each intent upon saving his own hide. +</p> + +<p> +I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the fear mad mob that +were battling to escape. One would have thought that an entire herd of thags +was loose behind them, rather than a single blinded, dying beast; but such is +the effect of panic upon a crowd. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>VII<br/> +FREEDOM </h2> + +<p> +Once out of the direct path of the animal, fear of it left me, but another +emotion as quickly gripped me—hope of escape that the demoralized condition of +the guards made possible for the instant. +</p> + +<p> +I thought of Perry, and but for the hope that I might better encompass his +release if myself free I should have put the thought of freedom from me at +once. As it was I hastened on toward the right searching for an exit toward +which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found it—a low, narrow aperture +leading into a dark corridor. +</p> + +<p> +Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into the shadows of the +tunnel, feeling my way along through the gloom for some distance. The noises of +the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter until now all was as silent as +the tomb about me. Faint light filtered from above through occasional +ventilating and lighting tubes, but it was scarce sufficient to enable my human +eyes to cope with the darkness, and so I was forced to move with extreme care, +feeling my way along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside me. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my delight, I came upon a +flight of steps leading upward, at the top of which the brilliant light of the +noonday sun shone through an opening in the ground. +</p> + +<p> +Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel’s end, and peering out saw the +broad plain of Phutra before me. The numerous lofty, granite towers which mark +the several entrances to the subterranean city were all in front of me—behind, +the plain stretched level and unbroken to the nearby foothills. I had come to +the surface, then, beyond the city, and my chances for escape seemed much +enhanced. +</p> + +<p> +My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to cross the plain, so +deeply implanted are habits of thought; but of a sudden I recollected the +perpetual noonday brilliance which envelops Pellucidar, and with a smile I +stepped forth into the daylight. +</p> + +<p> +Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of Phutra—the gorgeous flowering +grass of the inner world, each particular blade of which is tipped with a tiny, +five-pointed blossom—brilliant little stars of varying colors that twinkle in +the green foliage to add still another charm to the weird, yet lovely, +landscape. +</p> + +<p> +But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant hills in which I +hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, trampling the myriad beauties +beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force of gravity is less upon the +surface of the inner world than upon that of the outer. He explained it all to +me once, but I was never particularly brilliant in such matters and so most of +it has escaped me. As I recall it the difference is due in some part to the +counter-attraction of that portion of the earth’s crust directly opposite the +spot upon the face of Pellucidar at which one’s calculations are being made. Be +that as it may, it always seemed to me that I moved with greater speed and +agility within Pellucidar than upon the outer surface—there was a certain airy +lightness of step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily detachment +which I can only compare with that occasionally experienced in dreams. +</p> + +<p> +And as I crossed Phutra’s flower-bespangled plain that time I seemed almost to +fly, though how much of the sensation was due to Perry’s suggestion and how +much to actuality I am sure I do not know. The more I thought of Perry the less +pleasure I took in my new-found freedom. There could be no liberty for me +within Pellucidar unless the old man shared it with me, and only the hope that +I might find some way to encompass his release kept me from turning back to +Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that some +fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. It was quite evident +however that little less than a miracle could aid me, for what could I +accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed? It was even doubtful that +I could retrace my steps to Phutra should I once pass beyond view of the plain, +and even were that possible, what aid could I bring to Perry no matter how far +I wandered? +</p> + +<p> +The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, yet with a +stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward the foothills. Behind me no sign of +pursuit developed, before me I saw no living thing. It was as though I moved +through a dead and forgotten world. +</p> + +<p> +I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the limit of the plain, +but at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty little canyon upward +toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a laughing brooklet, hurrying upon +its noisy way down to the silent sea. In its quieter pools I discovered many +small fish, of four-or five-pound weight I should imagine. In appearance, +except as to size and color, they were not unlike the whale of our own seas. As +I watched them playing about I discovered, not only that they suckled their +young, but that at intervals they rose to the surface to breathe as well as to +feed upon certain grasses and a strange, scarlet lichen which grew upon the +rocks just above the water line. +</p> + +<p> +It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved to capture one of +these herbivorous cetaceans—that is what Perry calls them—and make as good a +meal as one can on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had become rather used, by +this time, to the eating of food in its natural state, though I still balked on +the eyes and entrails, much to the amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed +these delicacies. +</p> + +<p> +Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive purple whales +rose to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water, and then, like the +beast of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my victim, appeasing my hunger +while he yet wriggled to escape. +</p> + +<p> +Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands and face continued +my flight. Above the source of the brook I encountered a rugged climb to the +summit of a long ridge. Beyond was a steep declivity to the shore of a placid, +inland sea, upon the quiet surface of which lay several beautiful islands. +</p> + +<p> +The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast was to be seen +that might threaten my new-found liberty, I slid over the edge of the bluff, +and half sliding, half falling, dropped into the delightful valley, the very +aspect of which seemed to offer a haven of peace and security. +</p> + +<p> +The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with strangely +shaped, colored shells; some empty, others still housing as varied a multitude +of mollusks as ever might have drawn out their sluggish lives along the silent +shores of the antediluvian seas of the outer crust. As I walked I could not but +compare myself with the first man of that other world, so complete the solitude +which surrounded me, so primal and untouched the virgin wonders and beauties of +adolescent nature. I felt myself a second Adam wending my lonely way through +the childhood of a world, searching for my Eve, and at the thought there rose +before my mind’s eye the exquisite outlines of a perfect face surmounted by a +loose pile of wondrous, raven hair. +</p> + +<p> +As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not until I had +come quite upon it that I discovered that which shattered all my beautiful +dream of solitude and safety and peace and primal overlordship. The thing was a +hollowed log drawn upon the sands, and in the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. +</p> + +<p> +The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new form of +danger was still upon me when I heard a rattling of loose stones from the +direction of the bluff, and turning my eyes in that direction I beheld the +author of the disturbance, a great copper-colored man, running rapidly toward +me. +</p> + +<p> +There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite sufficiently +menacing, so that I did not need the added evidence of brandishing spear and +scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe position, but whither to flee +was indeed a momentous question. +</p> + +<p> +The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility of escaping him upon +the open beach. There was but a single alternative—the rude skiff—and with a +celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into the sea and as it floated +gave a final shove and clambered in over the end. +</p> + +<p> +A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an instant later +his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed my shoulder and buried itself in the bow +of the boat beyond. Then I grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste urged +the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the surface of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored one had plunged in +after me and was swimming rapidly in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to +close up the distance between us in short order, for at best I could make but +slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, which nosed stubbornly in every +direction but that which I desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was +expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course. +</p> + +<p> +I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident that my +pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff within the next half-dozen strokes. +In a frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all paddles in a hopeless +effort to escape, and still the copper giant behind me gained and gained. +</p> + +<p> +His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, sinuous body +shoot from the depths below. The man saw it too, and the look of terror that +overspread his face assured me that I need have no further concern as to him, +for the fear of certain death was in his look. +</p> + +<p> +And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster of that +prehistoric deep—a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws, and darting +forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protuberances upon head and snout +that formed short, stout horns. +</p> + +<p> +As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the doomed man, and +I could have sworn that in his I saw an expression of hopeless appeal. But +whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden compassion for the fellow. +He was indeed a brother-man, and that he might have killed me with pleasure had +he caught me was forgotten in the extremity of his danger. +</p> + +<p> +Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to engage my pursuer, +so now the skiff still drifted close beside the two. The monster seemed to be +but playing with his victim before he closed his awful jaws upon him and +dragged him down to his dark den beneath the surface to devour him. The huge, +snakelike body coiled and uncoiled about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws +snapped in the victim’s face. The forked tongue, lightning-like, ran in and out +upon the copper skin. +</p> + +<p> +Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet against +the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass; but for all the damage he +inflicted he might as well have struck with his open palm. +</p> + +<p> +At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a fellowman was +dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile. Embedded in the +prow of the skiff lay the spear that had been cast after me by him whom I +suddenly desired to save. With a wrench I tore it loose, and standing upright +in the wobbly log drove it with all the strength of my two arms straight into +the gaping jaws of the hydrophidian. +</p> + +<p> +With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but the +spear, imbedded in its throat, prevented it from seizing me though it came near +to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>VIII<br/> +THE MAHAR TEMPLE </h2> + +<p> +The aborigine, apparently uninjured, climbed quickly into the skiff, and +seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the infuriated creature. Blood +from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the waters about us and soon from +the weakening struggles it became evident that I had inflicted a death wound +upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us ceased entirely, and with a few +convulsive movements it turned upon its back quite dead. +</p> + +<p> +And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament in which I +had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of the savage man whose +skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the spear I looked into his face to find +him scrutinizing me intently, and there we stood for some several minutes, each +clinging tenaciously to the weapon the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at +each other. +</p> + +<p> +What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely the question as to +how soon the fellow would recommence hostilities. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable to translate. I +shook my head in an effort to indicate my ignorance of his language, at the +same time addressing him in the bastard tongue that the Sagoths use to converse +with the human slaves of the Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +To my delight he understood and answered me in the same jargon. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want of my spear?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Only to keep you from running it through me,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“I would not do that,” he said, “for you have just saved my life,” and with +that he released his hold upon it and squatted down in the bottom of the skiff. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you,” he continued, “and from what country do you come?” +</p> + +<p> +I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to explain how I came to +Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it was as impossible for him to grasp or believe +the strange tale I told him as I fear it is for you upon the outer crust to +believe in the existence of the inner world. To him it seemed quite ridiculous +to imagine that there was another world far beneath his feet peopled by beings +similar to himself, and he laughed uproariously the more he thought upon it. +But it was ever thus. That which has never come within the scope of our really +pitifully meager world-experience cannot be—our finite minds cannot grasp that +which may not exist in accordance with the conditions which obtain about us +upon the outside of the insignificant grain of dust which wends its tiny way +among the bowlders of the universe—the speck of moist dirt we so proudly call +the World. +</p> + +<p> +So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a Mezop, and that +his name was Ja. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are the Mezops?” I asked. “Where do they live?” +</p> + +<p> +He looked at me in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“I might indeed believe that you were from another world,” he said, “for who of +Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The Mezops live upon the islands of the seas. +In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop lives elsewhere, and no others than +Mezops dwell upon islands, but of course it may be different in other +far-distant lands. I do not know. At any rate in this sea and those near by it +is true that only people of my race inhabit the islands. +</p> + +<p> +“We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going to the +mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon all but the larger islands. +And we are warriors also,” he added proudly. “Even the Sagoths of the Mahars +fear us. Once, when Pellucidar was young, the Sagoths were wont to capture us +for slaves as they do the other men of Pellucidar, it is handed down from +father to son among us that this is so; but we fought so desperately and slew +so many Sagoths, and those of us that were captured killed so many Mahars in +their own cities that at last they learned that it were better to leave us +alone, and later came the time that the Mahars became too indolent even to +catch their own fish, except for amusement, and then they needed us to supply +their wants, and so a truce was made between the races. Now they give us +certain things which we are unable to produce in return for the fish that we +catch, and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace. +</p> + +<p> +“The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far from the prying eyes +of their own Sagoths, that they practice their religious rites in the temples +they have builded there with our assistance. If you live among us you will +doubtless see the manner of their worship, which is strange indeed, and most +unpleasant for the poor slaves they bring to take part in it.” +</p> + +<p> +As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him more closely. He was +a huge fellow, standing I should say six feet six or seven inches, well +developed and of a coppery red not unlike that of our own North American +Indian, nor were his features dissimilar to theirs. He had the aquiline nose +found among many of the higher tribes, the prominent cheek bones, and black +hair and eyes, but his mouth and lips were better molded. All in all, Ja was an +impressive and handsome creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable +makeshift language we were compelled to use. +</p> + +<p> +During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was propelling the skiff +with vigorous strokes toward a large island that lay some half-mile from the +mainland. The skill with which he handled his crude and awkward craft elicited +my deepest admiration, since it had been so short a time before that I had made +such pitiful work of it. +</p> + +<p> +As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I followed him. +Together we dragged the skiff far up into the bushes that grew beyond the sand. +</p> + +<p> +“We must hide our canoes,” explained Ja, “for the Mezops of Luana are always at +war with us and would steal them if they found them,” he nodded toward an +island farther out at sea, and at so great a distance that it seemed but a blur +hanging in the distant sky. The upward curve of the surface of Pellucidar was +constantly revealing the impossible to the surprised eyes of the outer-earthly. +To see land and water curving upward in the distance until it seemed to stand +on edge where it melted into the distant sky, and to feel that seas and +mountains hung suspended directly above one’s head required such a complete +reversal of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to stupefy one. +</p> + +<p> +No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the jungle, presently +emerging into a narrow but well-defined trail which wound hither and thither +much after the manner of the highways of all primitive folk, but there was one +peculiarity about this Mezop trail which I was later to find distinguished them +from all other trails that I ever have seen within or without the earth. +</p> + +<p> +It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end suddenly in the midst +of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja would turn directly back in his tracks +for a little distance, spring into a tree, climb through it to the other side, +drop onto a fallen log, leap over a low bush and alight once more upon a +distinct trail which he would follow back for a short distance only to turn +directly about and retrace his steps until after a mile or less this new +pathway ended as suddenly and mysteriously as the former section. Then he would +pass again across some media which would reveal no spoor, to take up the broken +thread of the trail beyond. +</p> + +<p> +As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I could not but admire +the native shrewdness of the ancient progenitor of the Mezops who hit upon this +novel plan to throw his enemies from his track and delay or thwart them in +their attempts to follow him to his deep-buried cities. +</p> + +<p> +To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous method of traveling +through the jungle, but were you of Pellucidar you would realize that time is +no factor where time does not exist. So labyrinthine are the windings of these +trails, so varied the connecting links and the distances which one must retrace +one’s steps from the paths’ ends to find them that a Mezop often reaches man’s +estate before he is familiar even with those which lead from his own city to +the sea. +</p> + +<p> +In fact three-fourths of the education of the young male Mezop consists in +familiarizing himself with these jungle avenues, and the status of an adult is +largely determined by the number of trails which he can follow upon his own +island. The females never learn them, since from birth to death they never +leave the clearing in which the village of their nativity is situated except +they be taken to mate by a male from another village, or captured in war by the +enemies of their tribe. +</p> + +<p> +After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been upward of five +miles we emerged suddenly into a large clearing in the exact center of which +stood as strange an appearing village as one might well imagine. +</p> + +<p> +Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet above the ground, and +upon the tops of them spherical habitations of woven twigs, mud covered, had +been built. Each ball-like house was surmounted by some manner of carven image, +which Ja told me indicated the identity of the owner. +</p> + +<p> +Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet wide, served to admit +light and ventilation. The entrances to the house were through small apertures +in the bases of the trees and thence upward by rude ladders through the hollow +trunks to the rooms above. The houses varied in size from two to several rooms. +The largest that I entered was divided into two floors and eight apartments. +</p> + +<p> +All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay beautifully cultivated +fields in which the Mezops raised such cereals, fruits, and vegetables as they +required. Women and children were working in these gardens as we crossed toward +the village. At sight of Ja they saluted deferentially, but to me they paid not +the slightest attention. Among them and about the outer verge of the cultivated +area were many warriors. These too saluted Ja, by touching the points of their +spears to the ground directly before them. +</p> + +<p> +Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the village—the house with +eight rooms—and taking me up into it gave me food and drink. There I met his +mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in her arms. Ja told her of how I had +saved his life, and she was thereafter most kind and hospitable toward me, even +permitting me to hold and amuse the tiny bundle of humanity whom Ja told me +would one day rule the tribe, for Ja, it seemed, was the chief of the +community. +</p> + +<p> +We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja’s amusement, for it seemed +that he seldom if ever did so, and then the red man proposed that I accompany +him to the temple of the Mahars which lay not far from his village. “We are not +supposed to visit it,” he said; “but the great ones cannot hear and if we keep +well out of sight they need never know that we have been there. For my part I +hate them and always have, but the other chieftains of the island think it best +that we continue to maintain the amicable relations which exist between the two +races; otherwise I should like nothing better than to lead my warriors amongst +the hideous creatures and exterminate them—Pellucidar would be a better place +to live were there none of them.” +</p> + +<p> +I wholly concurred in Ja’s belief, but it seemed that it might be a difficult +matter to exterminate the dominant race of Pellucidar. Thus conversing we +followed the intricate trail toward the temple, which we came upon in a small +clearing surrounded by enormous trees similar to those which must have +flourished upon the outer crust during the carboniferous age. +</p> + +<p> +Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of a rough oval with +rounded roof in which were several large openings. No doors or windows were +visible in the sides of the structure, nor was there need of any, except one +entrance for the slaves, since, as Ja explained, the Mahars flew to and from +their place of ceremonial, entering and leaving the building by means of the +apertures in the roof. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” added Ja, “there is an entrance near the base of which even the Mahars +know nothing. Come,” and he led me across the clearing and about the end to a +pile of loose rock which lay against the foot of the wall. Here he removed a +couple of large bowlders, revealing a small opening which led straight within +the building, or so it seemed, though as I entered after Ja I discovered myself +in a narrow place of extreme darkness. +</p> + +<p> +“We are within the outer wall,” said Ja. “It is hollow. Follow me closely.” +</p> + +<p> +The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend a primitive +ladder similar to that which leads from the ground to the upper stories of his +house. We ascended for some forty feet when the interior of the space between +the walls commenced to grow lighter and presently we came opposite an opening +in the inner wall which gave us an unobstructed view of the entire interior of +the temple. +</p> + +<p> +The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous hideous +Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of granite rock dotted this +artificial sea, and upon several of them I saw men and women like myself. +</p> + +<p> +“What are the human beings doing here?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Wait and you shall see,” replied Ja. “They are to take a leading part in the +ceremonies which will follow the advent of the queen. You may be thankful that +you are not upon the same side of the wall as they.” +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above and a +moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of Pellucidar winged +slowly and majestically through the large central opening in the roof and +circled in stately manner about the temple. +</p> + +<p> +There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty awe-inspiring +pterodactyls—thipdars, they are called within Pellucidar. Behind these came the +queen, flanked by other thipdars as she had been when she entered the +amphitheater at Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber, to settle +finally upon the damp, cold bowlders that fringe the outer edge of the pool. In +the center of one side the largest rock was reserved for the queen, and here +she took her place surrounded by her terrible guard. +</p> + +<p> +All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. One might +have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor slaves upon the diminutive +islands watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. The men, for the most +part, stood erect and stately with folded arms, awaiting their doom; but the +women and children clung to one another, hiding behind the males. They are a +noble-looking race, these cave men of Pellucidar, and if our progenitors were +as they, the human race of the outer crust has deteriorated rather than +improved with the march of the ages. All they lack is opportunity. We have +opportunity, and little else. +</p> + +<p> +Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking about; then very slowly +she crawled to the edge of her throne and slid noiselessly into the water. Up +and down the long tank she swam, turning at the ends as you have seen captive +seals turn in their tiny tanks, turning upon their backs and diving below the +surface. +</p> + +<p> +Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she remained at rest +before the largest, which was directly opposite her throne. Raising her hideous +head from the water she fixed her great, round eyes upon the slaves. They were +fat and sleek, for they had been brought from a distant Mahar city where human +beings are kept in droves, and bred and fattened, as we breed and fatten beef +cattle. +</p> + +<p> +The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her victim tried to turn +away, hiding her face in her hands and kneeling behind a woman; but the +reptile, with unblinking eyes, stared on with such fixity that I could have +sworn her vision penetrated the woman, and the girl’s arms to reach at last the +very center of her brain. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly the reptile’s head commenced to move to and fro, but the eyes never +ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, and then the victim responded. She +turned wide, fear-haunted eyes toward the Mahar queen, slowly she rose to her +feet, and then as though dragged by some unseen power she moved as one in a +trance straight toward the reptile, her glassy eyes fixed upon those of her +captor. To the water’s edge she came, nor did she even pause, but stepped into +the shallows beside the little island. On she moved toward the Mahar, who now +slowly retreated as though leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl’s +knees, and still she advanced, chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was at +her waist; now her armpits. Her fellows upon the island looked on in horror, +helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast of their own. +</p> + +<p> +The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were exposed above +the surface of the water, and the girl had advanced until the end of that +repulsive beak was but an inch or two from her face, her horror-filled eyes +riveted upon those of the reptile. +</p> + +<p> +Now the water passed above the girl’s mouth and nose—her eyes and forehead all +that showed—yet still she walked on after the retreating Mahar. The queen’s +head slowly disappeared beneath the surface and after it went the eyes of her +victim—only a slow ripple widened toward the shores to mark where the two +vanished. +</p> + +<p> +For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves were motionless in +terror. The Mahars watched the surface of the water for the reappearance of +their queen, and presently at one end of the tank her head rose slowly into +view. She was backing toward the surface, her eyes fixed before her as they had +been when she dragged the helpless girl to her doom. +</p> + +<p> +And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes of the maiden come +slowly out of the depths, following the gaze of the reptile just as when she +had disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came the girl until she stood in +water that reached barely to her knees, and though she had been beneath the +surface sufficient time to have drowned her thrice over there was no +indication, other than her dripping hair and glistening body, that she had been +submerged at all. +</p> + +<p> +Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and out again, until the +uncanny weirdness of the thing got on my nerves so that I could have leaped +into the tank to the child’s rescue had I not taken a firm hold of myself. +</p> + +<p> +Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came to the surface +I was horrified to see that one of the girl’s arms was gone—gnawed completely +off at the shoulder—but the poor thing gave no indication of realizing pain, +only the horror in her set eyes seemed intensified. +</p> + +<p> +The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then the breasts, and +then a part of the face—it was awful. The poor creatures on the islands +awaiting their fate tried to cover their eyes with their hands to hide the +fearful sight, but now I saw that they too were under the hypnotic spell of the +reptiles, so that they could only crouch in terror with their eyes fixed upon +the terrible thing that was transpiring before them. +</p> + +<p> +Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, and when she rose she +came alone and swam sleepily toward her bowlder. The moment she mounted it +seemed to be the signal for the other Mahars to enter the tank, and then +commenced, upon a larger scale, a repetition of the uncanny performance through +which the queen had led her victim. +</p> + +<p> +Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars—they being the weakest and +most tender—and when they had satisfied their appetite for human flesh, some of +them devouring two and three of the slaves, there were only a score of +full-grown men left, and I thought that for some reason these were to be +spared, but such was far from the case, for as the last Mahar crawled to her +rock the queen’s thipdars darted into the air, circled the temple once and +then, hissing like steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining slaves. +</p> + +<p> +There was no hypnotism here—just the plain, brutal ferocity of the beast of +prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat, but at that it was less horrible +than the uncanny method of the Mahars. By the time the thipdars had disposed of +the last of the slaves the Mahars were all asleep upon their rocks, and a +moment later the great pterodactyls swung back to their posts beside the queen, +and themselves dropped into slumber. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept,” I said to Ja. +</p> + +<p> +“They do many things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere,” he +replied. “The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat human flesh, yet slaves +are brought here by thousands and almost always you will find Mahars on hand to +consume them. I imagine that they do not bring their Sagoths here, because they +are ashamed of the practice, which is supposed to obtain only among the least +advanced of their race; but I would wager my canoe against a broken paddle that +there is no Mahar but eats human flesh whenever she can get it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why should they object to eating human flesh,” I asked, “if it is true that +they look upon us as lower animals?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not because they consider us their equals that they are supposed to look +with abhorrence upon those who eat our flesh,” replied Ja; “it is merely that +we are warm-blooded animals. They would not think of eating the meat of a thag, +which we consider such a delicacy, any more than I would think of eating a +snake. As a matter of fact it is difficult to explain just why this sentiment +should exist among them.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if they left a single victim,” I remarked, leaning far out of the +opening in the rocky wall to inspect the temple better. Directly below me the +water lapped the very side of the wall, there being a break in the bowlders at +this point as there was at several other places about the side of the temple. +</p> + +<p> +My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed a part of the +wall, and all my weight upon it proved too much for it. It slipped and I lunged +forward. There was nothing to save myself and I plunged headforemost into the +water below. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered no injury from the +fall, but as I was rising to the surface my mind filled with the horrors of my +position as I thought of the terrible doom which awaited me the moment the eyes +of the reptiles fell upon the creature that had disturbed their slumber. +</p> + +<p> +As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly in the +direction of the islands that I might prolong my life to the utmost. At last I +was forced to rise for air, and as I cast a terrified glance in the direction +of the Mahars and the thipdars I was almost stunned to see that not a single +one remained upon the rocks where I had last seen them, nor as I searched the +temple with my eyes could I discern any within it. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I realized that the +reptiles, being deaf, could not have been disturbed by the noise my body made +when it hit the water, and that as there is no such thing as time within +Pellucidar there was no telling how long I had been beneath the surface. It was +a difficult thing to attempt to figure out by earthly standards—this matter of +elapsed time—but when I set myself to it I began to realize that I might have +been submerged a second or a month or not at all. You have no conception of the +strange contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all methods of +measuring time, as we know them upon earth, are non-existent. +</p> + +<p> +I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved me for the +moment, when the memory of the hypnotic powers of the Mahars filled me with +apprehension lest they be practicing their uncanny art upon me to the end that +I merely imagined that I was alone in the temple. At the thought cold sweat +broke out upon me from every pore, and as I crawled from the water onto one of +the tiny islands I was trembling like a leaf—you cannot imagine the awful +horror which even the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar +induces in the human mind, and to feel that you are in their power—that they +are crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to drag you down beneath the waters and +devour you! It is frightful. +</p> + +<p> +But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that I was indeed +alone within the temple. How long I should be alone was the next question to +assail me as I swam frantically about once more in search of a means to escape. +</p> + +<p> +Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled into the +tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless he had felt as certain +of my doom when he saw me topple from our hiding place as I had, and lest he +too should be discovered, had hastened from the temple and back to his village. +</p> + +<p> +I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the doorways in +the roof, for it did not seem reasonable to believe that the thousands of +slaves which were brought here to feed the Mahars the human flesh they craved +would all be carried through the air, and so I continued my search until at +last it was rewarded by the discovery of several loose granite blocks in the +masonry at one end of the temple. +</p> + +<p> +A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones to permit +me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later I had scurried across +the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond. +</p> + +<p> +Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath the giant +trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the grinning fangs of death out of +the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers lay hidden in this island jungle, +there could be none so fearsome as those which I had just escaped. I knew that +I could meet death bravely enough if it but came in the form of some familiar +beast or man—anything other than the hideous and uncanny Mahars. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>IX<br/> +THE FACE OF DEATH </h2> + +<p> +I must have fallen asleep from exhaustion. When I awoke I was very hungry, and +after busying myself searching for fruit for a while, I set off through the +jungle to find the beach. I knew that the island was not so large but that I +could easily find the sea if I did but move in a straight line, but there came +the difficulty as there was no way in which I could direct my course and hold +it, the sun, of course, being always directly above my head, and the trees so +thickly set that I could see no distant object which might serve to guide me in +a straight line. +</p> + +<p> +As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four times and +slept twice before I reached the sea, but at last I did so, and my pleasure at +the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the chance discovery of a hidden canoe +among the bushes through which I had stumbled just prior to coming upon the +beach. +</p> + +<p> +I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft down to +the water and shove it far out from shore. My experience with Ja had taught me +that if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick about it and get far +beyond the owner’s reach as soon as possible. +</p> + +<p> +I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that at which Ja +and I had entered it, for the mainland was nowhere in sight. For a long time I +paddled around the shore, though well out, before I saw the mainland in the +distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in directing my course toward it, +for I had long since made up my mind to return to Phutra and give myself up +that I might be once more with Perry and Ghak the Hairy One. +</p> + +<p> +I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, especially in +view of the fact that our plans were already well formulated to make a break +for freedom together. Of course I realized that the chances of the success of +our proposed venture were slim indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy +freedom without Perry so long as the old man lived, and I had learned that the +probability that I might find him was less than slight. +</p> + +<p> +Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and wit against +the savage and primordial world in which I found myself. I could have lived in +seclusion within some rocky cave until I had found the means to outfit myself +with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, and then set out in search of her +whose image had now become the constant companion of my waking hours, and the +central and beloved figure of my dreams. +</p> + +<p> +But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my duty and wish +to be again with him, that we might share the dangers and vicissitudes of the +strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; the great, shaggy man had found +a place in the hearts of us both, for he was indeed every inch a man and king. +Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, too, if judged too harshly by the standards of +effete twentieth-century civilization, but withal noble, dignified, chivalrous, +and loveable. +</p> + +<p> +Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered Ja’s canoe, and +a short time later I was scrambling up the steep bank to retrace my steps from +the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I entered the canyon beyond the +summit, for here I found that several of them centered at the point where I +crossed the divide, and which one I had traversed to reach the pass I could not +for the life of me remember. +</p> + +<p> +It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which seemed the +easiest going, and in this I made the same mistake that many of us do in +selecting the path along which we shall follow out the course of our lives, and +again learned that it is not always best to follow the line of least +resistance. +</p> + +<p> +By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced that I was +upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra and the inland sea I had not slept at +all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps to the summit of the divide +and explore another canyon seemed the only solution of my problem, but a sudden +widening and levelness of the canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it +was about to open into a level country, and with the lure of discovery strong +upon me I decided to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned back. +</p> + +<p> +The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before me I saw a +narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my right the side of the canyon +continued to the water’s edge, the valley lying to my left, and the foot of it +running gradually into the sea, where it formed a broad level beach. +</p> + +<p> +Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost to the +water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. From the nature of the vegetation +I was convinced that the land between the ocean and the foothills was swampy, +though directly before me it seemed dry enough all the way to the sandy strip +along which the restless waters advanced and retreated. +</p> + +<p> +Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene was very +beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and tangled vegetation of the +swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, but though I +stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, and if anything lay hid there my +eyes could not penetrate the dense foliage to discern it. +</p> + +<p> +Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and lonely sea +across whose forbidding bosom no human being had yet ventured, to discover what +strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its invisible islands held of +riches, wonders, or adventure. What savage faces, what fierce and formidable +beasts were this very instant watching the lapping of the waves upon its +farther shore! How far did it extend? Perry had told me that the seas of +Pellucidar were small in comparison with those of the outer crust, but even so +this great ocean might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For +countless ages it had rolled up and down its countless miles of shore, and yet +today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip that was visible from its +beaches. +</p> + +<p> +The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as though I had been +carried back to the birth time of our own outer world to look upon its lands +and seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was a new world, all +untouched. It called to me to explore it. I was dreaming of the excitement and +adventure which lay before us could Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when +something, a slight noise I imagine, drew my attention behind me. +</p> + +<p> +As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took wing before +the terrible embodiment of all three in concrete form that I beheld advancing +upon me. +</p> + +<p> +A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the mighty jaws of an +alligator. Its immense carcass must have weighed tons, and yet it moved swiftly +and silently toward me. Upon one hand was the bluff that ran from the canyon to +the sea, on the other the fearsome swamp from which the creature had sneaked +upon me, behind lay the mighty untracked sea, and before me in the center of +the narrow way that led to safety stood this huge mountain of terrible and +menacing flesh. +</p> + +<p> +A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I was facing one +of those long-extinct, prehistoric creatures whose fossilized remains are found +within the outer crust as far back as the Triassic formation, a gigantic +labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, and, with the exception of a loin +cloth, as naked as I had come into the world. I could imagine how my first +ancestor felt that distant, prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first +time the terrifying progenitor of the thing that had me cornered now beside the +restless, mysterious sea. +</p> + +<p> +Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within Pellucidar or +elsewhere, and I wished at that moment that he had handed down to me with the +various attributes that I presumed I have inherited from him, the specific +application of the instinct of self-preservation which saved him from the fate +which loomed so close before me today. +</p> + +<p> +To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar to jumping +into a den of lions to escape one upon the outside. The sea and swamp both were +doubtless alive with these mighty, carnivorous amphibians, and if not, the +individual that menaced me would pursue me into either the sea or the swamp +with equal facility. +</p> + +<p> +There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. I thought of +Perry—how he would wonder what had become of me. I thought of my friends of the +outer world, and of how they all would go on living their lives in total +ignorance of the strange and terrible fate that had overtaken me, or unguessing +the weird surroundings which had witnessed the last frightful agony of my +extinction. And with these thoughts came a realization of how unimportant to +the life and happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We may +be snuffed out without an instant’s warning, and for a brief day our friends +speak of us with subdued voices. The following morning, while the first worm is +busily engaged in testing the construction of our coffin, they are teeing up +for the first hole to suffer more acute sorrow over a sliced ball than they did +over our, to us, untimely demise. The labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. +He seemed to realize that escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn +that his huge, fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of my +predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy morsel which would so soon +be pulp between those formidable teeth? +</p> + +<p> +He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to me from the +direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and could have shouted in delight +at the sight that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving frantically to me, +and urging me to run for it to the cliff’s base. +</p> + +<p> +I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked me for his +breakfast, but at least I should not die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. +It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some slight peace of mind from +the contemplation of it. +</p> + +<p> +To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable cliff, +and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, agile as a monkey, crawl down the +precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small projections, and the tough +creepers that had found root-hold here and there. +</p> + +<p> +The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double his portion of +human flesh, so he was in no haste to pursue me to the cliff and frighten away +this other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted along behind me. +</p> + +<p> +As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, but I +doubted if the thing would prove successful. He had come down to within twenty +feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with one hand to a small ledge, and +with his feet resting precariously upon tiny bushes that grew from the solid +face of the rock, he lowered the point of his long spear until it hung some six +feet above the ground. +</p> + +<p> +To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and precipitating both +to the same doom from which the copper-colored one was attempting to save me +seemed utterly impossible, and as I came near the spear I told Ja so, and that +I could not risk him to try to save myself. +</p> + +<p> +But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no danger himself. +</p> + +<p> +“The danger is still yours,” he called, “for unless you move much more rapidly +than you are now, the sithic will be upon you and drag you back before ever you +are halfway up the spear—he can rear up and reach you with ease anywhere below +where I stand.” +</p> + +<p> +Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped the spear +and clambered up toward the red man as rapidly as I could—being so far removed +from my simian ancestors as I am. I imagine the slow-witted sithic, as Ja +called him, suddenly realized our intentions and that he was quite likely to +lose all his meal instead of having it doubled as he had hoped. +</p> + +<p> +When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss that fairly shook the +ground, and came charging after me at a terrific rate. I had reached the top of +the spear by this time, or almost; another six inches would give me a hold on +Ja’s hand, when I felt a sudden wrench from below and glancing fearfully +downward saw the mighty jaws of the monster close on the sharp point of the +weapon. +</p> + +<p> +I made a frantic effort to reach Ja’s hand, the sithic gave a tremendous tug +that came near to jerking Ja from his frail hold on the surface of the rock, +the spear slipped from his fingers, and still clinging to it I plunged feet +foremost toward my executioner. +</p> + +<p> +At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja’s hand the creature +must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, for when I came down, still +clinging to the butt end of the weapon, the point yet rested in his mouth and +the result was that the sharpened end transfixed his lower jaw. +</p> + +<p> +With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, lost my hold +upon the spear, rolled the length of his face and head, across his short neck +onto his broad back and from there to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing madly for the +path by which I had entered this horrible valley. A glance over my shoulder +showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear stuck through his lower +jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in this occupation that I had gained +the safety of the cliff top before he was ready to take up the pursuit. When he +did not discover me in sight within the valley he dashed, hissing, into the +rank vegetation of the swamp and that was the last I saw of him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>X<br/> +PHUTRA AGAIN </h2> + +<p> +I hastened to the cliff edge above Ja and helped him to a secure footing. He +would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to save me, which had come so +near miscarrying. +</p> + +<p> +“I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple,” he said, +“for not even I could save you from their clutches, and you may imagine my +surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon the beach of the mainland I +discovered your own footprints in the sand beside it. +</p> + +<p> +“I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you must be +entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers which lurk upon the +mainland both in the form of savage beasts and reptiles, and men as well. I had +no difficulty in tracking you to this point. It is well that I arrived when I +did.” +</p> + +<p> +“But why did you do it?” I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship on the +part of a man of another world and a different race and color. +</p> + +<p> +“You saved my life,” he replied; “from that moment it became my duty to protect +and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop had I evaded my plain duty; +but it was a pleasure in this instance for I like you. I wish that you would +come and live with me. You shall become a member of my tribe. Among us there is +the best of hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to choose a mate from, the +most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. Will you come?” +</p> + +<p> +I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty was to +them first. Afterward I should return and visit him—if I could ever find his +island. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, that is easy, my friend,” he said. “You need merely to come to the foot of +the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds. There you will find a river +which flows into the Lural Az. Directly opposite the mouth of the river you +will see three large islands far out, so far that they are barely discernible, +the one to the extreme left as you face them from the mouth of the river is +Anoroc, where I rule the tribe of Anoroc.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?” I asked. “Men say that they +are visible from half Pellucidar,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“How large is Pellucidar?” I asked, wondering what sort of theory these +primitive men had concerning the form and substance of their world. +</p> + +<p> +“The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell,” he answered, +“but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, we should fall back were we to +travel far in any direction, and all the waters of Pellucidar would run to one +spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite flat and extends no man knows how +far in all directions. At the edges, so my ancestors have reported and handed +down to me, is a great wall that prevents the earth and waters from escaping +over into the burning sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never have been so +far from Anoroc as to have seen this wall with my own eyes. However, it is +quite reasonable to believe that this is true, whereas there is no reason at +all in the foolish belief of the Mahars. According to them Pellucidarians who +live upon the opposite side walk always with their heads pointed downward!” and +Ja laughed uproariously at the very thought. +</p> + +<p> +It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had not advanced +far in learning, and the thought that the ugly Mahars had so outstripped them +was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered how many ages it would take to lift +these people out of their ignorance even were it given to Perry and me to +attempt it. Possibly we would be killed for our pains as were those men of the +outer world who dared challenge the dense ignorance and superstitions of the +earth’s younger days. But it was worth the effort if the opportunity ever +presented itself. +</p> + +<p> +And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity—that I might make a +small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, and thus note the effect of my +teaching upon a Pellucidarian. +</p> + +<p> +“Ja,” I said, “what would you say were I to tell you that in so far as the +Mahars’ theory of the shape of Pellucidar is concerned it is correct?” +</p> + +<p> +“I would say,” he replied, “that either you are a fool, or took me for one.” +</p> + +<p> +“But, Ja,” I insisted, “if their theory is incorrect how do you account for the +fact that I was able to pass through the earth from the outer crust to +Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a sea of flame beneath us, wherein +no peoples could exist, and yet I come from a great world that is covered with +human beings, and beasts, and birds, and fishes in mighty oceans.” +</p> + +<p> +“You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with your head +pointed downward?” he scoffed. “And were I to believe that, my friend, I should +indeed be mad.” +</p> + +<p> +I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means of the +dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it would be for a body to fall off +the earth under any circumstances. He listened so intently that I thought I had +made an impression, and started the train of thought that would lead him to a +partial understanding of the truth. But I was mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +“Your own illustration,” he said finally, “proves the falsity of your theory.” +He dropped a fruit from his hand to the ground. “See,” he said, “without +support even this tiny fruit falls until it strikes something that stops it. If +Pellucidar were not supported upon the flaming sea it too would fall as the +fruit falls—you have proven it yourself!” He had me, that time—you could see it +in his eye. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for when I +contemplated the necessity explanation of our solar system and the universe I +realized how futile it would be to attempt to picture to Ja or any other +Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the planets, and the countless stars. Those +born within the inner world could no more conceive of such things than can we +of the outer crust reduce to factors appreciable to our finite minds such terms +as space and eternity. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Ja,” I laughed, “whether we be walking with our feet up or down, here we +are, and the question of greatest importance is not so much where we came from +as where we are going now. For my part I wish that you could guide me to Phutra +where I may give myself up to the Mahars once more that my friends and I may +work out the plan of escape which the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us +together and drove us to the arena to witness the punishment of the slaves who +killed the guardsman. I wish now that I had not left the arena for by this time +my friends and I might have made good our escape, whereas this delay may mean +the wrecking of all our plans, which depended for their consummation upon the +continued sleep of the three Mahars who lay in the pit beneath the building in +which we were confined.” +</p> + +<p> +“You would return to captivity?” cried Ja. +</p> + +<p> +“My friends are there,” I replied, “the only friends I have in Pellucidar, +except yourself. What else may I do under the circumstances?” +</p> + +<p> +He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head sorrowfully. +</p> + +<p> +“It is what a brave man and a good friend should do,” he said; “yet it seems +most foolish, for the Mahars will most certainly condemn you to death for +running away, and so you will be accomplishing nothing for your friends by +returning. Never in all my life have I heard of a prisoner returning to the +Mahars of his own free will. There are but few who escape them, though some do, +and these would rather die than be recaptured.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see no other way, Ja,” I said, “though I can assure you that I would rather +go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. However, Perry is much too pious to +make the probability at all great that I should ever be called upon to rescue +him from the former locality.” +</p> + +<p> +Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could, he said, +“You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea upon which Pellucidar floats. +All the dead who are buried in the ground go there. Piece by piece they are +carried down to Molop Az by the little demons who dwell there. We know this +because when graves are opened we find that the bodies have been partially or +entirely borne off. That is why we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees where +the birds may find them and bear them bit by bit to the Dead World above the +Land of Awful Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground that +it may go to Molop Az.” +</p> + +<p> +As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come to the +great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to dissuade me from returning to +Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to do so, he consented to guide +me to a point from which I could see the plain where lay the city. To my +surprise the distance was but short from the beach where I had again met Ja. It +was evident that I had spent much time following the windings of a tortuous +canyon, while just beyond the ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which I must +have come several times. +</p> + +<p> +As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the flowered +plain at our feet Ja made a final effort to persuade me to abandon my mad +purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was firm in my resolve, and at +last he bid me good-bye, assured in his own mind that he was looking upon me +for the last time. +</p> + +<p> +I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much indeed. With +his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as a base, and his savage warriors as +escort Perry and I could have accomplished much in the line of exploration, and +I hoped that were we successful in our effort to escape we might return to +Anoroc later. +</p> + +<p> +There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished first—at least it was +the great thing to me—the finding of Dian the Beautiful. I wanted to make +amends for the affront I had put upon her in my ignorance, and I wanted +to—well, I wanted to see her again, and to be with her. +</p> + +<p> +Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers, and then +across the rolling land toward the shadowless columns that guard the ways to +buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile from the nearest entrance I was discovered by +the Sagoth guard, and in an instant four of the gorilla-men were dashing toward +me. +</p> + +<p> +Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches I paid +not the slightest attention to them, walking quietly toward them as though +unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect upon them that I had +hoped, and as we came quite near together they ceased their savage shouting. It +was evident that they had expected me to turn and flee at sight of them, thus +presenting that which they most enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast +their spears. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you here?” shouted one, and then as he recognized me, “Ho! It is the +slave who claims to be from another world—he who escaped when the thag ran +amuck within the amphitheater. But why do you return, having once made good +your escape?” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not ‘escape’,” I replied. “I but ran away to avoid the thag, as did +others, and coming into a long passage I became confused and lost my way in the +foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my way back.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you come of your free will back to Phutra!” exclaimed one of the +guardsmen. +</p> + +<p> +“Where else might I go?” I asked. “I am a stranger within Pellucidar and know +no other where than Phutra. Why should I not desire to be in Phutra? Am I not +well fed and well treated? Am I not happy? What better lot could man desire?” +</p> + +<p> +The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them, and so being +stupid brutes they took me to their masters whom they felt would be better +fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for riddle they still considered it. +</p> + +<p> +I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing them off the +scent of my purposed attempt at escape. If they thought that I was so satisfied +with my lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily return when I had once had +so excellent an opportunity to escape, they would never for an instant imagine +that I could be occupied in arranging another escape immediately upon my return +to the city. +</p> + +<p> +So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within the large +room that was the thing’s office. With cold, reptilian eyes the creature seemed +to bore through the thin veneer of my deceit and read my inmost thoughts. It +heeded the story which the Sagoths told of my return to Phutra, watching the +gorilla-men’s lips and fingers during the recital. Then it questioned me +through one of the Sagoths. +</p> + +<p> +“You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because you think +yourself better off here than elsewhere—do you not know that you may be the +next chosen to give up your life in the interests of the wonderful scientific +investigations that our learned ones are continually occupied with?” +</p> + +<p> +I hadn’t heard of anything of that nature, but I thought best not to admit it. +</p> + +<p> +“I could be in no more danger here,” I said, “than naked and unarmed in the +savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar. I was fortunate, I +think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I barely escaped death within the +jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am sure that I am safer in the hands of +intelligent creatures such as rule Phutra. At least such would be the case in +my own world, where human beings like myself rule supreme. There the higher +races of man extend protection and hospitality to the stranger within their +gates, and being a stranger here I naturally assumed that a like courtesy would +be accorded me.” +</p> + +<p> +The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased speaking and the +Sagoth had translated my words to his master. The creature seemed deep in +thought. Presently he communicated some message to the Sagoth. The latter +turned, and motioning me to follow him, left the presence of the reptile. +Behind and on either side of me marched the balance of the guard. +</p> + +<p> +“What are they going to do with me?” I asked the fellow at my right. +</p> + +<p> +“You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you regarding this +strange world from which you say you come.” +</p> + +<p> +After a moment’s silence he turned to me again. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you happen to know,” he asked, “what the Mahars do to slaves who lie to +them?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I replied, “nor does it interest me, as I have no intention of lying to +the Mahars.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then be careful that you don’t repeat the impossible tale you told Sol-to-to +just now—another world, indeed, where human beings rule!” he concluded in fine +scorn. +</p> + +<p> +“But it is the truth,” I insisted. “From where else then did I come? I am not +of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could see that.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is your misfortune then,” he remarked dryly, “that you may not be judged by +one with but half an eye.” +</p> + +<p> +“What will they do with me,” I asked, “if they do not have a mind to believe +me?” +</p> + +<p> +“You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used in research +work by the learned ones,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“And what will they do with me there?” I persisted. +</p> + +<p> +“No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with them, but as +the latter never return, their knowledge does them but little good. It is said +that the learned ones cut up their subjects while they are yet alive, thus +learning many useful things. However I should not imagine that it would prove +very useful to him who was being cut up; but of course this is all but +conjecture. The chances are that ere long you will know much more about it than +I,” and he grinned as he spoke. The Sagoths have a well-developed sense of +humor. +</p> + +<p> +“And suppose it is the arena,” I continued; “what then?” +</p> + +<p> +“You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you escaped?” he +said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for them,” he +explained, “though of course the same kinds of animals might not be employed.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is sure death in either event?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not know, nor +does any other,” he replied; “but those who go to the arena may come out alive +and thus regain their liberty, as did the two whom you saw.” +</p> + +<p> +“They gained their liberty? And how?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive within the +arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it has happened that several +mighty warriors from far distant lands, whom we have captured on our slave +raids, have battled the brutes turned in upon them and slain them, thereby +winning their freedom. In the instance which you witnessed the beasts killed +each other, but the result was the same—the man and woman were liberated, +furnished with weapons, and started on their homeward journey. Upon the left +shoulder of each a mark was burned—the mark of the Mahars—which will forever +protect these two from slaving parties.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena, and none at +all if the learned ones drag me to the pits?” +</p> + +<p> +“You are quite right,” he replied; “but do not felicitate yourself too quickly +should you be sent to the arena, for there is scarce one in a thousand who +comes out alive.” +</p> + +<p> +To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which I had been +confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. At the doorway I was turned over +to the guards there. +</p> + +<p> +“He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly,” said he who had +brought me back, “so have him in readiness.” +</p> + +<p> +The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I had returned +of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt that it would be safe to give me +liberty within the building as had been the custom before I had escaped, and so +I was told to return to whatever duty had been mine formerly. +</p> + +<p> +My first act was to hunt up Perry, whom I found poring as usual over the great +tomes that he was supposed to be merely dusting and rearranging upon new +shelves. +</p> + +<p> +As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me, only to resume +his work as though I had never been away at all. I was both astonished and hurt +at his indifference. And to think that I was risking death to return to him +purely from a sense of duty and affection! +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Perry!” I exclaimed, “haven’t you a word for me after my long absence?” +</p> + +<p> +“Long absence!” he repeated in evident astonishment. “What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed me since +that time we were separated by the charging thag within the arena?” +</p> + +<p> +“‘That time’,” he repeated. “Why man, I have but just returned from the arena! +You reached here almost as soon as I. Had you been much later I should indeed +have been worried, and as it is I had intended asking you about how you escaped +the beast as soon as I had completed the translation of this most interesting +passage.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perry, you ARE mad,” I exclaimed. “Why, the Lord only knows how long I have +been away. I have been to other lands, discovered a new race of humans within +Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their worship in their hidden temple, and barely +escaped with my life from them and from a great labyrinthodon that I met +afterward, following my long and tedious wanderings across an unknown world. I +must have been away for months, Perry, and now you barely look up from your +work when I return and insist that we have been separated but a moment. Is that +any way to treat a friend? I’m surprised at you, Perry, and if I’d thought for +a moment that you cared no more for me than this I should not have returned to +chance death at the hands of the Mahars for your sake.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There was a puzzled +expression upon his wrinkled face, and a look of hurt sorrow in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“David, my boy,” he said, “how could you for a moment doubt my love for you? +There is something strange here that I cannot understand. I know that I am not +mad, and I am equally sure that you are not; but how in the world are we to +account for the strange hallucinations that each of us seems to harbor relative +to the passage of time since last we saw each other. You are positive that +months have gone by, while to me it seems equally certain that not more than an +hour ago I sat beside you in the amphitheater. Can it be that both of us are +right and at the same time both are wrong? First tell me what time is, and then +maybe I can solve our problem. Do you catch my meaning?” +</p> + +<p> +I didn’t and said so. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” continued the old man, “we are both right. To me, bent over my book +here, there has been no lapse of time. I have done little or nothing to waste +my energies and so have required neither food nor sleep, but you, on the +contrary, have walked and fought and wasted strength and tissue which must +needs be rebuilt by nutriment and food, and so, having eaten and slept many +times since last you saw me you naturally measure the lapse of time largely by +these acts. As a matter of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction +that there is no such thing as time—surely there can be no time here within +Pellucidar, where there are no means for measuring or recording time. Why, the +Mahars themselves take no account of such a thing as time. I find here in all +their literary works but a single tense, the present. There seems to be neither +past nor future with them. Of course it is impossible for our outer-earthly +minds to grasp such a condition, but our recent experiences seem to demonstrate +its existence.” +</p> + +<p> +It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to enjoy +nothing better than speculating upon it, and after listening with interest to +my account of the adventures through which I had passed he returned once more +to the subject, which he was enlarging upon with considerable fluency when he +was interrupted by the entrance of a Sagoth. +</p> + +<p> +“Come!” commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. “The investigators would speak +with you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye, Perry!” I said, clasping the old man’s hand. “There may be nothing +but the present and no such thing as time, but I feel that I am about to take a +trip into the hereafter from which I shall never return. If you and Ghak should +manage to escape I want you to promise me that you will find Dian the Beautiful +and tell her that with my last words I asked her forgiveness for the +unintentional affront I put upon her, and that my one wish was to be spared +long enough to right the wrong that I had done her.” +</p> + +<p> +Tears came to Perry’s eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot believe but that you will return, David,” he said. “It would be awful +to think of living out the balance of my life without you among these hateful +and repulsive creatures. If you are taken away I shall never escape, for I feel +that I am as well off here as I should be anywhere within this buried world. +Good-bye, my boy, good-bye!” and then his old voice faltered and broke, and as +he hid his face in his hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by the +shoulder and hustled me from the chamber. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>XI<br/> +FOUR DEAD MAHARS </h2> + +<p> +A moment later I was standing before a dozen Mahars—the social investigators of +Phutra. They asked me many questions, through a Sagoth interpreter. I answered +them all truthfully. They seemed particularly interested in my account of the +outer earth and the strange vehicle which had brought Perry and me to +Pellucidar. I thought that I had convinced them, and after they had sat in +silence for a long time following my examination, I expected to be ordered +returned to my quarters. +</p> + +<p> +During this apparent silence they were debating through the medium of strange, +unspoken language the merits of my tale. At last the head of the tribunal +communicated the result of their conference to the officer in charge of the +Sagoth guard. +</p> + +<p> +“Come,” he said to me, “you are sentenced to the experimental pits for having +dared to insult the intelligence of the mighty ones with the ridiculous tale +you have had the temerity to unfold to them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean that they do not believe me?” I asked, totally astonished. +</p> + +<p> +“Believe you!” he laughed. “Do you mean to say that you expected any one to +believe so impossible a lie?” +</p> + +<p> +It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard down through the +dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom. At a low level we came upon a +number of lighted chambers in which we saw many Mahars engaged in various +occupations. To one of these chambers my guard escorted me, and before leaving +they chained me to a side wall. There were other humans similarly chained. Upon +a long table lay a victim even as I was ushered into the room. Several Mahars +stood about the poor creature holding him down so that he could not move. +Another, grasping a sharp knife with her three-toed fore foot, was laying open +the victim’s chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered and the +shrieks and groans of the tortured man were terrible to hear. This, indeed, was +vivisection with a vengeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me as I realized that +soon my turn would come. And to think that where there was no such thing as +time I might easily imagine that my suffering was enduring for months before +death finally released me! +</p> + +<p> +The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I had been brought +into the room. So deeply immersed were they in their work that I am sure they +did not even know that the Sagoths had entered with me. The door was close by. +Would that I could reach it! But those heavy chains precluded any such +possibility. I looked about for some means of escape from my bonds. Upon the +floor between me and the Mahars lay a tiny surgical instrument which one of +them must have dropped. It looked not unlike a button-hook, but was much +smaller, and its point was sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood days had I +picked locks with a buttonhook. Could I but reach that little bit of polished +steel I might yet effect at least a temporary escape. +</p> + +<p> +Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching one hand as far out +as I could my fingers still fell an inch short of the coveted instrument. It +was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber of my being as I would, I could not quite +make it. +</p> + +<p> +At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the object. My heart came +to my throat! I could just touch the thing! But suppose that in my effort to +drag it toward me I should accidentally shove it still farther away and thus +entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore. Slowly and +cautiously I made the effort. My toes dropped upon the cold metal. Gradually I +worked it toward me until I felt that it was within reach of my hand and a +moment later I had turned about and the precious thing was in my grasp. +</p> + +<p> +Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my chain. It was +pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and a moment later I was free. +The Mahars were now evidently completing their work at the table. One already +turned away and was examining other victims, evidently with the intention of +selecting the next subject. +</p> + +<p> +Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the creature walking +toward us I might have escaped that moment. Slowly the thing approached me, +when its attention was attracted by a huge slave chained a few yards to my +right. Here the reptile stopped and commenced to go over the poor devil +carefully, and as it did so its back turned toward me for an instant, and in +that instant I gave two mighty leaps that carried me out of the chamber into +the corridor beyond, down which I raced with all the speed I could command. +</p> + +<p> +Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only thought was to place +as much distance as possible between me and that frightful chamber of torture. +</p> + +<p> +Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later realizing the danger of +running into some new predicament, were I not careful, I moved still more +slowly and cautiously. After a time I came to a passage that seemed in some +mysterious way familiar to me, and presently, chancing to glance within a +chamber which led from the corridor I saw three Mahars curled up in slumber +upon a bed of skins. I could have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the +same corridor and the same Mahars that I had intended to have lead so important +a role in our escape from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, for +the reptiles still slept. +</p> + +<p> +My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels in search of Perry +and Ghak, but there was nothing else to be done, and so I hastened upward. When +I came to the frequented portions of the building, I found a large burden of +skins in a corner and these I lifted to my head, carrying them in such a way +that ends and corners fell down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. +Thus disguised I found Perry and Ghak together in the chamber where we had been +wont to eat and sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of course they had +known nothing of the fate that had been meted out to me by my judges. It was +decided that no time should now be lost before attempting to put our plan of +escape to the test, as I could not hope to remain hidden from the Sagoths long, +nor could I forever carry that bale of skins about upon my head without +arousing suspicion. However it seemed likely that it would carry me once more +safely through the crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels, and so I +set out with Perry and Ghak—the stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking +me. +</p> + +<p> +Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the main floor of +the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak halted to await me. The buildings are +cut out of the solid limestone formation. There is nothing at all remarkable +about their architecture. The rooms are sometimes rectangular, sometimes +circular, and again oval in shape. The corridors which connect them are narrow +and not always straight. The chambers are lighted by diffused sunlight +reflected through tubes similar to those by which the avenues are lighted. The +lower the tiers of chambers, the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely +unlighted. The Mahars can see quite well in semidarkness. +</p> + +<p> +Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, and slaves; but no +attention was paid to us as we had become a part of the domestic life of the +building. There was but a single entrance leading from the place into the +avenue and this was well guarded by Sagoths—this doorway alone were we +forbidden to pass. It is true that we were not supposed to enter the deeper +corridors and apartments except on special occasions when we were instructed to +do so; but as we were considered a lower order without intelligence there was +little reason to fear that we could accomplish any harm by so doing, and so we +were not hindered as we entered the corridor which led below. +</p> + +<p> +Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, and the arrows +which Perry and I had fashioned. As many slaves bore skin-wrapped burdens to +and fro my load attracted no comment. Where I left Ghak and Perry there were no +other creatures in sight, and so I withdrew one sword from the package, and +leaving the balance of the weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the +lower levels. +</p> + +<p> +Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept I entered silently +on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures were without the sense of hearing. +With a quick thrust through the heart I disposed of the first but my second +thrust was not so fortunate, so that before I could kill the next of my victims +it had hurled itself against the third, who sprang quickly up, facing me with +wide-distended jaws. But fighting is not the occupation which the race of +Mahars loves, and when the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of its +companions, and that my sword was red with their blood, it made a dash to +escape me. But I was too quick for it, and so, half hopping, half flying, it +scurried down another corridor with me close upon its heels. +</p> + +<p> +Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all probability my instant +death. This thought lent wings to my feet; but even at my best I could do no +more than hold my own with the leaping thing before me. +</p> + +<p> +Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the corridor, and an +instant later as I rushed in I found myself facing two of the Mahars. The one +who had been there when we entered had been occupied with a number of metal +vessels, into which had been put powders and liquids as I judged from the array +of flasks standing about upon the bench where it had been working. In an +instant I realized what I had stumbled upon. It was the very room for the +finding of which Perry had given me minute directions. It was the buried +chamber in which was hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. And on the +bench beside the flasks lay the skin-bound book which held the only copy of the +thing I was to have sought, after dispatching the three Mahars in their sleep. +</p> + +<p> +There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in which I now stood +facing the two frightful reptiles. Cornered, I knew that they would fight like +demons, and they were well equipped to fight if fight they must. Together they +launched themselves upon me, and though I ran one of them through the heart on +the instant, the other fastened its gleaming fangs about my sword arm above the +elbow, and then with her sharp talons commenced to rake me about the body, +evidently intent upon disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope that +I might release my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which seemed to be +severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered was intense, but it only +served to spur me to greater efforts to overcome my antagonist. +</p> + +<p> +Back and forth across the floor we struggled—the Mahar dealing me terrific, +cutting blows with her fore feet, while I attempted to protect my body with my +left hand, at the same time watching for an opportunity to transfer my blade +from my now useless sword hand to its rapidly weakening mate. At last I was +successful, and with what seemed to me my last ounce of strength I ran the +blade through the ugly body of my foe. +</p> + +<p> +Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from pain and loss of +blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant pride that I stepped across its +convulsively stiffening corpse to snatch up the most potent secret of a world. +A single glance assured me it was the very thing that Perry had described to +me. +</p> + +<p> +And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the human race of +Pellucidar—did there flash through my mind the thought that countless +generations of my own kind yet unborn would have reason to worship me for the +thing that I had accomplished for them? I did not. I thought of a beautiful +oval face, gazing out of limpid eyes, through a waving mass of jet-black hair. +I thought of red, red lips, God-made for kissing. And of a sudden, apropos of +nothing, standing there alone in the secret chamber of the Mahars of +Pellucidar, I realized that I loved Dian the Beautiful. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>XII<br/> +PURSUIT </h2> + +<p> +For an instant I stood there thinking of her, and then, with a sigh, I tucked +the book in the thong that supported my loin cloth, and turned to leave the +apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which leads aloft from the lower +chambers I whistled in accordance with the prearranged signal which was to +announce to Perry and Ghak that I had been successful. A moment later they +stood beside me, and to my surprise I saw that Hooja the Sly One accompanied +them. +</p> + +<p> +“He joined us,” explained Perry, “and would not be denied. The fellow is a fox. +He scents escape, and rather than be thwarted of our chance now I told him that +I would bring him to you, and let you decide whether he might accompany us.” +</p> + +<p> +I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if he +thought it would profit him he would betray us; but I saw no way out of it now, +and the fact that I had killed four Mahars instead of only the three I had +expected to, made it possible to include the fellow in our scheme of escape. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” I said, “you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first intimation +of treachery I shall run my sword through you. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +He said that he did. +</p> + +<p> +Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and so succeeded +in crawling inside of them ourselves that there seemed an excellent chance for +us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an easy thing to fasten the hides +together where we had split them along the belly to remove them from their +carcasses, but by remaining out until the others had all been sewed in with my +help, and then leaving an aperture in the breast of Perry’s skin through which +he could pass his hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design +to really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the heads +erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and by the same means were +enabled to move them about in a life-like manner. We had our greatest +difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, so +that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes punctured in the +baggy throats into which our heads were thrust permitted us to see well enough +to guide our progress. +</p> + +<p> +Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak headed the +strange procession, then came Perry, followed by Hooja, while I brought up the +rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my sword that I could +thrust it through the head of my disguise into his vitals were he to show any +indication of faltering. +</p> + +<p> +As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy +corridors of the main level, my heart came up into my mouth. It is with no +sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened—never before in my life, nor +since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing fear and suspense as +enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I sweat it then. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when they are +not using their wings, we crept through throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths, and +Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we reached the outer door which leads +into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths loitered near the opening. They +glanced at Ghak as he padded between them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. +Now it was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that +the warm blood from my wounded arm was trickling down through the dead foot of +the Mahar skin I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement, for I +saw a Sagoth call a companion’s attention to it. +</p> + +<p> +The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to me in the +sign language which these two races employ as a means of communication. Even +had I known what he was saying I could not have replied with the dead thing +that covered me. I once had seen a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth +with a look. It seemed my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I +moved my sword so that it made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon +the gorilla-man. For a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow +with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started slowly on. For a +moment all hung in the balance, but before I touched him the guard stepped to +one side, and I passed on out into the avenue. +</p> + +<p> +On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very numbers of +our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. Fortunately, there was a great +concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake which lies a mile or more +from the city. They go there to indulge their amphibian proclivities in diving +for small fish, and enjoying the cool depths of the water. It is a fresh-water +lake, shallow, and free from the larger reptiles which make the use of the +great seas of Pellucidar impossible for any but their own kind. +</p> + +<p> +In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the plain. For +some distance Ghak remained with the stream that was traveling toward the lake, +but finally, at the bottom of a little gully he halted, and there we remained +until all had passed and we were alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set +off directly away from Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible prisons +unbearable, so that after passing a low divide, and entering a sheltering +forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had brought us thus far in +safety. +</p> + +<p> +I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling flight. How +we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped in our tracks. How we were beset +by strange and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions +and tigers the size of which would dwarf into pitiful insignificance the +greatest felines of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between ourselves +and Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us to his own land—the land of Sari. +No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we were sure that somewhere behind us +relentless Sagoths were dogging our tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt +down their quarry until they had captured it or themselves been turned back by +a superior force. +</p> + +<p> +Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite strong enough +in their mountain fastness to beat off any number of Sagoths. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have been years, we +came in sight of the dun escarpment which buttressed the foothills of Sari. At +almost the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever quite as much behind as before, +announced that he could see a body of men far behind us topping a low ridge in +our wake. It was the long-expected pursuit. +</p> + +<p> +I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them. +</p> + +<p> +“We may,” he replied; “but you will find that the Sagoths can move with +incredible swiftness, and as they are almost tireless they are doubtless much +fresher than we. Then—” he paused, glancing at Perry. +</p> + +<p> +I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the period of our +flight either Ghak or I had half supported him on the march. With such a +handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily overtake us before +we could scale the rugged heights which confronted us. +</p> + +<p> +“You and Hooja go on ahead,” I said. “Perry and I will make it if we are able. +We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, and there is no reason why all should +be lost because of that. It can’t be helped—we have simply to face it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not desert a companion,” was Ghak’s simple reply. I hadn’t known that +this great, hairy, primeval man had any such nobility of character stowed away +inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my liking was added honor and +respect. Yes, and love. +</p> + +<p> +But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach his +people he might be able to bring out a sufficient force to drive off the +Sagoths and rescue Perry and myself. +</p> + +<p> +No, he wouldn’t leave us, and that was all there was to it, but he suggested +that Hooja might hurry on and warn the Sarians of the king’s danger. It didn’t +require much urging to start Hooja—the naked idea was enough to send him +leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we now had reached. +</p> + +<p> +Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak’s life and mine and the old fellow +fairly begged us to go on without him, although I knew that he was suffering a +perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling into the hands of the +Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in part, by lifting Perry in his +powerful arms and carrying him. While the act cut down Ghak’s speed he still +could travel faster thus than when half supporting the stumbling old man. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>XIII<br/> +THE SLY ONE </h2> + +<p> +The Sagoths were gaining on us rapidly, for once they had sighted us they had +greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up the narrow canyon that +Ghak had chosen to approach the heights of Sari. On either side rose +precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, parti-colored rock, while beneath our feet a +thick mountain grass formed a soft and noiseless carpet. Since we had entered +the canyon we had had no glimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope +that they had lost our trail and that we would reach the now rapidly nearing +cliffs in time to scale them before we should be overtaken. +</p> + +<p> +Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the success of +Hooja’s mission. By now he should have reached the outposts of the Sarians, and +we should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmen as they swarmed to +arms in answer to their king’s appeal for succor. In another moment the +frowning cliffs ahead should be black with primeval warriors. But nothing of +the kind happened—as a matter of fact the Sly One had betrayed us. At the +moment that we expected to see Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at +Hooja’s back, the craven traitor was sneaking around the outskirts of the +nearest Sarian village, that he might come up from the other side when it was +too late to save us, claiming that he had become lost among the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had struck in +Dian’s protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal to sacrificing us all +that he might be revenged upon me. +</p> + +<p> +As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians appeared +Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the sound of rapidly +approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me over his shoulder that +we were lost. +</p> + +<p> +A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at the far end +of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we had just passed, and then +a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view; but the loud howl of +triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence that the gorilla-man had +sighted us. +</p> + +<p> +Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another branch +ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so that appeared more +like the main canyon than the lefthand branch. The Sagoths were now not over +two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I saw that it was hopeless for us to +expect to escape other than by a ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak +and Perry, and as I reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance. +</p> + +<p> +Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghak and +Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon, and as the +Sagoth’s savage yell announced that he had seen me I turned and fled up the +right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entire party of man-hunters +raced headlong after me up one canyon while Ghak bore Perry to safety up the +other. +</p> + +<p> +Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when my very life +depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I ran any better than on the +occasions when my pitiful base running had called down upon my head the +rooter’s raucous and reproachful cries of “Ice Wagon,” and “Call a cab.” +</p> + +<p> +The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular, fleeter +than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon had become a rocky slit, +rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed a pass between two abutting +peaks. What lay beyond I could not even guess—possibly a sheer drop of hundreds +of feet into the corresponding valley upon the other side. Could it be that I +had plunged into a cul-de-sac? +</p> + +<p> +Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the top of the +canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to check them temporarily, +and to this end had unslung my rudely made bow and plucked an arrow from the +skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. As I fitted the shaft with my right +hand I stopped and wheeled toward the gorilla-man. +</p> + +<p> +In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our escape from +Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game by means of my arrows, and +so, through necessity, had developed a fair degree of accuracy. During our +flight from Phutra I had restrung my bow with a piece of heavy gut taken from a +huge tiger which Ghak and I had worried and finally dispatched with arrows, +spear, and sword. The hard wood of the bow was extremely tough and this, with +the strength and elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted confidence in my +weapon. +</p> + +<p> +Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then—never were my nerves and +muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully and deliberately as though +at a straw target. The Sagoth had never before seen a bow and arrow, but of a +sudden it must have swept over his dull intellect that the thing I held toward +him was some sort of engine of destruction, for he too came to a halt, +simultaneously swinging his hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods +in which they employ this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they achieve, +even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous. +</p> + +<p> +My shaft was drawn back its full length—my eye had centered its sharp point +upon the left breast of my adversary; and then he launched his hatchet and I +released my arrow. At the instant that our missiles flew I leaped to one side, +but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his attack with a spear thrust. I +felt the swish of the hatchet as it grazed my head, and at the same instant my +shaft pierced the Sagoth’s savage heart, and with a single groan he lunged +almost at my feet—stone dead. Close behind him were two more—fifty yards +perhaps—but the distance gave me time to snatch up the dead guardsman’s shield, +for the close call his hatchet had just given me had borne in upon me the +urgent need I had for one. Those which I had purloined at Phutra we had not +been able to bring along because their size precluded our concealing them +within the skins of the Mahars which had brought us safely from the city. +</p> + +<p> +With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with another arrow, +which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his fellow’s hatchet sped +toward me I caught it upon the shield, and fitted another shaft for him; but he +did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned and retreated toward the main +body of gorilla-men. Evidently he had seen enough of me for the moment. +</p> + +<p> +Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently overanxious to +press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested I reached the top of the +canyon where I found a sheer drop of two or three hundred feet to the bottom of +a rocky chasm; but on the left a narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the +overhanging cliff. Along this I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards +beyond the canyon’s end, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening to +a large cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight about +another projecting buttress of the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could advance upon +me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting him until he came full upon +me around the corner of the turn. About me lay scattered stones crumbled from +the cliff above. They were of various sizes and shapes, but enough were of +handy dimensions for use as ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering +a number of stones into a little pile beside the mouth of the cave I waited the +advance of the Sagoths. +</p> + +<p> +As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint sound that +should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight noise from within the +cave’s black depths attracted my attention. It might have been produced by the +moving of the great body of some huge beast rising from the rock floor of its +lair. At almost the same instant I thought that I caught the scraping of hide +sandals upon the ledge beyond the turn. For the next few seconds my attention +was considerably divided. +</p> + +<p> +And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes glaring +into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet above my head. It is +true that the beast who owned them might be standing upon a ledge within the +cave, or that it might be rearing up upon its hind legs; but I had seen enough +of the monsters of Pellucidar to know that I might be facing some new and +frightful Titan whose dimensions and ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen +before. +</p> + +<p> +Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the cave, and now, +deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and ominous growl. I waited no longer to +dispute possession of the ledge with the thing which owned that voice. The +noise had not been loud—I doubt if the Sagoths heard it at all—but the +suggestion of latent possibilities behind it was such that I knew it would only +emanate from a gigantic and ferocious beast. +</p> + +<p> +As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the cave, where I no +longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but an instant later I caught +sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warily advanced beyond the cliff’s +turn on the far side of the cave’s mouth. As the fellow saw me he leaped along +the ledge in pursuit, and after him came as many of his companions as could +crowd upon each other’s heels. At the same time the beast emerged from the +cave, so that he and the Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge. +</p> + +<p> +The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully eight feet +at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the end of its stubby tail +it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sighted the Sagoths it emitted a most +frightful roar, and with open mouth charged full upon them. With a cry of +terror the foremost gorilla-man turned to escape, but behind him he ran full +upon his on-rushing companions. +</p> + +<p> +The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth nearest the +cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and leaped deliberately to an +awful death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feet below. Then those giant +jaws reached out and gathered in the next—there was a sickening sound of +crushing bones, and the mangled corpse was dropped over the cliff’s edge. Nor +did the mighty beast even pause in his steady advance along the ledge. +</p> + +<p> +Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to escape him, and +the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing the demoralized remnant of +the man hunters. For a long time I could hear the horrid roaring of the brute +intermingled with the screams and shrieks of his victims, until finally the +awful sounds dwindled and disappeared in the distance. +</p> + +<p> +Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen and returned +with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is called, pursued the Sagoths +until it had exterminated the entire band. Ghak was, of course, positive that I +had fallen prey to the terrible creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly +the king of beasts. +</p> + +<p> +Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall prey either to +the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along the ledge, believing that by +following around the mountain I could reach the land of Sari from another +direction. But I evidently became confused by the twisting and turning of the +canyons and gullies, for I did not come to the land of Sari then, nor for a +long time thereafter. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>XIV<br/> +THE GARDEN OF EDEN </h2> + +<p> +With no heavenly guide, it is little wonder that I became confused and lost in +the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. What, in reality, I did was to +pass entirely through them and come out above the valley upon the farther side. +I know that I wandered for a long time, until tired and hungry I came upon a +small cave in the face of the limestone formation which had taken the place of +the granite farther back. +</p> + +<p> +The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous side of a lofty +cliff. The way to it was such that I knew no extremely formidable beast could +frequent it, nor was it large enough to make a comfortable habitat for any but +the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet it was with the utmost caution that I +crawled within its dark interior. +</p> + +<p> +Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft in the rock +above which let the sunlight filter in in sufficient quantities partially to +dispel the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave was entirely empty, +nor were there any signs of its having been recently occupied. The opening was +comparatively small, so that after considerable effort I was able to lug up a +bowlder from the valley below which entirely blocked it. +</p> + +<p> +Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and on this trip +was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, the diminutive horse of +Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of a fox terrier, which abounds in +all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food and bedding I returned to my +lair, where after a meal of raw meat, to which I had now become quite +accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the entrance and curled myself upon a +bed of grasses—a naked, primeval, cave man, as savagely primitive as my +prehistoric progenitors. +</p> + +<p> +I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled out upon the +little rocky shelf which was my front porch. Before me spread a small but +beautiful valley, through the center of which a clear and sparkling river wound +its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters of which were just visible +between the two mountain ranges which embraced this little paradise. The sides +of the opposite hills were green with verdure, for a great forest clothed them +to the foot of the red and yellow and copper green of the towering crags which +formed their summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, +while here and there patches of wild flowers made great splashes of vivid color +against the prevailing green. +</p> + +<p> +Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike trees—three +or four together as a rule. Beneath these stood antelope, while others grazed +in the open, or wandered gracefully to a nearby ford to drink. There were +several species of this beautiful animal, the most magnificent somewhat +resembling the giant eland of Africa, except that their spiral horns form a +complete curve backward over their ears and then forward again beneath them, +ending in sharp and formidable points some two feet before the face and above +the eyes. In size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet they are +very agile and fast. The broad yellow bands that stripe the dark roan of their +coats made me take them for zebra when I first saw them. All in all they are +handsome animals, and added the finishing touch to the strange and lovely +landscape that spread before my new home. +</p> + +<p> +I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with it as a base make a +systematic exploration of the surrounding country in search of the land of +Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcass of the orthopi I had killed +before my last sleep. Then I hid the Great Secret in a deep niche at the back +of my cave, rolled the bowlder before my front door, and with bow, arrows, +sword, and shield scrambled down into the peaceful valley. +</p> + +<p> +The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, the little +orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and galloping to safest distances. All +the animals stopped feeding as I approached, and after moving to what they +considered a safe distance stood contemplating me with serious eyes and +up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bull antelopes of the striped species +lowered his head and bellowed angrily—even taking a few steps in my direction, +so that I thought he meant to charge; but after I had passed, he resumed +feeding as though nothing had disturbed him. +</p> + +<p> +Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, and across the +river saw a great sadok, the enormous double-horned progenitor of the modern +rhinoceros. At the valley’s end the cliffs upon the left ran out into the sea, +so that to pass around them as I desired to do it was necessary to scale them +in search of a ledge along which I might continue my journey. Some fifty feet +from the base I came upon a projection which formed a natural path along the +face of the cliff, and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff’s end. +</p> + +<p> +Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the cliffs—the stratum +which formed it evidently having been forced up at this steep angle when the +mountains behind it were born. As I climbed carefully up the ascent my +attention suddenly was attracted aloft by the sound of strange hissing, and +what resembled the flapping of wings. +</p> + +<p> +And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision the most frightful +thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. It was a giant dragon such as is +pictured in the legends and fairy tales of earth folk. Its huge body must have +measured forty feet in length, while the batlike wings that supported it in +midair had a spread of fully thirty. Its gaping jaws were armed with long, +sharp teeth, and its claw equipped with horrible talons. +</p> + +<p> +The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was issuing from its +throat, and seemed to be directed at something beyond and below me which I +could not see. The ledge upon which I stood terminated abruptly a few paces +farther on, and as I reached the end I saw the cause of the reptile’s +agitation. +</p> + +<p> +Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at this point, so +that beyond the spot where I stood the strata had slipped down a matter of +twenty feet. The result was that the continuation of my ledge lay twenty feet +below me, where it ended as abruptly as did the end upon which I stood. +</p> + +<p> +And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable break in the ledge, +stood the object of the creature’s attack—a girl cowering upon the narrow +platform, her face buried in her arms, as though to shut out the sight of the +frightful death which hovered just above her. +</p> + +<p> +The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in upon its prey. There +was no time to be lost, scarce an instant in which to weigh the possible +chances that I had against the awfully armed creature; but the sight of that +frightened girl below me called out to all that was best in me, and the +instinct for protection of the other sex, which nearly must have equaled the +instinct of self-preservation in primeval man, drew me to the girl’s side like +an irresistible magnet. +</p> + +<p> +Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the end of the ledge upon +which I stood, for the tiny shelf twenty feet below. At the same instant the +dragon darted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent upon the scene must have +startled him for he veered to one side, and then rose above us once more. +</p> + +<p> +The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl that the end had +come, for she thought I was the dragon; but finally when no cruel fangs closed +upon her she raised her eyes in astonishment. As they fell upon me the +expression that came into them would be difficult to describe; but her feelings +could scarcely have been one whit more complicated than my own—for the wide +eyes that looked into mine were those of Dian the Beautiful. +</p> + +<p> +“Dian!” I cried. “Dian! Thank God that I came in time.” +</p> + +<p> +“You?” she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor could I tell whether +she were glad or angry that I had come. +</p> + +<p> +Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly that I had no time +to unsling my bow. All that I could do was to snatch up a rock, and hurl it at +the thing’s hideous face. Again my aim was true, and with a hiss of pain and +rage the reptile wheeled once more and soared away. +</p> + +<p> +Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the next attack, and as +I did so I looked down at the girl, so that I surprised her in a surreptitious +glance which she was stealing at me; but immediately, she again covered her +face with her hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Look at me, Dian,” I pleaded. “Are you not glad to see me?” +</p> + +<p> +She looked straight into my eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you,” she said, and then, as I was about to beg for a fair hearing she +pointed over my shoulder. “The thipdar comes,” she said, and I turned again to +meet the reptile. +</p> + +<p> +So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel bloodhound of the +Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl of the outer world. But this time I met it +with a weapon it never had faced before. I had selected my longest arrow, and +with all my strength had bent the bow until the very tip of the shaft rested +upon the thumb of my left hand, and then as the great creature darted toward us +I let drive straight for that tough breast. +</p> + +<p> +Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty creature fell +turning and twisting into the sea below, my arrow buried completely in its +carcass. I turned toward the girl. She was looking past me. It was evident that +she had seen the thipdar die. +</p> + +<p> +“Dian,” I said, “won’t you tell me that you are not sorry that I have found +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you,” was her only reply; but I imagined that there was less vehemence +in it than before—yet it might have been but my imagination. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you hate me, Dian?” I asked, but she did not answer me. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing here?” I asked, “and what has happened to you since Hooja +freed you from the Sagoths?” +</p> + +<p> +At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, but finally she +thought better of it. +</p> + +<p> +“I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One,” she said. “After I escaped +from the Sagoths I made my way alone back to my own land; but on account of +Jubal I did not dare enter the villages or let any of my friends know that I +had returned for fear that Jubal might find out. By watching for a long time I +found that my brother had not yet returned, and so I continued to live in a +cave beside a valley which my race seldom frequents, awaiting the time that he +should come back and free me from Jubal. +</p> + +<p> +“But at last one of Jubal’s hunters saw me as I was creeping toward my father’s +cave to see if my brother had yet returned and he gave the alarm and Jubal set +out after me. He has been pursuing me across many lands. He cannot be far +behind me now. When he comes he will kill you and carry me back to his cave. He +is a terrible man. I have gone as far as I can go, and there is no escape,” and +she looked hopelessly up at the continuation of the ledge twenty feet above us. +</p> + +<p> +“But he shall not have me,” she suddenly cried, with great vehemence. “The sea +is there”—she pointed over the edge of the cliff—“and the sea shall have me +rather than Jubal.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I have you now Dian,” I cried; “nor shall Jubal, nor any other have you, +for you are mine,” and I seized her hand, nor did I lift it above her head and +let it fall in token of release. +</p> + +<p> +She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my eyes with level +gaze. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not believe you,” she said, “for if you meant it you would have done this +when the others were present to witness it—then I should truly have been your +mate; now there is no one to see you do it, for you know that without witnesses +your act does not bind you to me,” and she withdrew her hand from mine and +turned away. +</p> + +<p> +I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply couldn’t forget the +humiliation that I had put upon her on that other occasion. +</p> + +<p> +“If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to prove it,” she +said, “if Jubal does not catch and kill you. I am in your power, and the +treatment you accord me will be the best proof of your intentions toward me. I +am not your mate, and again I tell you that I hate you, and that I should be +glad if I never saw you again.” +</p> + +<p> +Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In fact I found candor +and directness to be quite a marked characteristic of the cave men of +Pellucidar. Finally I suggested that we make some attempt to gain my cave, +where we might escape the searching Jubal, for I am free to admit that I had no +considerable desire to meet the formidable and ferocious creature, of whose +mighty prowess Dian had told me when I first met her. He it was who, armed with +a puny knife, had met and killed a cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was +Jubal who could cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass of the +sadok at fifty paces. It was he who had crushed the skull of a charging dyryth +with a single blow of his war club. No, I was not pining to meet the Ugly +One—and it was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for him; but the +matter was taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often the way, and I did +meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face. +</p> + +<p> +This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge the way she had +come, searching for a path that would lead us to the top of the cliff, for I +knew that we could then cross over to the edge of my own little valley, where I +felt certain we should find a means of ingress from the cliff top. As we +proceeded along the ledge I gave Dian minute directions for finding my cave +against the chance of something happening to me. I knew that she would be quite +safely hidden away from pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, and the +valley would afford her ample means of sustenance. +</p> + +<p> +Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My heart was sad and +heavy, and I wanted to make her feel badly by suggesting that something +terrible might happen to me—that I might, in fact, be killed. But it didn’t +work worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive. Dian simply shrugged +those magnificent shoulders of hers, and murmured something to the effect that +one was not rid of trouble so easily as that. +</p> + +<p> +For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to think that I had +twice protected her from attack—the last time risking my life to save hers. It +was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Age could be so ungrateful—so +heartless; but maybe her heart partook of the qualities of her epoch. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened and extended by +the action of the water draining through it from the plateau above. It gave us +a rather rough climb to the summit, but finally we stood upon the level mesa +which stretched back for several miles to the mountain range. Behind us lay the +broad inland sea, curving upward in the horizonless distance to merge into the +blue of the sky, so that for all the world it looked as though the sea lapped +back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond the distant mountains at +our backs—the weird and uncanny aspect of the seascapes of Pellucidar balk +description. +</p> + +<p> +At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country was open and clear +to the plateau’s farther verge. It was in this direction that our way led, and +we had turned to resume our journey when Dian touched my arm. I turned to her, +thinking that she was about to make peace overtures; but I was mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +“Jubal,” she said, and nodded toward the forest. +</p> + +<p> +I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a perfect whale of a +man. He must have been seven feet tall, and proportioned accordingly. He still +was too far off to distinguish his features. +</p> + +<p> +“Run,” I said to Dian. “I can engage him until you get a good start. Maybe I +can hold him until you have gotten entirely away,” and then, without a backward +glance, I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had hoped that Dian would have a +kind word to say to me before she went, for she must have known that I was +going to my death for her sake; but she never even so much as bid me good-bye, +and it was with a heavy heart that I strode through the flower-bespangled grass +to my doom. +</p> + +<p> +When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his features I understood +how it was that he had earned the sobriquet of Ugly One. Apparently some +fearful beast had ripped away one entire side of his face. The eye was gone, +the nose, and all the flesh, so that his jaws and all his teeth were exposed +and grinning through the horrible scar. +</p> + +<p> +Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others of his handsome +race, and it may be that the terrible result of this encounter had tended to +sour an already strong and brutal character. However this may be it is quite +certain that he was not a pretty sight, and now that his features, or what +remained of them, were distorted in rage at the sight of Dian with another +male, he was indeed most terrible to see—and much more terrible to meet. +</p> + +<p> +He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised his mighty spear, +while I halted and fitting an arrow to my bow took as steady aim as I could. I +was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess that the sight of this awful +man had wrought upon my nerves to such an extent that my knees were anything +but steady. What chance had I against this mighty warrior for whom even the +fiercest cave bear had no terrors! Could I hope to best one who slaughtered the +sadok and dyryth singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself, my fear +was more for Dian than for my own fate. +</p> + +<p> +And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped spear, and I raised +my shield to break the force of its terrific velocity. The impact hurled me to +my knees, but the shield had deflected the missile and I was unscathed. Jubal +was rushing upon me now with the only remaining weapon that he carried—a +murderous-looking knife. He was too close for a careful bowshot, but I let +drive at him as he came, without taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part +of his thigh, inflicting a painful but not disabling wound. And then he was +upon me. +</p> + +<p> +My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his raised arm, and when +he wheeled to come at me again he found a sword’s point in his face. And a +moment later he felt an inch or two of it in the muscles of his knife arm, so +that thereafter he went more warily. +</p> + +<p> +It was a duel of strategy now—the great, hairy man maneuvering to get inside my +guard where he could bring those giant thews to play, while my wits were +directed to the task of keeping him at arm’s length. Thrice he rushed me, and +thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield. Each time my sword found his +body—once penetrating to his lung. He was covered with blood by this time, and +the internal hemorrhage induced paroxysms of coughing that brought the red +stream through the hideous mouth and nose, covering his face and breast with +bloody froth. He was a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead. +</p> + +<p> +As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be perfectly candid, +I had not expected to survive the first rush of that monstrous engine of +ungoverned rage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from utter contempt of me, +began to change to a feeling of respect, and then in his primitive mind there +evidently loomed the thought that perhaps at last he had met his master, and +was facing his end. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can account for his next +act, which was in the nature of a last resort—a sort of forlorn hope, which +could only have been born of the belief that if he did not kill me quickly I +should kill him. It happened on the occasion of his fourth charge, when, +instead of striking at me with his knife, he dropped that weapon, and seizing +my sword blade in both his hands wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily as +from a babe. +</p> + +<p> +Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an instant glaring +into my face with such a horrid leer of malignant triumph as to almost unnerve +me—then he sprang for me with his bare hands. But it was Jubal’s day to learn +new methods of warfare. For the first time he had seen a bow and arrows, never +before that duel had he beheld a sword, and now he learned what a man who knows +may do with his bare fists. +</p> + +<p> +As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath his outstretched +arm, and as I came up planted as clean a blow upon his jaw as ever you have +seen. Down went that great mountain of flesh sprawling upon the ground. He was +so surprised and dazed that he lay there for several seconds before he made any +attempt to rise, and I stood over him with another dose ready when he should +gain his knees. +</p> + +<p> +Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; but he didn’t +stay up—I let him have a left fair on the point of the jaw that sent him +tumbling over on his back. By this time I think Jubal had gone mad with hate, +for no sane man would have come back for more as many times as he did. Time +after time I bowled him over as fast as he could stagger up, until toward the +last he lay longer on the ground between blows, and each time came up weaker +than before. +</p> + +<p> +He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, and presently a +terrific blow over the heart sent him reeling heavily to the ground, where he +lay very still, and somehow I knew at once that Jubal the Ugly One would never +get up again. But even as I looked upon that massive body lying there so grim +and terrible in death, I could not believe that I, single-handed, had bested +this slayer of fearful beasts—this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age. +</p> + +<p> +Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the dead body of my +foeman, and as I thought of the battle I had just fought and won a great idea +was born in my brain—the outcome of this and the suggestion that Perry had made +within the city of Phutra. If skill and science could render a comparative +pygmy the master of this mighty brute, what could not the brute’s fellows +accomplish with the same skill and science. Why all Pellucidar would be at +their feet—and I would be their king and Dian their queen. +</p> + +<p> +Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite within the +possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even were I king. She was quite the +most superior person I ever had met—with the most convincing way of letting you +know that she was superior. Well, I could go to the cave, and tell her that I +had killed Jubal, and then she might feel more kindly toward me, since I had +freed her of her tormentor. I hoped that she had found the cave easily—it would +be terrible had I lost her again, and I turned to gather up my shield and bow +to hurry after her, when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten paces +behind me. +</p> + +<p> +“Girl!” I cried, “what are you doing here? I thought that you had gone to the +cave, as I told you to do.” +</p> + +<p> +Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the majesty out of me, +and left me feeling more like the palace janitor—if palaces have janitors. +</p> + +<p> +“As you told me to do!” she cried, stamping her little foot. “I do as I please. +I am the daughter of a king, and furthermore, I hate you.” +</p> + +<p> +I was dumbfounded—this was my thanks for saving her from Jubal! I turned and +looked at the corpse. “May be that I saved you from a worse fate, old man,” I +said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she never seemed to notice it at +all. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us go to my cave,” I said, “I am tired and hungry.” +</p> + +<p> +She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. I was too angry, +and she evidently didn’t care to converse with the lower orders. I was mad all +the way through, as I had certainly felt that at least a word of thanks should +have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own standards, I must have done a +very wonderful thing to have killed the redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand +encounter. +</p> + +<p> +We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went down into the valley +and bowled over a small antelope, which I dragged up the steep ascent to the +ledge before the door. Here we ate in silence. Occasionally I glanced at her, +thinking that the sight of her tearing at raw flesh with her hands and teeth +like some wild animal would cause a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; but +to my surprise I found that she ate quite as daintily as the most civilized +woman of my acquaintance, and finally I found myself gazing in foolish rapture +at the beauties of her strong, white teeth. Such is love. +</p> + +<p> +After our repast we went down to the river together and bathed our hands and +faces, and then after drinking our fill went back to the cave. Without a word I +crawled into the farthest corner and, curling up, was soon asleep. +</p> + +<p> +When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out across the valley. +As I came out she moved to one side to let me pass, but she had no word for me. +I wanted to hate her, but I couldn’t. Every time I looked at her something came +up in my throat, so that I nearly choked. I had never been in love before, but +I did not need any aid in diagnosing my case—I certainly had it and had it bad. +God, how I loved that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl! +</p> + +<p> +After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended returning to her tribe +now that Jubal was dead, but she shook her head sadly, and said that she did +not dare, for there was still Jubal’s brother to be considered—his oldest +brother. +</p> + +<p> +“What has he to do with it?” I asked. “Does he too want you, or has the option +on you become a family heirloom, to be passed on down from generation to +generation?” +</p> + +<p> +She was not quite sure as to what I meant. +</p> + +<p> +“It is probable,” she said, “that they all will want revenge for the death of +Jubal—there are seven of them—seven terrible men. Someone may have to kill them +all, if I am to return to my people.” +</p> + +<p> +It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too large for me—about +seven sizes, in fact. +</p> + +<p> +“Had Jubal any cousins?” I asked. It was just as well to know the worst at +once. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” replied Dian, “but they don’t count—they all have mates. Jubal’s +brothers have no mates because Jubal could get none for himself. He was so ugly +that women ran away from him—some have even thrown themselves from the cliffs +of Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the Ugly One.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what had that to do with his brothers?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I forget that you are not of Pellucidar,” said Dian, with a look of pity mixed +with contempt, and the contempt seemed to be laid on a little thicker than the +circumstance warranted—as though to make quite certain that I shouldn’t +overlook it. “You see,” she continued, “a younger brother may not take a mate +until all his older brothers have done so, unless the older brother waives his +prerogative, which Jubal would not do, knowing that as long as he kept them +single they would be all the keener in aiding him to secure a mate.” +</p> + +<p> +Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began to entertain hopes +that she might be warming up toward me a bit, although upon what slender thread +I hung my hopes I soon discovered. +</p> + +<p> +“As you dare not return to Amoz,” I ventured, “what is to become of you since +you cannot be happy here with me, hating me as you do?” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall have to put up with you,” she replied coldly, “until you see fit to go +elsewhere and leave me in peace, then I shall get along very well alone.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible that even a +prehistoric woman could be so cold and heartless and ungrateful. Then I arose. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall leave you NOW,” I said haughtily, “I have had quite enough of your +ingratitude and your insults,” and then I turned and strode majestically down +toward the valley. I had taken a hundred steps in absolute silence, and then +Dian spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you!” she shouted, and her voice broke—in rage, I thought. +</p> + +<p> +I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn’t gone too far when I began to realize +that I couldn’t leave her alone there without protection, to hunt her own food +amid the dangers of that savage world. She might hate me, and revile me, and +heap indignity after indignity upon me, as she already had, until I should have +hated her; but the pitiful fact remained that I loved her, and I couldn’t leave +her there alone. +</p> + +<p> +The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the time I reached the +valley I was furious, and the result of it was that I turned right around and +went up that cliff again as fast as I had come down. I saw that Dian had left +the ledge and gone within the cave, but I bolted right in after her. She was +lying upon her face on the pile of grasses I had gathered for her bed. When she +heard me enter she sprang to her feet like a tigress. +</p> + +<p> +“I hate you!” she cried. +</p> + +<p> +Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the semidarkness of the +cave I could not see her features, and I was rather glad, for I disliked to +think of the hate that I should have read there. +</p> + +<p> +I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across the cave and grasped +her by the wrists, and when she struggled, I put my arm around her so as to +pinion her hands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, but I took my free +hand and pushed her head back—I imagine that I had suddenly turned brute, that +I had gone back a thousand million years, and was again a veritable cave man +taking my mate by force—and then I kissed that beautiful mouth again and again. +</p> + +<p> +“Dian,” I cried, shaking her roughly, “I love you. Can’t you understand that I +love you? That I love you better than all else in this world or my own? That I +am going to have you? That love like mine cannot be denied?” +</p> + +<p> +I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my eyes became +accustomed to the light I saw that she was smiling—a very contented, happy +smile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, she was trying +to disengage her arms, and I loosened my grip upon them so that she could do +so. Slowly they came up and stole about my neck, and then she drew my lips down +to hers once more and held them there for a long time. At last she spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t you do this at first, David? I have been waiting so long.” +</p> + +<p> +“What!” I cried. “You said that you hated me!” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I loved you before I +knew that you loved me?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“But I have told you right along that I love you,” I said. “Love speaks in +acts,” she replied. “You could have made your mouth say what you wished it to +say, but just now when you came and took me in your arms your heart spoke to +mine in the language that a woman’s heart understands. What a silly man you +are, David.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you haven’t hated me at all, Dian?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I have loved you always,” she whispered, “from the first moment that I saw +you, although I did not know it until that time you struck down Hooja the Sly +One, and then spurned me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I didn’t spurn you, dear,” I cried. “I didn’t know your ways—I doubt if I +do now. It seems incredible that you could have reviled me so, and yet have +cared for me all the time.” +</p> + +<p> +“You might have known,” she said, “when I did not run away from you that it was +not hate which chained me to you. While you were battling with Jubal, I could +have run to the edge of the forest, and when I learned the outcome of the +combat it would have been a simple thing to have eluded you and returned to my +own people.” +</p> + +<p> +“But Jubal’s brothers—and cousins—” I reminded her, “how about them?” +</p> + +<p> +She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“I had to tell you SOMETHING, David,” she whispered. “I must needs have SOME +excuse for remaining near you.” +</p> + +<p> +“You little sinner!” I exclaimed. “And you have caused me all this anguish for +nothing!” +</p> + +<p> +“I have suffered even more,” she answered simply, “for I thought that you did +not love me, and I was helpless. I couldn’t come to you and demand that my love +be returned, as you have just come to me. Just now when you went away hope went +with you. I was wretched, terrified, miserable, and my heart was breaking. I +wept, and I have not done that before since my mother died,” and now I saw that +there was the moisture of tears about her eyes. It was near to making me cry +myself when I thought of all that poor child had been through. Motherless and +unprotected; hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideous brute of a +man; exposed to the attacks of the countless fearsome denizens of its +mountains, its plains, and its jungles—it was a miracle that she had survived +it all. +</p> + +<p> +To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears must have endured +that the human race of the outer crust might survive. It made me very proud to +think that I had won the love of such a woman. Of course she couldn’t read or +write; there was nothing cultured or refined about her as you judge culture and +refinement; but she was the essence of all that is best in woman, for she was +good, and brave, and noble, and virtuous. And she was all these things in spite +of the fact that their observance entailed suffering and danger and possible +death. +</p> + +<p> +How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in the first place! +She would have been his lawful mate. She would have been queen in her own +land—and it meant just as much to the cave woman to be a queen in the Stone Age +as it does to the woman of today to be a queen now; it’s all comparative glory +any way you look at it, and if there were only half-naked savages on the outer +crust today, you’d find that it would be considerable glory to be the wife of a +Dahomey chief. +</p> + +<p> +I couldn’t help but compare Dian’s action with that of a splendid young woman I +had known in New York—I mean splendid to look at and to talk to. She had been +head over heels in love with a chum of mine—a clean, manly chap—but she had +married a broken-down, disreputable old debauchee because he was a count in +some dinky little European principality that was not even accorded a +distinctive color by Rand McNally. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian. +</p> + +<p> +After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious to see Perry, and +to know that all was right with him. I had told Dian about our plan of +emancipating the human race of Pellucidar, and she was fairly wild over it. She +said that if Dacor, her brother, would only return he could easily be king of +Amoz, and that then he and Ghak could form an alliance. That would give us a +flying start, for the Sarians and the Amozites were both very powerful tribes. +Once they had been armed with swords, and bows and arrows, and trained in their +use we were confident that they could overcome any tribe that seemed +disinclined to join the great army of federated states with which we were +planning to march upon the Mahars. +</p> + +<p> +I explained the various destructive engines of war which Perry and I could +construct after a little experimentation—gunpowder, rifles, cannon, and the +like, and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms about my neck, and tell +me what a wonderful thing I was. She was beginning to think that I was +omnipotent although I really hadn’t done anything but talk—but that is the way +with women when they love. Perry used to say that if a fellow was one-tenth as +remarkable as his wife or mother thought him, he would have the world by the +tail with a down-hill drag. +</p> + +<p> +The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of poisonous vipers +before we reached the valley. A little fellow stung me on the ankle, and Dian +made me come back to the cave. She said that I mustn’t exercise, or it might +prove fatal—if it had been a full-grown snake that struck me she said, I +wouldn’t have moved a single pace from the nest—I’d have died in my tracks, so +virulent is the poison. As it was I must have been laid up for quite a while, +though Dian’s poultices of herbs and leaves finally reduced the swelling and +drew out the poison. +</p> + +<p> +The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an idea which added a +thousand-fold to the value of my arrows as missiles of offense and defense. As +soon as I was able to be about again, I sought out some adult vipers of the +species which had stung me, and having killed them, I extracted their virus, +smearing it upon the tips of several arrows. Later I shot a hyaenodon with one +of these, and though my arrow inflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beast +crumpled in death almost immediately after he was hit. +</p> + +<p> +We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it was with feelings +of sincere regret that we bade good-bye to our beautiful Garden of Eden, in the +comparative peace and harmony of which we had lived the happiest moments of our +lives. How long we had been there I did not know, for as I have told you, time +had ceased to exist for me beneath that eternal noonday sun—it may have been an +hour, or a month of earthly time; I do not know. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>XV<br/> +BACK TO EARTH </h2> + +<p> +We crossed the river and passed through the mountains beyond, and finally we +came out upon a great level plain which stretched away as far as the eye could +reach. I cannot tell you in what direction it stretched even if you would care +to know, for all the while that I was within Pellucidar I never discovered any +but local methods of indicating direction—there is no north, no south, no east, +no west. UP is about the only direction which is well defined, and that, of +course, is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun neither rises nor sets +there is no method of indicating direction beyond visible objects such as high +mountains, forests, lakes, and seas. +</p> + +<p> +The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the Darel Az upon the +shore nearest the Mountains of the Clouds is about as near to any direction as +any Pellucidarian can come. If you happen not to have heard of the Darel Az, or +the white cliffs, or the Mountains of the Clouds you feel that there is +something lacking, and long for the good old understandable northeast and +southwest of the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two enormous animals +approaching us from a great distance. So far were they that we could not +distinguish what manner of beasts they might be, but as they came closer, I saw +that they were enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a hundred feet long, with tiny +heads perched at the top of very long necks. Their heads must have been quite +forty feet from the ground. The beasts moved very slowly—that is their action +was slow—but their strides covered such a great distance that in reality they +traveled considerably faster than a man walks. +</p> + +<p> +As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back of each sat a human +being. Then Dian knew what they were, though she never before had seen one. +</p> + +<p> +“They are lidis from the land of the Thorians,” she cried. “Thoria lies at the +outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. The Thorians alone of all the races of +Pellucidar ride the lidi, for nowhere else than beside the dark country are +they found.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is the Land of Awful Shadow?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World,” replied Dian; “the Dead +World which hangs forever between the sun and Pellucidar above the Land of +Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World which makes the great shadow upon this +portion of Pellucidar.” +</p> + +<p> +I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure that I do yet, for I +have never been to that part of Pellucidar from which the Dead World is +visible; but Perry says that it is the moon of Pellucidar—a tiny planet within +a planet—and that it revolves around the earth’s axis coincidently with the +earth, and thus is always above the same spot within Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him about this Dead +World, for he seemed to think that it explained the hitherto inexplicable +phenomena of nutation and the precession of the equinoxes. +</p> + +<p> +When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we saw that one was a +man and the other a woman. The former had held up his two hands, palms toward +us, in sign of peace, and I had answered him in kind, when he suddenly gave a +cry of astonishment and pleasure, and slipping from his enormous mount ran +forward toward Dian, throwing his arms about her. +</p> + +<p> +In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an instant; since Dian +quickly drew the man toward me, telling him that I was David, her mate. +</p> + +<p> +“And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David,” she said to me. +</p> + +<p> +It appeared that the woman was Dacor’s mate. He had found none to his liking +among the Sari, nor farther on until he had come to the land of the Thoria, and +there he had found and fought for this very lovely Thorian maiden whom he was +bringing back to his own people. +</p> + +<p> +When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to accompany us to +Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come to an agreement relative to an alliance, +as Dacor was quite as enthusiastic about the proposed annihilation of the +Mahars and Sagoths as either Dian or I. +</p> + +<p> +After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, we came to the +first of the Sarian villages which consists of between one and two hundred +artificial caves cut into the face of a great cliff. Here to our immense +delight, we found both Perry and Ghak. The old man was quite overcome at sight +of me for he had long since given me up as dead. +</p> + +<p> +When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn’t quite know what to say, but he +afterward remarked that with the pick of two worlds I could not have done +better. +</p> + +<p> +Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it was at a council of +the head men of the various tribes of the Sari that the eventual form of +government was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, the various kingdoms were to +remain virtually independent, but there was to be one great overlord, or +emperor. It was decided that I should be the first of the dynasty of the +emperors of Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, and poison +pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which provided the virus, and it was +they who mined the iron ore, and fashioned the swords under Perry’s direction. +Rapidly the fever spread from one tribe to another until representatives from +nations so far distant that the Sarians had never even heard of them came in to +take the oath of allegiance which we required, and to learn the art of making +the new weapons and using them. +</p> + +<p> +We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of the federation, and +the movement had reached colossal proportions before the Mahars discovered it. +The first intimation they had was when three of their great slave caravans were +annihilated in rapid succession. They could not comprehend that the lower +orders had suddenly developed a power which rendered them really formidable. +</p> + +<p> +In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our Sarians took a number +of Sagoth prisoners, and among them were two who had been members of the guards +within the building where we had been confined at Phutra. They told us that the +Mahars were frantic with rage when they discovered what had taken place in the +cellars of the buildings. The Sagoths knew that something very terrible had +befallen their masters, but the Mahars had been most careful to see that no +inkling of the true nature of their vital affliction reached beyond their own +race. How long it would take for the race to become extinct it was impossible +even to guess; but that this must eventually happen seemed inevitable. +</p> + +<p> +The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of any one of us alive, +and at the same time had threatened to inflict the direst punishment upon +whomever should harm us. The Sagoths could not understand these seemingly +paradoxical instructions, though their purpose was quite evident to me. The +Mahars wanted the Great Secret, and they knew that we alone could deliver it to +them. +</p> + +<p> +Perry’s experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the fashioning of +rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we had hoped—there was a whole lot +about these two arts which Perry didn’t know. We were both assured that the +solution of these problems would advance the cause of civilization within +Pellucidar thousands of years at a single stroke. Then there were various other +arts and sciences which we wished to introduce, but our combined knowledge of +them did not embrace the mechanical details which alone could render them of +commercial, or practical value. +</p> + +<p> +“David,” said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to produce gunpowder +that would even burn, “one of us must return to the outer world and bring back +the information we lack. Here we have all the labor and materials for +reproducing anything that ever has been produced above—what we lack is +knowledge. Let us go back and get that knowledge in the shape of books—then +this world will indeed be at our feet.” +</p> + +<p> +And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, which still lay +upon the edge of the forest at the point where we had first penetrated to the +surface of the inner world. Dian would not listen to any arrangement for my +going which did not include her, and I was not sorry that she wished to +accompany me, for I wanted her to see my world, and I wanted my world to see +her. +</p> + +<p> +With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, which Perry soon +had hoisted into position with its nose pointed back toward the outer crust. He +went over all the machinery carefully. He replenished the air tanks, and +manufactured oil for the engine. At last everything was ready, and we were +about to set out when our pickets, a long, thin line of which had surrounded +our camp at all times, reported that a great body of what appeared to be +Sagoths and Mahars were approaching from the direction of Phutra. +</p> + +<p> +Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to witness the first clash +between two fair-sized armies of the opposing races of Pellucidar. I realized +that this was to mark the historic beginning of a mighty struggle for +possession of a world, and as the first emperor of Pellucidar I felt that it +was not alone my duty, but my right, to be in the thick of that momentous +struggle. +</p> + +<p> +As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many Mahars with the +Sagoth troops—an indication of the vast importance which the dominant race +placed upon the outcome of this campaign, for it was not customary with them to +take active part in the sorties which their creatures made for slaves—the only +form of warfare which they waged upon the lower orders. +</p> + +<p> +Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to view the prospector. +I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians on the right of our battle line. Dacor +took the left, while I commanded the center. Behind us I stationed a sufficient +reserve under one of Ghak’s head men. The Sagoths advanced steadily with +menacing spears, and I let them come until they were within easy bowshot before +I gave the word to fire. +</p> + +<p> +At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front ranks of the gorilla-men +crumpled to the ground; but those behind charged over the prostrate forms of +their comrades in a wild, mad rush to be upon us with their spears. A second +volley stopped them for an instant, and then my reserve sprang through the +openings in the firing line to engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy +spears of the Sagoths were no match for the swords of the Sarian and Amozite, +who turned the spear thrusts aside with their shields and leaped to close +quarters with their lighter, handier weapons. +</p> + +<p> +Ghak took his archers along the enemy’s flank, and while the swordsmen engaged +them in front, he poured volley after volley into their unprotected left. The +Mahars did little real fighting, and were more in the way than otherwise, +though occasionally one of them would fasten its powerful jaw upon the arm or +leg of a Sarian. +</p> + +<p> +The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I led our men in upon +the Sagoth’s right with naked swords they were already so demoralized that they +turned and fled before us. We pursued them for some time, taking many prisoners +and recovering nearly a hundred slaves, among whom was Hooja the Sly One. +</p> + +<p> +He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his own land; but that +his life had been spared in hope that through him the Mahars would learn the +whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak and I were inclined to think that the +Sly One had been guiding this expedition to the land of Sari, where he thought +that the book might be found in Perry’s possession; but we had no proof of this +and so we took him in and treated him as one of us, although none liked him. +And how he rewarded my generosity you will presently learn. +</p> + +<p> +There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so fearful were our own +people of them that they would not approach them unless completely covered from +the sight of the reptiles by a piece of skin. Even Dian shared the popular +superstition regarding the evil effects of exposure to the eyes of angry +Mahars, and though I laughed at her fears I was willing enough to humor them if +it would relieve her apprehension in any degree, and so she sat apart from the +prospector, near which the Mahars had been chained, while Perry and I again +inspected every portion of the mechanism. +</p> + +<p> +At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to one of the men +without to fetch Dian. It happened that Hooja stood quite close to the doorway +of the prospector, so that it was he who, without my knowledge, went to bring +her; but how he succeeded in accomplishing the fiendish thing he did, I cannot +guess, unless there were others in the plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, +since all my people were loyal to me and would have made short work of Hooja +had he suggested the heartless scheme, even had he had time to acquaint another +with it. It was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it was the +result of sudden impulse, aided by a number of, to Hooja, fortuitous +circumstances occurring at precisely the right moment. +</p> + +<p> +All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the prospector, still +wrapped from head to toe in the skin of an enormous cave lion which covered her +since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into camp. He deposited his burden +in the seat beside me. I was all ready to get under way. The good-byes had been +said. Perry had grasped my hand in the last, long farewell. I closed and barred +the outer and inner doors, took my seat again at the driving mechanism, and +pulled the starting lever. +</p> + +<p> +As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our first trial of the iron +monster, there was a frightful roaring beneath us—the giant frame trembled and +vibrated—there was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through the +hollow space between the inner and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. +Once more the thing was off. +</p> + +<p> +But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my seat by the sudden +lurching of the prospector. At first I did not realize what had happened, but +presently it dawned upon me that just before entering the crust the towering +body had fallen through its supporting scaffolding, and that instead of +entering the ground vertically we were plunging into it at a different angle. +Where it would bring us out upon the upper crust I could not even conjecture. +And then I turned to note the effect of this strange experience upon Dian. She +still sat shrouded in the great skin. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, come,” I cried, laughing, “come out of your shell. No Mahar eyes can +reach you here,” and I leaned over and snatched the lion skin from her. And +then I shrank back upon my seat in utter horror. +</p> + +<p> +The thing beneath the skin was not Dian—it was a hideous Mahar. Instantly I +realized the trick that Hooja had played upon me, and the purpose of it. Rid of +me, forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would be at his mercy. Frantically I +tore at the steering wheel in an effort to turn the prospector back toward +Pellucidar; but, as on that other occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair. +</p> + +<p> +It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of that journey. It +varied but little from the former one which had brought us from the outer to +the inner world. Because of the angle at which we had entered the ground the +trip required nearly a day longer, and brought me out here upon the sand of the +Sahara instead of in the United States as I had hoped. +</p> + +<p> +For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. I dared not leave +the prospector for fear I should never be able to find it again—the shifting +sands of the desert would soon cover it, and then my only hope of returning to +my Dian and her Pellucidar would be gone forever. +</p> + +<p> +That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, for how may I know +upon what part of Pellucidar my return journey may terminate—and how, without a +north or south or an east or a west may I hope ever to find my way across that +vast world to the tiny spot where my lost love lies grieving for me? +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the goat-skin tent upon the +rim of the great Sahara Desert. The next day he took me out to see the +prospector—it was precisely as he had described it. So huge was it that it +could have been brought to this inaccessible part of the world by no means of +transportation that existed there—it could only have come in the way that David +Innes said it came—up through the crust of the earth from the inner world of +Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +I spent a week with him, and then, abandoning my lion hunt, returned directly +to the coast and hurried to London where I purchased a great quantity of stuff +which he wished to take back to Pellucidar with him. There were books, rifles, +revolvers, ammunition, cameras, chemicals, telephones, telegraph instruments, +wire, tools and more books—books upon every subject under the sun. He said he +wanted a library with which they could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth +century in the Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I got it for him. +</p> + +<p> +I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied them to the end of +the railroad; but from here I was recalled to America upon important business. +However, I was able to employ a very trustworthy man to take charge of the +caravan—the same guide, in fact, who had accompanied me on the previous trip +into the Sahara—and after writing a long letter to Innes in which I gave him my +American address, I saw the expedition head south. +</p> + +<p> +Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five hundred miles of +double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. I had it packed on a special reel +at his suggestion, as it was his idea that he could fasten one end here before +he left and by paying it out through the end of the prospector lay a telegraph +line between the outer and inner worlds. In my letter I told him to be sure to +mark the terminus of the line very plainly with a high cairn, in case I was not +able to reach him before he set out, so that I might easily find and +communicate with him should he be so fortunate as to reach Pellucidar. +</p> + +<p> +I received several letters from him after I returned to America—in fact he took +advantage of every northward-passing caravan to drop me word of some sort. His +last letter was written the day before he intended to depart. Here it is. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +MY DEAR FRIEND: +</p> + +<p> +Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. That is if the Arabs +don’t get me. They have been very nasty of late. I don’t know the cause, but on +two occasions they have threatened my life. One, more friendly than the rest, +told me today that they intended attacking me tonight. It would be unfortunate +should anything of that sort happen now that I am so nearly ready to depart. +</p> + +<p> +However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the hour approaches, the +slenderer my chances for success appear. +</p> + +<p> +Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north for me, so good-bye, +and God bless you for your kindness to me. +</p> + +<p> +The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand to the south—he thinks +it is the party coming to murder me, and he doesn’t want to be found with me. +So good-bye again. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +Yours, <br/> +DAVID INNES. +</p> + +<p> +A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, headed for the spot +where I had left Innes. My first disappointment was when I discovered that my +old guide had died within a few weeks of my return, nor could I find any member +of my former party who could lead me to the same spot. +</p> + +<p> +For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing countless desert sheiks +in the hope that at last I might find one who had heard of Innes and his +wonderful iron mole. Constantly my eyes scanned the blinding waste of sand for +the rocky cairn beneath which I was to find the wires leading to Pellucidar—but +always was I unsuccessful. +</p> + +<p> +And always do these awful questions harass me when I think of David Innes and +his strange adventures. +</p> + +<p> +Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? Or, did +he again turn the nose of his iron monster toward the inner world? Did he reach +it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of the great crust? And if he did +come again to Pellucidar was it to break through into the bottom of one of her +great island seas, or among some savage race far, far from the land of his +heart’s desire? +</p> + +<p> +Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, at the end of +two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost cairn? I wonder. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE EARTH’S CORE ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: At the Earth's Core + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Release Date: June 19, 2008 [EBook #123] +[Last updated: July 19, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE EARTH'S CORE *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +At the Earth's Core + + +By + +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + +CONTENTS + + + PROLOG + I TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + II A STRANGE WORLD + III A CHANGE OF MASTERS + IV DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + V SLAVES + VI THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + VII FREEDOM + VIII THE MAHAR TEMPLE + IX THE FACE OF DEATH + X PHUTRA AGAIN + XI FOUR DEAD MAHARS + XII PURSUIT + XIII THE SLY ONE + XIV THE GARDEN OF EDEN + XV BACK TO EARTH + + + + +PROLOG + + +IN THE FIRST PLACE PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT I do not expect you to +believe this story. Nor could you wonder had you witnessed a recent +experience of mine when, in the armor of blissful and stupendous +ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of it to a Fellow of the Royal +Geological Society on the occasion of my last trip to London. + +You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no less a +heinous crime than the purloining of the Crown Jewels from the Tower, +or putting poison in the coffee of His Majesty the King. + +The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I was half +through!--it is all that saved him from exploding--and my dreams of an +Honorary Fellowship, gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame faded +into the thin, cold air of his arctic atmosphere. + +But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the learned +Fellow of the Royal Geological Society, had you and he heard it from +the lips of the man who told it to me. Had you seen, as I did, the +fire of truth in those gray eyes; had you felt the ring of sincerity in +that quiet voice; had you realized the pathos of it all--you, too, +would believe. You would not have needed the final ocular proof that I +had--the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature which he had brought back +with him from the inner world. + +I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the rim +of the great Sahara Desert. He was standing before a goat-skin tent +amidst a clump of date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by was an Arab +douar of some eight or ten tents. + +I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted of a +dozen children of the desert--I was the only "white" man. As we +approached the little clump of verdure I saw the man come from his tent +and with hand-shaded eyes peer intently at us. At sight of me he +advanced rapidly to meet us. + +"A white man!" he cried. "May the good Lord be praised! I have been +watching you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS time there would +be a white man. Tell me the date. What year is it?" + +And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck full +in the face, so that he was compelled to grasp my stirrup leather for +support. + +"It cannot be!" he cried after a moment. "It cannot be! Tell me that +you are mistaken, or that you are but joking." + +"I am telling you the truth, my friend," I replied. "Why should I +deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a matter as the date?" + +For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head. + +"Ten years!" he murmured, at last. "Ten years, and I thought that at +the most it could be scarce more than one!" That night he told me his +story--the story that I give you here as nearly in his own words as I +can recall them. + + + +I + +TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + + +I WAS BORN IN CONNECTICUT ABOUT THIRTY YEARS ago. My name is David +Innes. My father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen he +died. All his property was to be mine when I had attained my +majority--provided that I had devoted the two years intervening in +close application to the great business I was to inherit. + +I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent--not because of +the inheritance, but because I loved and honored my father. For six +months I toiled in the mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to +know every minute detail of the business. + +Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow who +had devoted the better part of a long life to the perfection of a +mechanical subterranean prospector. As relaxation he studied +paleontology. I looked over his plans, listened to his arguments, +inspected his working model--and then, convinced, I advanced the funds +necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. + +I shall not go into the details of its construction--it lies out there +in the desert now--about two miles from here. Tomorrow you may care to +ride out and see it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred feet +long, and jointed so that it may turn and twist through solid rock if +need be. At one end is a mighty revolving drill operated by an engine +which Perry said generated more power to the cubic inch than any other +engine did to the cubic foot. I remember that he used to claim that +that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy--we were going to +make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our first +secret trial--but Perry never returned from that trial trip, and I only +after ten years. + +I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous occasion +upon which we were to test the practicality of that wondrous invention. +It was near midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry +had constructed his "iron mole" as he was wont to call the thing. The +great nose rested upon the bare earth of the floor. We passed through +the doors into the outer jacket, secured them, and then passing on into +the cabin, which contained the controlling mechanism within the inner +tube, switched on the electric lights. + +Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the +life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air to +replace that which we consumed in breathing; to his instruments for +recording temperatures, speed, distance, and for examining the +materials through which we were to pass. + +He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which +transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose of +his strange craft. + +Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon +transverse bars that we would be upright whether the craft were +ploughing her way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running +horizontally along some great seam of coal, or rising vertically toward +the surface again. + +At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a moment +we were silent, and then the old man's hand grasped the starting lever. +There was a frightful roaring beneath us--the giant frame trembled and +vibrated--there was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up +through the hollow space between the inner and outer jackets to be +deposited in our wake. We were off! + +The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full +minute neither of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial +desperation of the drowning man to the handrails of our swinging seats. +Then Perry glanced at the thermometer. + +"Gad!" he cried, "it cannot be possible--quick! What does the distance +meter read?" + +That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as I +turned to take a reading from the former I could see Perry muttering. + +"Ten degrees rise--it cannot be possible!" and then I saw him tug +frantically upon the steering wheel. + +As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated +Perry's evident excitement, and my heart sank within me. But when I +spoke I hid the fear which haunted me. "It will be seven hundred feet, +Perry," I said, "by the time you can turn her into the horizontal." + +"You'd better lend me a hand then, my boy," he replied, "for I cannot +budge her out of the vertical alone. God give that our combined +strength may be equal to the task, for else we are lost." + +I wormed my way to the old man's side with never a doubt but that the +great wheel would yield on the instant to the power of my young and +vigorous muscles. Nor was my belief mere vanity, for always had my +physique been the envy and despair of my fellows. And for that very +reason it had waxed even greater than nature had intended, since my +natural pride in my great strength had led me to care for and develop +my body and my muscles by every means within my power. What with +boxing, football, and baseball, I had been in training since childhood. + +And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of the huge +iron rim; but though I threw every ounce of my strength into it, my +best effort was as unavailing as Perry's had been--the thing would not +budge--the grim, insensate, horrible thing that was holding us upon the +straight road to death! + +At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word returned +to my seat. There was no need for words--at least none that I could +imagine, unless Perry desired to pray. And I was quite sure that he +would, for he never left an opportunity neglected where he might +sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when he arose in the morning, he +prayed before he ate, he prayed when he had finished eating, and before +he went to bed at night he prayed again. In between he often found +excuses to pray even when the provocation seemed far-fetched to my +worldly eyes--now that he was about to die I felt positive that I +should witness a perfect orgy of prayer--if one may allude with such a +simile to so solemn an act. + +But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring him in the +face Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. From his lips there +flowed--not prayer--but a clear and limpid stream of undiluted +profanity, and it was all directed at that quietly stubborn piece of +unyielding mechanism. + +"I should think, Perry," I chided, "that a man of your professed +religiousness would rather be at his prayers than cursing in the +presence of imminent death." + +"Death!" he cried. "Death is it that appalls you? That is nothing by +comparison with the loss the world must suffer. Why, David within this +iron cylinder we have demonstrated possibilities that science has +scarce dreamed. We have harnessed a new principle, and with it +animated a piece of steel with the power of ten thousand men. That two +lives will be snuffed out is nothing to the world calamity that entombs +in the bowels of the earth the discoveries that I have made and proved +in the successful construction of the thing that is now carrying us +farther and farther toward the eternal central fires." + +I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more concerned with our +own immediate future than with any problematic loss which the world +might be about to suffer. The world was at least ignorant of its +bereavement, while to me it was a real and terrible actuality. + +"What can we do?" I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath the mask of a +low and level voice. + +"We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere tanks +are empty," replied Perry, "or we may continue on with the slight hope +that we may later sufficiently deflect the prospector from the vertical +to carry us along the arc of a great circle which must eventually +return us to the surface. If we succeed in so doing before we reach +the higher internal temperature we may even yet survive. There would +seem to me to be about one chance in several million that we shall +succeed--otherwise we shall die more quickly but no more surely than as +though we sat supinely waiting for the torture of a slow and horrible +death." + +I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. While we +were talking the mighty iron mole had bored its way over a mile into +the rock of the earth's crust. + +"Let us continue on, then," I replied. "It should soon be over at this +rate. You never intimated that the speed of this thing would be so +high, Perry. Didn't you know it?" + +"No," he answered. "I could not figure the speed exactly, for I had no +instrument for measuring the mighty power of my generator. I reasoned, +however, that we should make about five hundred yards an hour." + +"And we are making seven miles an hour," I concluded for him, as I sat +with my eyes upon the distance meter. "How thick is the Earth's crust, +Perry?" I asked. + +"There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there are +geologists," was his answer. "One estimates it thirty miles, because +the internal heat, increasing at the rate of about one degree to each +sixty to seventy feet depth, would be sufficient to fuse the most +refractory substances at that distance beneath the surface. Another +finds that the phenomena of precession and nutation require that the +earth, if not entirely solid, must at least have a shell not less than +eight hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. So there you are. You +may take your choice." + +"And if it should prove solid?" I asked. + +"It will be all the same to us in the end, David," replied Perry. "At +the best our fuel will suffice to carry us but three or four days, +while our atmosphere cannot last to exceed three. Neither, then, is +sufficient to bear us in safety through eight thousand miles of +rock to the antipodes." + +"If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a final stop +between six and seven hundred miles beneath the earth's surface; but +during the last hundred and fifty miles of our journey we shall be +corpses. Am I correct?" I asked. + +"Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?" + +"I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce believe that +either of us realizes the real terrors of our position. I feel that I +should be reduced to panic; but yet I am not. I imagine that the shock +has been so great as to partially stun our sensibilities." + +Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising with less +rapidity. It was now but 140 degrees, although we had penetrated to a +depth of nearly four miles. I told Perry, and he smiled. + +"We have shattered one theory at least," was his only comment, and then +he returned to his self-assumed occupation of fluently cursing the +steering wheel. I once heard a pirate swear, but his best efforts +would have seemed like those of a tyro alongside of Perry's masterful +and scientific imprecations. + +Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well have +essayed to swing the earth itself. At my suggestion Perry stopped the +generator, and as we came to rest I again threw all my strength into a +supreme effort to move the thing even a hair's breadth--but the results +were as barren as when we had been traveling at top speed. + +I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. Perry +pulled it toward him, and once again we were plunging downward toward +eternity at the rate of seven miles an hour. I sat with my eyes glued +to the thermometer and the distance meter. The mercury was rising very +slowly now, though even at 145 degrees it was almost unbearable within +the narrow confines of our metal prison. + +About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this unfortunate +journey, we had bored to a depth of eighty-four miles, at which point +the mercury registered 153 degrees F. + +Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager food he +sustained his optimism I could not conjecture. From cursing he had +turned to singing--I felt that the strain had at last affected his +mind. For several hours we had not spoken except as he asked me for +the readings of the instruments from time to time, and I announced +them. My thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I recalled numerous +acts of my past life which I should have been glad to have had a few +more years to live down. There was the affair in the Latin Commons at +Andover when Calhoun and I had put gunpowder in the stove--and nearly +killed one of the masters. And then--but what was the use, I was about +to die and atone for all these things and several more. Already the +heat was sufficient to give me a foretaste of the hereafter. A few +more degrees and I felt that I should lose consciousness. + +"What are the readings now, David?" Perry's voice broke in upon my +somber reflections. + +"Ninety miles and 153 degrees," I replied. + +"Gad, but we've knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory into a cocked +hat!" he cried gleefully. + +"Precious lot of good it will do us," I growled back. + +"But my boy," he continued, "doesn't that temperature reading mean +anything to you? Why it hasn't gone up in six miles. Think of it, +son!" + +"Yes, I'm thinking of it," I answered; "but what difference will it +make when our air supply is exhausted whether the temperature is 153 +degrees or 153,000? We'll be just as dead, and no one will know the +difference, anyhow." But I must admit that for some unaccountable +reason the stationary temperature did renew my waning hope. What I +hoped for I could not have explained, nor did I try. The very fact, as +Perry took pains to explain, of the blasting of several very exact and +learned scientific hypotheses made it apparent that we could not know +what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, and so we might +continue to hope for the best, at least until we were dead--when hope +would no longer be essential to our happiness. It was very good, and +logical reasoning, and so I embraced it. + +At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 DEGREES! +When I announced it Perry reached over and hugged me. + +From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to drop until +it became as uncomfortably cold as it had been unbearably hot before. +At the depth of two hundred and forty miles our nostrils were assailed +by almost overpowering ammonia fumes, and the temperature had dropped +to TEN BELOW ZERO! We suffered nearly two hours of this intense and +bitter cold, until at about two hundred and forty-five miles from the +surface of the earth we entered a stratum of solid ice, when the +mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees. During the next three hours we +passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging into another +series of ammonia-impregnated strata, where the mercury again fell to +ten degrees below zero. + +Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at last we were +nearing the molten interior of the earth. At four hundred miles the +temperature had reached 153 degrees. Feverishly I watched the +thermometer. Slowly it rose. Perry had ceased singing and was at last +praying. + +Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually increasing +heat seemed to our distorted imaginations much greater than it really +was. For another hour I saw that pitiless column of mercury rise and +rise until at four hundred and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. Now +it was that we began to hang upon those readings in almost breathless +anxiety. + +One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum temperature +above the ice stratum. Would it stop at this point again, or would it +continue its merciless climb? We knew that there was no hope, and yet +with the persistence of life itself we continued to hope against +practical certainty. + +Already the air tanks were at low ebb--there was barely enough of the +precious gases to sustain us for another twelve hours. But would we be +alive to know or care? It seemed incredible. + +At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading. + +"Perry!" I shouted. "Perry, man! She's going down! She's going down! +She's 152 degrees again." + +"Gad!" he cried. "What can it mean? Can the earth be cold at the +center?" + +"I do not know, Perry," I answered; "but thank God, if I am to die it +shall not be by fire--that is all that I have feared. I can face the +thought of any death but that." + +Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had seven miles +from the surface of the earth, and then of a sudden the realization +broke upon us that death was very near. Perry was the first to +discover it. I saw him fussing with the valves that regulate the air +supply. And at the same time I experienced difficulty in breathing. +My head felt dizzy--my limbs heavy. + +I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and sat erect +again. Then he turned toward me. + +"Good-bye, David," he said. "I guess this is the end," and then he +smiled and closed his eyes. + +"Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you," I answered, smiling back at +him. But I fought off that awful lethargy. I was very young--I did +not want to die. + +For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death that +surrounded me upon all sides. At first I found that by climbing high +into the framework above me I could find more of the precious +life-giving elements, and for a while these sustained me. It must have +been an hour after Perry had succumbed that I at last came to the +realization that I could no longer carry on this unequal struggle +against the inevitable. + +With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned mechanically +toward the distance meter. It stood at exactly five hundred miles from +the earth's surface--and then of a sudden the huge thing that bore us +came to a stop. The rattle of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket +ceased. The wild racing of the giant drill betokened that it was +running loose in AIR--and then another truth flashed upon me. The +point of the prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it dawned on me that +since passing through the ice strata it had been above. We had turned +in the ice and sped upward toward the earth's crust. Thank God! We +were safe! + +I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were to have +been taken during the passage of the prospector through the earth, and +my fondest hopes were realized--a flood of fresh air was pouring into +the iron cabin. The reaction left me in a state of collapse, and I +lost consciousness. + + + +II + +A STRANGE WORLD + + +I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT, for as I lunged forward +from the crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash +to the floor of the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. + +My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought that +upon the very threshold of salvation he might be dead. Tearing open +his shirt I placed my ear to his breast. I could have cried with +relief--his heart was beating quite regularly. + +At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly across +his forehead and face several times. In a moment I was rewarded by the +raising of his lids. For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite +uncomprehending. Then his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he +sat up sniffing the air with an expression of wonderment upon his face. + +"Why, David," he cried at last, "it's air, as sure as I live. Why--why +what does it mean? Where in the world are we? What has happened?" + +"It means that we're back at the surface all right, Perry," I cried; +"but where, I don't know. I haven't opened her up yet. Been too busy +reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a close squeak!" + +"You say we're back at the surface, David? How can that be? How long +have I been unconscious?" + +"Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don't you recall the sudden +whirling of our seats? After that the drill was above you instead of +below. We didn't notice it at the time; but I recall it now." + +"You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, David? That +is not possible. The prospector cannot turn unless its nose is +deflected from the outside--by some external force or resistance--the +steering wheel within would have moved in response. The steering wheel +has not budged, David, since we started. You know that." + +I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in pure air, and +copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin. + +"We couldn't have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know as well as +you," I replied; "but the fact remains that we did, for here we are +this minute at the surface of the earth again, and I am going out to +see just where." + +"Better wait till morning, David--it must be midnight now." + +I glanced at the chronometer. + +"Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, so it must be +midnight. Nevertheless I am going to have a look at the blessed sky +that I had given up all hope of ever seeing again," and so saying I +lifted the bars from the inner door, and swung it open. There was +quite a quantity of loose material in the jacket, and this I had to +remove with a shovel to get at the opposite door in the outer shell. + +In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock to the floor +of the cabin to expose the door beyond. Perry was directly behind me +as I threw it open. The upper half was above the surface of the +ground. With an expression of surprise I turned and looked at +Perry--it was broad daylight without! + +"Something seems to have gone wrong either with our calculations or the +chronometer," I said. Perry shook his head--there was a strange +expression in his eyes. + +"Let's have a look beyond that door, David," he cried. + +Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a landscape +at once weird and beautiful. Before us a low and level shore stretched +down to a silent sea. As far as the eye could reach the surface of the +water was dotted with countless tiny isles--some of towering, barren, +granitic rock--others resplendent in gorgeous trappings of tropical +vegetation, myriad starred with the magnificent splendor of vivid +blooms. + +Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns +intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest. +Huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense +under-brush overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. +Upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid coloring of +countless blossoms that glorified the islands, but within the dense +shadows all seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. + +And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays out of a cloudless +sky. + +"Where on earth can we be?" I asked, turning to Perry. + +For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with bowed head, +buried in deep thought. But at last he spoke. + +"David," he said, "I am not so sure that we are ON earth." + +"What do you mean, Perry?" I cried. "Do you think that we are dead, and +this is heaven?" He smiled, and turning, pointing to the nose of the +prospector protruding from the ground at our backs. + +"But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed come to the +country beyond the Styx. The prospector renders that theory +untenable--it, certainly, could never have gone to heaven. However I +am willing to concede that we actually may be in another world from +that which we have always known. If we are not ON earth, there is +every reason to believe that we may be IN it." + +"We may have quartered through the earth's crust and come out upon some +tropical island of the West Indies," I suggested. Again Perry shook +his head. + +"Let us wait and see, David," he replied, "and in the meantime suppose +we do a bit of exploring up and down the coast--we may find a native +who can enlighten us." + +As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly across the +water. Evidently he was wrestling with a mighty problem. + +"David," he said abruptly, "do you perceive anything unusual about the +horizon?" + +As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the strangeness of the +landscape that had haunted me from the first with an illusive +suggestion of the bizarre and unnatural--THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far +as the eye could reach out the sea continued and upon its bosom floated +tiny islands, those in the distance reduced to mere specks; but ever +beyond them was the sea, until the impression became quite real that +one was LOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyes could +fathom--the distance was lost in the distance. That was all--there was +no clear-cut horizontal line marking the dip of the globe below the +line of vision. + +"A great light is commencing to break on me," continued Perry, taking +out his watch. "I believe that I have partially solved the riddle. It +is now two o'clock. When we emerged from the prospector the sun was +directly above us. Where is it now?" + +I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the center of +the heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely noticed it before. Fully +thrice the size of the sun I had known throughout my life, and +apparently so near that the sight of it carried the conviction that one +might almost reach up and touch it. + +"My God, Perry, where are we?" I exclaimed. "This thing is beginning +to get on my nerves." + +"I think that I may state quite positively, David," he commenced, "that +we are--" but he got no further. From behind us in the vicinity of the +prospector there came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever +had fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned to discover the +author of that fearsome noise. + +Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the sight that +met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it. Emerging from the +forest was a colossal beast which closely resembled a bear. It was +fully as large as the largest elephant and with great forepaws armed +with huge claws. Its nose, or snout, depended nearly a foot below its +lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk. The giant +body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair. + +Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling trot. I +turned to Perry to suggest that it might be wise to seek other +surroundings--the idea had evidently occurred to Perry previously, for +he was already a hundred paces away, and with each second his +prodigious bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed what +latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed. + +I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest which ran +out toward the sea not far from where we had been standing, and as the +mighty creature, the sight of which had galvanized him into such +remarkable action, was forging steadily toward me, I set off after +Perry, though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It was evident that +the massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed, so all that I +considered necessary was to gain the trees sufficiently ahead of it to +enable me to climb to the safety of some great branch before it came up. + +Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at Perry's +frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety of the lower branches +of the trees he now had reached. The stems were bare for a distance of +some fifteen feet--at least on those trees which Perry attempted to +ascend, for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger of the +forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. A dozen times he +scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back to the ground +once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over his +shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken +shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest. + +At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of one's wrist, +and when I reached the trees he was racing madly up it, hand over hand. +He had almost reached the lowest branch of the tree from which the +creeper depended when the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell +sprawling at my feet. + +The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was already too +close to us for comfort. Seizing Perry by the shoulder I dragged him +to his feet, and rushing to a smaller tree--one that he could easily +encircle with his arms and legs--I boosted him as far up as I could, +and then left him to his fate, for a glance over my shoulder revealed +the awful beast almost upon me. + +It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous +bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with the agility of my +young muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of its way and run +completely behind it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit. + +The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged in +the branches of a tree a few paces from that in which Perry had at last +found a haven. + +Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, and +so did Perry. He was praying--raising his voice in thanksgiving at our +deliverance--and had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that +the thing couldn't climb a tree when without warning it reared up +beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and reached those +fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon which he crouched. + +The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry's scream of fright, +and he came near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws beneath him, so +precipitate was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. It +was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him gain a higher branch in +safety. + +And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror. +Grasping the tree's stem with his powerful paws he dragged down with +all the great weight of his huge bulk and all the irresistible force of +those mighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began to bend +toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward as the tree leaned +more and more from the perpendicular. Perry clung chattering in a +panic of terror. Higher and higher into the bending and swaying tree +he clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward +the ground. + +I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. The +use that he was putting them to was precisely that for which nature had +intended them. The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed +that mighty carcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage. +The reason for its attacking us might easily be accounted for on the +supposition of an ugly disposition such as that which the fierce and +stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. But these were later +reflections. At the moment I was too frantic with apprehension on +Perry's behalf to consider aught other than a means to save him from +the death that loomed so close. + +Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open, I +dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only on distracting the thing's +attention from Perry long enough to enable the old man to gain the +safety of a larger tree. There were many close by which not even the +terrific strength of that titanic monster could bend. + +As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the tangled mass +that matted the jungle-like floor of the forest and, leaping unnoticed +behind the shaggy back, dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan +worked like magic. From the previous slowness of the beast I had been +led to look for no such marvelous agility as he now displayed. +Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all fours and at the +same time swung his great, wicked tail with a force that would have +broken every bone in my body had it struck me; but, fortunately, I had +turned to flee at the very instant that I felt my blow land upon the +towering back. + +As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running along the +edge of the forest rather than making for the open beach. In a moment +I was knee-deep in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing behind me +was gaining rapidly as I floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate +myself. + +A fallen log gave me an instant's advantage, for climbing upon it I +leaped to another a few paces farther on, and in this way was able to +keep clear of the mush that carpeted the surrounding ground. But the +zigzag course that this necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap +upon me that my pursuer was steadily gaining upon me. + +Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, piercing +barks--much the sound that a pack of wolves raises when in full cry. +Involuntarily I glanced backward to discover the origin of this new and +menacing note with the result that I missed my footing and went +sprawling once more upon my face in the deep muck. + +My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I must feel the +weight of one of his terrible paws before I could rise, but to my +surprise the blow did not fall upon me. The howling and snapping and +barking of the new element which had been infused into the melee now +seemed centered quite close behind me, and as I raised myself upon my +hands and glanced around I saw what it was that had distracted the +DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called, from my trail. + +It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like creatures--wild +dogs they seemed--that rushed growling and snapping in upon it from all +sides, so that they sank their white fangs into the slow brute and were +away again before it could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping +tail. + +But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. Chattering and +gibbering through the lower branches of the trees came a company of +manlike creatures evidently urging on the dog pack. They were to all +appearances strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their +skins were very black, and their features much like those of the more +pronounced Negroid type except that the head receded more rapidly above +the eyes, leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were rather longer +and their legs shorter in proportion to the torso than in man, and +later I noticed that their great toes protruded at right angles from +their feet--because of their arboreal habits, I presume. Behind them +trailed long, slender tails which they used in climbing quite as much +as they did either their hands or feet. + +I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that the +wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay. At sight of me several of +the savage creatures left off worrying the great brute to come slinking +with bared fangs toward me, and as I turned to run toward the trees +again to seek safety among the lower branches, I saw a number of the +man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage of the nearest tree. + +Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, but at +least there was a doubt as to the reception these grotesque parodies on +humanity would accord me, while there was none as to the fate which +awaited me beneath the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers. + +And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath that which +held the man-things and take refuge in another farther on; but the +wolf-dogs were very close behind me--so close that I had despaired of +escaping them, when one of the creatures in the tree above swung down +headforemost, his tail looped about a great limb, and grasping me +beneath my armpits swung me in safety up among his fellows. + +There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement and +curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair, and my flesh. They +turned me about to see if I had a tail, and when they discovered that I +was not so equipped they fell into roars of laughter. Their teeth were +very large and white and even, except for the upper canines which were +a trifle longer than the others--protruding just a bit when the mouth +was closed. + +When they had examined me for a few moments one of them discovered that +my clothing was not a part of me, with the result that garment by +garment they tore it from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter. +Apelike, they essayed to don the apparel themselves, but their +ingenuity was not sufficient to the task and so they gave it up. + +In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of +Perry, but nowhere about could I see him, although the clump of trees +in which he had first taken refuge was in full view. I was much +exercised by fear that something had befallen him, and though I called +his name aloud several times there was no response. + +Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures threw it to the +ground, and catching me, one on either side, by an arm, started off at +a most terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have I experienced +such a journey before or since--even now I oftentimes awake from a deep +sleep haunted by the horrid remembrance of that awful experience. + +From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, +while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as I glimpsed the depths +beneath, into which a single misstep on the part of either of my +bearers would hurl me. As they bore me along, my mind was occupied +with a thousand bewildering thoughts. What had become of Perry? Would +I ever see him again? What were the intentions of these half-human +things into whose hands I had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the +same world into which I had been born? No! It could not be. But yet +where else? I had not left that earth--of that I was sure. Still +neither could I reconcile the things which I had seen to a belief that +I was still in the world of my birth. With a sigh I gave it up. + + + +III + +A CHANGE OF MASTERS + + +WE MUST HAVE TRAVELED SEVERAL MILES THROUGH the dark and dismal wood +when we came suddenly upon a dense village built high among the +branches of the trees. As we approached it my escort broke into wild +shouting which was immediately answered from within, and a moment later +a swarm of creatures of the same strange race as those who had captured +me poured out to meet us. Again I was the center of a wildly +chattering horde. I was pulled this way and that. Pinched, pounded, +and thumped until I was black and blue, yet I do not think that their +treatment was dictated by either cruelty or malice--I was a curiosity, +a freak, a new plaything, and their childish minds required the added +evidence of all their senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. + +Presently they dragged me within the village, which consisted of +several hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves supported upon the +branches of the trees. + +Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, were dead +branches and the trunks of small trees which connected the huts upon +one tree to those within adjoining trees; the whole network of huts and +pathways forming an almost solid flooring a good fifty feet above the +ground. + +I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges +between the trees, but later when I saw the motley aggregation of +half-savage beasts which they kept within their village I realized the +necessity for the pathways. There were a number of the same vicious +wolf-dogs which we had left worrying the dyryth, and many goatlike +animals whose distended udders explained the reasons for their presence. + +My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; then +two of the creatures squatted down before the entrance--to prevent my +escape, doubtless. Though where I should have escaped to I certainly +had not the remotest conception. I had no more than entered the dark +shadows of the interior than there fell upon my ears the tones of a +familiar voice, in prayer. + +"Perry!" I cried. "Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you are safe." + +"David! Can it be possible that you escaped?" And the old man stumbled +toward me and threw his arms about me. + +He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been seized by a +number of the ape-creatures and borne through the tree tops to their +village. His captors had been as inquisitive as to his strange +clothing as had mine, with the same result. As we looked at each other +we could not help but laugh. + +"With a tail, David," remarked Perry, "you would make a very handsome +ape." + +"Maybe we can borrow a couple," I rejoined. "They seem to be quite the +thing this season. I wonder what the creatures intend doing with us, +Perry. They don't seem really savage. What do you suppose they can +be? You were about to tell me where we are when that great hairy +frigate bore down upon us--have you really any idea at all?" + +"Yes, David," he replied, "I know precisely where we are. We have made +a magnificent discovery, my boy! We have proved that the earth is +hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust to the inner world." + +"Perry, you are mad!" + +"Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our prospector +bore us through the crust beneath our outer world. At that point it +reached the center of gravity of the five-hundred-mile-thick crust. Up +to that point we had been descending--direction is, of course, merely +relative. Then at the moment that our seats revolved--the thing that +made you believe that we had turned about and were speeding upward--we +passed the center of gravity and, though we did not alter the direction +of our progress, yet we were in reality moving upward--toward the +surface of the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and flora which +we have seen convince you that you are not in the world of your birth? +And the horizon--could it present the strange aspects which we both +noted unless we were indeed standing upon the inside surface of a +sphere?" + +"But the sun, Perry!" I urged. "How in the world can the sun shine +through five hundred miles of solid crust?" + +"It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It is another +sun--an entirely different sun--that casts its eternal noonday +effulgence upon the face of the inner world. Look at it now, David--if +you can see it from the doorway of this hut--and you will see that it +is still in the exact center of the heavens. We have been here for +many hours--yet it is still noon. + +"And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a nebulous +mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. At length a thin crust +of solid matter formed upon its outer surface--a sort of shell; but +within it was partially molten matter and highly expanded gases. As it +continued to cool, what happened? Centrifugal force hurled the +particles of the nebulous center toward the crust as rapidly as they +approached a solid state. You have seen the same principle practically +applied in the modern cream separator. Presently there was only a +small super-heated core of gaseous matter remaining within a huge +vacant interior left by the contraction of the cooling gases. The +equal attraction of the solid crust from all directions maintained this +luminous core in the exact center of the hollow globe. What remains of +it is the sun you saw today--a relatively tiny thing at the exact +center of the earth. Equally to every part of this inner world it +diffuses its perpetual noonday light and torrid heat. + +"This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal life +long ages after life appeared upon the outer crust, but that the same +agencies were at work here is evident from the similar forms of both +animal and vegetable creation which we have already seen. Take the +great beast which attacked us, for example. Unquestionably a +counterpart of the Megatherium of the post-Pliocene period of the outer +crust, whose fossilized skeleton has been found in South America." + +"But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?" I urged. "Surely they +have no counterpart in the earth's history." + +"Who can tell?" he rejoined. "They may constitute the link between ape +and man, all traces of which have been swallowed by the countless +convulsions which have racked the outer crust, or they may be merely +the result of evolution along slightly different lines--either is quite +possible." + +Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of several of our +captors before the entrance of the hut. Two of them entered and +dragged us forth. The perilous pathways and the surrounding trees were +filled with the black ape-men, their females, and their young. There +was not an ornament, a weapon, or a garment among the lot. + +"Quite low in the scale of creation," commented Perry. + +"Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though," I replied. "Now +what do you suppose they intend doing with us?" + +We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip to the +village we were seized by a couple of the powerful creatures and +whirled away through the tree tops, while about us and in our wake +raced a chattering, jabbering, grinning horde of sleek, black +ape-things. + +Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased beating as +we plunged toward instant death among the tangled deadwood beneath. +But on both occasions those lithe, powerful tails reached out and found +sustaining branches, nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp +upon me. In fact, it seemed that the incidents were of no greater +moment to them than would be the stubbing of one's toe at a street +crossing in the outer world--they but laughed uproariously and sped on +with me. + +For some time they continued through the forest--how long I could not +guess for I was learning, what was later borne very forcefully to my +mind, that time ceases to be a factor the moment means for measuring it +cease to exist. Our watches were gone, and we were living beneath a +stationary sun. Already I was puzzled to compute the period of time +which had elapsed since we broke through the crust of the inner world. +It might be hours, or it might be days--who in the world could tell +where it was always noon! By the sun, no time had elapsed--but my +judgment told me that we must have been several hours in this strange +world. + +Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a level plain. A +short distance before us rose a few low, rocky hills. Toward these our +captors urged us, and after a short time led us through a narrow pass +into a tiny, circular valley. Here they got down to work, and we were +soon convinced that if we were not to die to make a Roman holiday, we +were to die for some other purpose. The attitude of our captors +altered immediately as they entered the natural arena within the rocky +hills. Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity marked their bestial +faces--bared fangs menaced us. + +We were placed in the center of the amphitheater--the thousand +creatures forming a great ring about us. Then a wolf-dog was +brought--HYAENODON Perry called it--and turned loose with us inside the +circle. The thing's body was as large as that of a full-grown mastiff, +its legs were short and powerful, and its jaws broad and strong. Dark, +shaggy hair covered its back and sides, while its breast and belly were +quite white. As it slunk toward us it presented a most formidable +aspect with its upcurled lips baring its mighty fangs. + +Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a small +stone. At my movement the beast veered off a bit and commenced +circling us. Evidently it had been a target for stones before. The +ape-things were dancing up and down urging the brute on with savage +cries, until at last, seeing that I did not throw, he charged us. + +At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball teams. My +speed and control must both have been above the ordinary, for I made +such a record during my senior year at college that overtures were made +to me in behalf of one of the great major-league teams; but in the +tightest pitch that ever had confronted me in the past I had never been +in such need for control as now. + +As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles under +absolute command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling toward me at +terrific speed. And then I let go, with every ounce of my weight and +muscle and science in back of that throw. The stone caught the +hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, and sent him bowling over upon +his back. + +At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from the circle +of spectators, so that for a moment I thought that the upsetting of +their champion was the cause; but in this I soon saw that I was +mistaken. As I looked, the ape-things broke in all directions toward +the surrounding hills, and then I distinguished the real cause of their +perturbation. Behind them, streaming through the pass which leads into +the valley, came a swarm of hairy men--gorilla-like creatures armed +with spears and hatchets, and bearing long, oval shields. Like demons +they set upon the ape-things, and before them the hyaenodon, which had +now regained its senses and its feet, fled howling with fright. Past +us swept the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy ones accord us +more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its +former occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to have +authority among them directed that we be brought with them. + +When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great plain we saw +a caravan of men and women--human beings like ourselves--and for the +first time hope and relief filled my heart, until I could have cried +out in the exuberance of my happiness. It is true that they were a +half-naked, wild-appearing aggregation; but they at least were +fashioned along the same lines as ourselves--there was nothing +grotesque or horrible about them as about the other creatures in this +strange, weird world. + +But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we discovered +that the poor wretches were chained neck to neck in a long line, and +that the gorilla-men were their guards. With little ceremony Perry and +I were chained at the end of the line, and without further ado the +interrupted march was resumed. + +Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now the +tiresome monotony of the long march across the sun-baked plain brought +on all the agonies consequent to a long-denied sleep. On and on we +stumbled beneath that hateful noonday sun. If we fell we were prodded +with a sharp point. Our companions in chains did not stumble. They +strode along proudly erect. Occasionally they would exchange words +with one another in a monosyllabic language. They were a +noble-appearing race with well-formed heads and perfect physiques. The +men were heavily bearded, tall and muscular; the women, smaller and +more gracefully molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into +loose knots upon their heads. The features of both sexes were well +proportioned--there was not a face among them that would have been +called even plain if judged by earthly standards. They wore no +ornaments; but this I later learned was due to the fact that their +captors had stripped them of everything of value. As garmenture the +women possessed a single robe of some light-colored, spotted hide, +rather similar in appearance to a leopard's skin. This they wore +either supported entirely about the waist by a leathern thong, so that +it hung partially below the knee on one side, or possibly looped +gracefully across one shoulder. Their feet were shod with skin +sandals. The men wore loin cloths of the hide of some shaggy beast, +long ends of which depended before and behind nearly to the ground. In +some instances these ends were finished with the strong talons of the +beast from which the hides had been taken. + +Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like men, were +rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so they were indeed +mighty creatures. Their arms and legs were proportioned more in +conformity with human standards, but their entire bodies were covered +with shaggy, brown hair, and their faces were quite as brutal as those +of the few stuffed specimens of the gorilla which I had seen in the +museums at home. + +Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head above +and back of the ears. In this respect they were not one whit less +human than we. They were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth +which reached to the knees. Beneath this they wore only a loin cloth +of the same material, while their feet were shod with thick hide of +some mammoth creature of this inner world. + +Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metal--silver +predominating--and on their tunics were sewn the heads of tiny reptiles +in odd and rather artistic designs. They talked among themselves as +they marched along on either side of us, but in a language which I +perceived differed from that employed by our fellow prisoners. When +they addressed the latter they used what appeared to be a third +language, and which I later learned is a mongrel tongue rather +analogous to the Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie. + +How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of us +were asleep much of the time for hours before a halt was called--then +we dropped in our tracks. I say "for hours," but how may one measure +time where time does not exist! When our march commenced the sun stood +at zenith. When we halted our shadows still pointed toward nadir. +Whether an instant or an eternity of earthly time elapsed who may say. +That march may have occupied nine years and eleven months of the ten +years that I spent in the inner world, or it may have been accomplished +in the fraction of a second--I cannot tell. But this I do know that +since you have told me that ten years have elapsed since I departed +from this earth I have lost all respect for time--I am commencing to +doubt that such a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of +man. + + + +IV + +DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + + +WHEN OUR GUARDS AROUSED US FROM SLEEP WE were much refreshed. They +gave us food. Strips of dried meat it was, but it put new life and +strength into us, so that now we too marched with high-held heads, and +took noble strides. At least I did, for I was young and proud; but +poor Perry hated walking. On earth I had often seen him call a cab to +travel a square--he was paying for it now, and his old legs wobbled so +that I put my arm about him and half carried him through the balance of +those frightful marches. + +The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the level +plain through mighty mountains of virgin granite. The tropical verdure +of the lowlands was replaced by hardier vegetation, but even here the +effects of constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity of +the trees and the profusion of foliage and blooms. Crystal streams +roared through their rocky channels, fed by the perpetual snows which +we could see far above us. Above the snowcapped heights hung masses of +heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, which evidently served +the double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and protecting +them from the direct rays of the sun. + +By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard language in +which our guards addressed us, as well as making good headway in the +rather charming tongue of our co-captives. Directly ahead of me in the +chain gang was a young woman. Three feet of chain linked us together +in a forced companionship which I, at least, soon rejoiced in. For I +found her a willing teacher, and from her I learned the language of her +tribe, and much of the life and customs of the inner world--at least +that part of it with which she was familiar. + +She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she +belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs above the +Darel Az, or shallow sea. + +"How came you here?" I asked her. + +"I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she answered, as though +that was explanation quite sufficient. + +"Who is Jubal the Ugly One?" I asked. "And why did you run away from +him?" + +She looked at me in surprise. + +"Why DOES a woman run away from a man?" she answered my question with +another. + +"They do not, where I come from," I replied. "Sometimes they run after +them." + +But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the fact +that I was of another world. She was quite as positive that creation +was originated solely to produce her own kind and the world she lived +in as are many of the outer world. + +"But Jubal," I insisted. "Tell me about him, and why you ran away to +be chained by the neck and scourged across the face of a world." + +"Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father's house. It was +the head of a mighty tandor. It remained there and no greater trophy +was placed beside it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One would come and +take me as his mate. None other so powerful wished me, or they would +have slain a mightier beast and thus have won me from Jubal. My father +is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a sadok tossed him, and never +again had he the full use of his right arm. My brother, Dacor the +Strong One, had gone to the land of Sari to steal a mate for himself. +Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal +the Ugly One, and I ran away and hid among the hills that skirt the +land of Amoz. And there these Sagoths found me and made me captive." + +"What will they do with you?" I asked. "Where are they taking us?" + +Again she looked her incredulity. + +"I can almost believe that you are of another world," she said, "for +otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable. Do you really mean that +you do not know that the Sagoths are the creatures of the Mahars--the +mighty Mahars who think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows +upon its surface, or creeps or burrows beneath, or swims within its +lakes and oceans, or flies through its air? Next you will be telling +me that you never before heard of the Mahars!" + +I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there was no +alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a clean breast of +my pitiful ignorance as to the mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But +she did her very best to enlighten me, though much that she said was as +Greek would have been to her. She described the Mahars largely by +comparisons. In this way they were like unto thipdars, in that to the +hairless lidi. + +About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had +wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground; could +swim under water for great distances, and were very, very wise. The +Sagoths were their weapons of offense and defense, and the races like +herself were their hands and feet--they were the slaves and servants +who did all the manual labor. The Mahars were the heads--the +brains--of the inner world. I longed to see this wondrous race of +supermen. + +Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we occasionally +did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he would join in the +conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just +ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He +too entered the conversation occasionally. Most of his remarks were +directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It didn't take half an eye to see +that he had developed a bad case; but the girl appeared totally +oblivious to his thinly veiled advances. Did I say thinly veiled? +There is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have forgotten +which, who indicate their preference for the lady of their affections +by banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By comparison with this +method Hooja's lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. At first it +caused me to blush violently although I have seen several Old Years out +at Rectors, and in other less fashionable places off Broadway, and in +Vienna, and Hamburg. + +But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she +considered herself as entirely above and apart from her present +surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with Perry, and with +the taciturn Ghak because we were respectful; but she couldn't even see +Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, and that made him furious. He +tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up ahead of him in the +slave gang, but the fellow only poked him with his spear and told him +that he had selected the girl for his own property--that he would buy +her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, +was the city of our destination. + +After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt sea, +upon whose bosom swam countless horrid things. Seal-like creatures +there were with long necks stretching ten and more feet above their +enormous bodies and whose snake heads were split with gaping mouths +bristling with countless fangs. There were huge tortoises too, +paddling about among these other reptiles, which Perry said were +Plesiosaurs of the Lias. I didn't question his veracity--they might +have been most anything. + +Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that the +other, and more fearsome reptiles, which occasionally rose from the +deep to do battle with them, were azdyryths, or sea-dyryths--Perry +called them Ichthyosaurs. They resembled a whale with the head of an +alligator. + +I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at school--about all +that remained was an impression of horror that the illustrations of +restored prehistoric monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined +belief that any man with a pig's shank and a vivid imagination could +"restore" most any sort of paleolithic monster he saw fit, and take +rank as a first class paleontologist. But when I saw these sleek, +shiny carcasses shimmering in the sunlight as they emerged from the +ocean, shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll from their +sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided hither and +thither, now upon the surface, now half submerged; as I saw them meet, +open-mouthed, hissing and snorting, in their titanic and interminable +warring I realized how futile is man's poor, weak imagination by +comparison with Nature's incredible genius. + +And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so himself. + +"David," he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside that +awful sea. "David, I used to teach geology, and I thought that I +believed what I taught; but now I see that I did not believe it--that +it is impossible for man to believe such things as these unless he sees +them with his own eyes. We take things for granted, perhaps, because +we are told them over and over again, and have no way of disproving +them--like religions, for example; but we don't believe them, we only +think we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you will find +that the geologists and paleontologists will be the first to set you +down a liar, for they know that no such creatures as they restore ever +existed. It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an equally +imaginary epoch--but now? poof!" + +At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack chain +to permit him to worm himself back quite close to Dian. We were all +standing, and as he edged near the girl she turned her back upon him in +such a truly earthly feminine manner that I could scarce repress a +smile; but it was a short-lived smile for on the instant the Sly One's +hand fell upon the girl's bare arm, jerking her roughly toward him. + +I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics which +prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need the appealing +look which the girl shot to me from her magnificent eyes to influence +my subsequent act. What the Sly One's intention was I paused not to +inquire; but instead, before he could lay hold of her with his other +hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw that felled him in his +tracks. + +A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and the +Sagoths who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I later learned, +because I had championed the girl, but for the neat and, to them, +astounding method by which I had bested Hooja. + +And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering eyes, and +then she dropped her head, her face half averted, and a delicate flush +suffused her cheek. For a moment she stood thus in silence, and then +her head went high, and she turned her back upon me as she had upon +Hooja. Some of the prisoners laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak the +Hairy One go very black as he looked at me searchingly. And what I +could see of Dian's cheek went suddenly from red to white. + +Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that in +some way I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could not prevail upon her +to talk with me that I might learn wherein I had erred--in fact I might +quite as well have been addressing a sphinx for all the attention I +got. At last my own foolish pride stepped in and prevented my making +any further attempts, and thus a companionship that without my +realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me was cut off. +Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not renew +his advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture near me. + +Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became a perfect +nightmare of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed became the +realization that the girl's friendship had meant so much to me, the +more I came to miss it; and the more impregnable the barrier of silly +pride. But I was very young and would not ask Ghak for the explanation +which I was sure he could give, and that might have made everything all +right again. + +On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice +me--when her eyes wandered in my direction she looked either over my +head or directly through me. At last I became desperate, and +determined to swallow my self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me how +I had offended, and how I might make reparation. I made up my mind +that I should do this at the next halt. We were approaching another +range of mountains at the time, and when we reached them, instead of +winding across them through some high-flung pass we entered a mighty +natural tunnel--a series of labyrinthine grottoes, dark as Erebus. + +The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we had +seen no artificial light or sign of fire since we had entered +Pellucidar. In a land of perpetual noon there is no need of light +above ground, yet I marveled that they had no means of lighting their +way through these dark, subterranean passages. So we crept along at a +snail's pace, with much stumbling and falling--the guards keeping up a +singsong chant ahead of us, interspersed with certain high notes which +I found always indicated rough places and turns. + +Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian until +I could see from the expression of her face how she was receiving my +apologies. At last a faint glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the +tunnel, for which I for one was devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden +turn we emerged into the full light of the noonday sun. + +But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a real +catastrophe--Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen other prisoners. +The guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to +behold. Their awesome, bestial faces were contorted in the most +diabolical expressions, as they accused each other of responsibility +for the loss. Finally they fell upon us, beating us with their spear +shafts, and hatchets. They had already killed two near the head of the +line, and were like to have finished the balance of us when their +leader finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. Never in all my +life had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of bestial rage--I +thanked God that Dian had not been one of those left to endure it. + +Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each alternate +one had been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja was gone. Ghak +remained. What could it mean? How had it been accomplished? The +commander of the guards was investigating. Soon he discovered that the +rude locks which had held the neckbands in place had been deftly picked. + +"Hooja the Sly One," murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. +"He has taken the girl that you would not have," he continued, glancing +at me. + +"That I would not have!" I cried. "What do you mean?" + +He looked at me closely for a moment. + +"I have doubted your story that you are from another world," he said at +last, "but yet upon no other grounds could your ignorance of the ways +of Pellucidar be explained. Do you really mean that you do not know +that you offended the Beautiful One, and how?" + +"I do not know, Ghak," I replied. + +"Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes between +another man and the woman the other man would have, the woman belongs +to the victor. Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have +claimed her or released her. Had you taken her hand, it would have +indicated your desire to make her your mate, and had you raised her +hand above her head and then dropped it, it would have meant that you +did not wish her for a mate and that you released her from all +obligation to you. By doing neither you have put upon her the greatest +affront that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No +man will take her as mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall +have overcome you in combat, and men do not choose slave women as their +mates--at least not the men of Pellucidar." + +"I did not know, Ghak," I cried. "I did not know. Not for all +Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, or look, or +act of mine. I do not want her as my slave. I do not want her as +my--" but here I stopped. The vision of that sweet and innocent face +floated before me amidst the soft mists of imagination, and where I had +on the second believed that I clung only to the memory of a gentle +friendship I had lost, yet now it seemed that it would have been +disloyalty to her to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful +as my mate. I had not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a +strange, cruel world. Even now I did not think that I loved her. + +I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than in +my words, for presently he laid his hand upon my shoulder. + +"Man of another world," he said, "I believe you. Lips may lie, but +when the heart speaks through the eyes it tells only the truth. Your +heart has spoken to me. I know now that you meant no affront to Dian +the Beautiful. She is not of my tribe; but her mother is my sister. +She does not know it--her mother was stolen by Dian's father who came +with many others of the tribe of Amoz to battle with us for our +women--the most beautiful women of Pellucidar. Then was her father +king of Amoz, and her mother was daughter of the king of Sari--to whose +power I, his son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, +though her father is no longer king since the sadok tossed him and +Jubal the Ugly One wrested his kingship from him. Because of her +lineage the wrong you did her was greatly magnified in the eyes of all +who saw it. She will never forgive you." + +I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the +girl from the bondage and ignominy I had unwittingly placed upon her. + +"If ever you find her, yes," he answered. "Merely to raise her hand +above her head and drop it in the presence of others is sufficient to +release her; but how may you ever find her, you who are doomed to a +life of slavery yourself in the buried city of Phutra?" + +"Is there no escape?" I asked. + +"Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him," replied Ghak. +"But there are no more dark places on the way to Phutra, and once there +it is not so easy--the Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from +Phutra there are the thipdars--they would find you, and then--" the +Hairy One shuddered. "No, you will never escape the Mahars." + +It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought about it; +but he only shrugged his shoulders and continued a longwinded prayer he +had been at for some time. He was wont to say that the only redeeming +feature of our captivity was the ample time it gave him for the +improvisation of prayers--it was becoming an obsession with him. The +Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of declaiming throughout +entire marches. One of them asked him what he was saying--to whom he +was talking. The question gave me an idea, so I answered quickly +before Perry could say anything. + +"Do not interrupt him," I said. "He is a very holy man in the world +from which we come. He is speaking to spirits which you cannot see--do +not interrupt him or they will spring out of the air upon you and rend +you limb from limb--like that," and I jumped toward the great brute +with a loud "Boo!" that sent him stumbling backward. + +I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital out +of Perry's harmless mania I wanted to make it while the making was +prime. It worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with marked +respect during the balance of the journey, and then passed the word +along to their masters, the Mahars. + +Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The +entrance to it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, which guarded +a flight of steps leading to the buried city. Sagoths were on guard +here as well as at a hundred or more other towers scattered about over +a large plain. + + + +V + +SLAVES + + +AS WE DESCENDED THE BROAD STAIRCASE WHICH led to the main avenue of +Phutra I caught my first sight of the dominant race of the inner world. +Involuntarily I shrank back as one of the creatures approached to +inspect us. A more hideous thing it would be impossible to imagine. +The all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar are great reptiles, some six or +eight feet in length, with long narrow heads and great round eyes. +Their beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, and the backs +of their huge, lizard bodies are serrated into bony ridges from their +necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are equipped with +three webbed toes, while from the fore feet membranous wings, which are +attached to their bodies just in front of the hind legs, protrude at an +angle of 45 degrees toward the rear, ending in sharp points several +feet above their bodies. + +I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. The old man +was gazing at the horrid creature with wide astonished eyes. When it +passed on, he turned to me. + +"A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David," he said, "but, gad, +how enormous! The largest remains we ever have discovered have never +indicated a size greater than that attained by an ordinary crow." + +As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw many +thousand of the creatures coming and going upon their daily duties. +They paid but little attention to us. Phutra is laid out underground +with a regularity that indicates remarkable engineering skill. It is +hewn from solid limestone strata. The streets are broad and of a +uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals tubes pierce the roof of +this underground city, and by means of lenses and reflectors transmit +the sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would otherwise be +Cimmerian darkness. In like manner air is introduced. + +Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, where +one of the Sagoths who had formed our guard explained to a Maharan +official the circumstances surrounding our capture. The method of +communication between these two was remarkable in that no spoken words +were exchanged. They employed a species of sign language. As I was to +learn later, the Mahars have no ears, not any spoken language. Among +themselves they communicate by means of what Perry says must be a sixth +sense which is cognizant of a fourth dimension. + +I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain it to me +upon numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, but he said no, that +it was not telepathy since they could only communicate when in each +others' presence, nor could they talk with the Sagoths or the other +inhabitants of Pellucidar by the same method they used to converse with +one another. + +"What they do," said Perry, "is to project their thoughts into the +fourth dimension, when they become appreciable to the sixth sense of +their listener. Do I make myself quite clear?" + +"You do not, Perry," I replied. He shook his head in despair, and +returned to his work. They had set us to carrying a great accumulation +of Maharan literature from one apartment to another, and there +arranging it upon shelves. I suggested to Perry that we were in the +public library of Phutra, but later, as he commenced to discover the +key to their written language, he assured me that we were handling the +ancient archives of the race. + +During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian the +Beautiful. I was, of course, glad that she had escaped the Mahars, and +the fate that had been suggested by the Sagoth who had threatened to +purchase her upon our arrival at Phutra. I often wondered if the +little party of fugitives had been overtaken by the guards who had +returned to search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but that I +should have been more contented to know that Dian was here in Phutra, +than to think of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. Ghak, Perry, +and I often talked together of possible escape, but the Sarian was so +steeped in his lifelong belief that no one could escape from the Mahars +except by a miracle, that he was not much aid to us--his attitude was +of one who waits for the miracle to come to him. + +At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps of iron +which we discovered among some rubbish in the cells where we slept, for +we were permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action within the +limits of the building to which we had been assigned. So great were +the number of slaves who waited upon the inhabitants of Phutra that +none of us was apt to be overburdened with work, nor were our masters +unkind to us. + +We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and +then Perry conceived the idea of making bows and arrows--weapons +apparently unknown within Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these I +found it easier to steal from the walls of the outer guardroom of the +building. + +We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving +Phutra when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture the escaped +prisoners returned with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian and +two others had eluded them. It so happened that Hooja was confined in +the same building with us. He told Ghak that he had not seen Dian or +the others after releasing them within the dark grotto. What had +become of them he had not the faintest conception--they might be +wandering yet, lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not dead from +starvation. + +I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at +this time, I imagine, came the first realization that my affection for +the girl might be prompted by more than friendship. During my waking +hours she was constantly the subject of my thoughts, and when I slept +her dear face haunted my dreams. More than ever was I determined to +escape the Mahars. + +"Perry," I confided to the old man, "if I have to search every inch of +this diminutive world I am going to find Dian the Beautiful and right +the wrong I unintentionally did her." That was the excuse I made for +Perry's benefit. + +"Diminutive world!" he scoffed. "You don't know what you are talking +about, my boy," and then he showed me a map of Pellucidar which he had +recently discovered among the manuscript he was arranging. + +"Look," he cried, pointing to it, "this is evidently water, and all +this land. Do you notice the general configuration of the two areas? +Where the oceans are upon the outer crust, is land here. These +relatively small areas of ocean follow the general lines of the +continents of the outer world. + +"We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; then +the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 miles, and the +superficial area 165,480,000 square miles. Three-fourths of this is +land. Think of it! A land area of 124,110,000 square miles! Our own +world contains but 53,000,000 square miles of land, the balance of its +surface being covered by water. Just as we often compare nations by +their relative land areas, so if we compare these two worlds in the +same way we have the strange anomaly of a larger world within a smaller +one! + +"Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your Dian? Without +stars, or moon, or changing sun how could you find her even though you +knew where she might be found?" + +The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; but I +found that it left me all the more determined to attempt it. + +"If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it," I suggested. + +Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight to him. + +"Ghak," I said, "we are determined to escape from this bondage. Will +you accompany us?" + +"They will set the thipdars upon us," he said, "and then we shall be +killed; but--" he hesitated--"I would take the chance if I thought that +I might possibly escape and return to my own people." + +"Could you find your way back to your own land?" asked Perry. "And +could you aid David in his search for Dian?" + +"Yes." + +"But how," persisted Perry, "could you travel to strange country +without heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?" + +Ghak didn't know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a compass, but +he assured us that you might blindfold any man of Pellucidar and carry +him to the farthermost corner of the world, yet he would be able to +come directly to his own home again by the shortest route. He seemed +surprised to think that we found anything wonderful in it. Perry said +it must be some sort of homing instinct such as is possessed by certain +breeds of earthly pigeons. I didn't know, of course, but it gave me an +idea. + +"Then Dian could have found her way directly to her own people?" I +asked. + +"Surely," replied Ghak, "unless some mighty beast of prey killed her." + +I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry and Ghak +counseled waiting for some propitious accident which would insure us +some small degree of success. I didn't see what accident could befall +a whole community in a land of perpetual daylight where the inhabitants +had no fixed habits of sleep. Why, I am sure that some of the Mahars +never sleep, while others may, at long intervals, crawl into the dark +recesses beneath their dwellings and curl up in protracted slumber. +Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for three years he will make up +all his lost sleep in a long year's snooze. That may be all true, but +I never saw but three of them asleep, and it was the sight of these +three that gave me a suggestion for our means of escape. + +I had been searching about far below the levels that we slaves were +supposed to frequent--possibly fifty feet beneath the main floor of the +building--among a network of corridors and apartments, when I came +suddenly upon three Mahars curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I +thought they were dead, but later their regular breathing convinced me +of my error. Like a flash the thought came to me of the marvelous +opportunity these sleeping reptiles offered as a means of eluding the +watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth guards. + +Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, to me, +meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. To my surprise +he was horrified. + +"It would be murder, David," he cried. + +"Murder to kill a reptilian monster?" I asked in astonishment. + +"Here they are not monsters, David," he replied. "Here they are the +dominant race--we are the 'monsters'--the lower orders. In Pellucidar +evolution has progressed along different lines than upon the outer +earth. These terrible convulsions of nature time and time again wiped +out the existing species--but for this fact some monster of the +Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own world. We see here what +might well have occurred in our own history had conditions been what +they have been here. + +"Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. Here +man has but reached a stage analogous to the Stone Age of our own +world's history, but for countless millions of years these reptiles +have been progressing. Possibly it is the sixth sense which I am sure +they possess that has given them an advantage over the other and more +frightfully armed of their fellows; but this we may never know. They +look upon us as we look upon the beasts of our fields, and I learn from +their written records that other races of Mahars feed upon men--they +keep them in great droves, as we keep cattle. They breed them most +carefully, and when they are quite fat, they kill and eat them." + +I shuddered. + +"What is there horrible about it, David?" the old man asked. "They +understand us no better than we understand the lower animals of our own +world. Why, I have come across here very learned discussions of the +question as to whether gilaks, that is men, have any means of +communication. One writer claims that we do not even reason--that our +every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race of +Pellucidar, David, have not yet learned that men converse among +themselves, or reason. Because we do not converse as they do it is +beyond them to imagine that we converse at all. It is thus that we +reason in relation to the brutes of our own world. They know that the +Sagoths have a spoken language, but they cannot comprehend it, or how +it manifests itself, since they have no auditory apparatus. They +believe that the motions of the lips alone convey the meaning. That +the Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible to them. + +"Yes, David," he concluded, "it would entail murder to carry out your +plan." + +"Very well then, Perry." I replied. "I shall become a murderer." + +He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for some reason +which was not at the time clear to me insisted upon a very careful +description of the apartments and corridors I had just explored. + +"I wonder, David," he said at length, "as you are determined to carry +out your wild scheme, if we could not accomplish something of very real +and lasting benefit for the human race of Pellucidar at the same time. +Listen, I have learned much of a most surprising nature from these +archives of the Mahars. That you may appreciate my plan I shall +briefly outline the history of the race. + +"Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, little by +little, assumed the mastery. For other ages no noticeable change took +place in the race of Mahars. It continued to progress under the +intelligent and beneficent rule of the ladies. Science took vast +strides. This was especially true of the sciences which we know as +biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female scientist announced the +fact that she had discovered a method whereby eggs might be fertilized +by chemical means after they were laid--all true reptiles, you know, +are hatched from eggs. + +"What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased to +exist--the race was no longer dependent upon them. More ages elapsed +until at the present time we find a race consisting exclusively of +females. But here is the point. The secret of this chemical formula +is kept by a single race of Mahars. It is in the city of Phutra, and +unless I am greatly in error I judge from your description of the +vaults through which you passed today that it lies hidden in the cellar +of this building. + +"For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. First, +because upon it depends the very life of the race of Mahars, and +second, owing to the fact that when it was public property as at first +so many were experimenting with it that the danger of over-population +became very grave. + +"David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us this great +secret what will we not have accomplished for the human race within +Pellucidar!" The very thought of it fairly overpowered me. Why, we two +would be the means of placing the men of the inner world in their +rightful place among created things. Only the Sagoths would then stand +between them and absolute supremacy, and I was not quite sure but that +the Sagoths owed all their power to the greater intelligence of the +Mahars--I could not believe that these gorilla-like beasts were the +mental superiors of the human race of Pellucidar. + +"Why, Perry," I exclaimed, "you and I may reclaim a whole world! +Together we can lead the races of men out of the darkness of ignorance +into the light of advancement and civilization. At one step we may +carry them from the Age of Stone to the twentieth century. It's +marvelous--absolutely marvelous just to think about it." + +"David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us here for just +that purpose--it shall be my life work to teach them His word--to lead +them into the light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and +hands in the ways of culture and civilization." + +"You are right, Perry," I said, "and while you are teaching them to +pray I'll be teaching them to fight, and between us we'll make a race +of men that will be an honor to us both." + +Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded our +conversation, and now he wanted to know what we were so excited about. +Perry thought we had best not tell him too much, and so I only +explained that I had a plan for escape. When I had outlined it to him, +he seemed about as horror-struck as Perry had been; but for a different +reason. The Hairy One only considered the horrible fate that would be +ours were we discovered; but at last I prevailed upon him to accept my +plan as the only feasible one, and when I had assured him that I would +take all the responsibility for it were we captured, he accorded a +reluctant assent. + + + +VI + +THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + + +WITHIN PELLUCIDAR ONE TIME IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER. There were no nights +to mask our attempted escape. All must be done in broad daylight--all +but the work I had to do in the apartment beneath the building. So we +determined to put our plan to an immediate test lest the Mahars who +made it possible should awake before I reached them; but we were doomed +to disappointment, for no sooner had we reached the main floor of the +building on our way to the pits beneath, than we encountered hurrying +bands of slaves being hastened under strong Sagoth guard out of the +edifice to the avenue beyond. + +Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of other +slaves, and the moment that we appeared we were pounced upon and +hustled into the line of marching humans. + +What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not know, but +presently through the line of captives ran the rumor that two escaped +slaves had been recaptured--a man and a woman--and that we were +marching to witness their punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth +of the detachment that had pursued and overtaken them. + +At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was sure that +the two were of those who escaped in the dark grotto with Hooja the Sly +One, and that Dian must be the woman. Ghak thought so too, as did +Perry. + +"Is there naught that we may do to save her?" I asked Ghak. + +"Naught," he replied. + +Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing unusual cruelty +toward us, as though we, too, had been implicated in the murder of +their fellow. The occasion was to serve as an object-lesson to all +other slaves of the danger and futility of attempted escape, and the +fatal consequences of taking the life of a superior being, and so I +imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making the entire +proceeding as uncomfortable and painful to us as possible. + +They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets at +the least provocation, and at no provocation at all. It was a most +uncomfortable half-hour that we spent before we were finally herded +through a low entrance into a huge building the center of which was +given up to a good-sized arena. Benches surrounded this open space +upon three sides, and along the fourth were heaped huge bowlders which +rose in receding tiers toward the roof. + +At first I couldn't make out the purpose of this mighty pile of rock, +unless it were intended as a rough and picturesque background for the +scenes which were enacted in the arena before it, but presently, after +the wooden benches had been pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, I +discovered the purpose of the bowlders, for then the Mahars began to +file into the enclosure. + +They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon the +opposite side, where, spreading their bat-like wings, they rose above +the high wall of the pit, settling down upon the bowlders above. These +were the reserved seats, the boxes of the elect. + +Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone is to them +as plush as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, blinking their hideous +eyes, and doubtless conversing with one another in their +sixth-sense-fourth-dimension language. + +For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from the others +in no feature that was appreciable to my earthly eyes, in fact all +Mahars look alike to me: but when she crossed the arena after the +balance of her female subjects had found their bowlders, she was +preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, the largest I ever had seen, and +on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, while behind came another +score of Sagoth guardsmen. + +At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly +apelike agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose upon her +wings with her two frightful dragons close beside her, and settled down +upon the largest bowlder of them all in the exact center of that side +of the amphitheater which is reserved for the dominant race. Here she +squatted, a most repulsive and uninteresting queen; though doubtless +quite as well assured of her beauty and divine right to rule as the +proudest monarch of the outer world. + +And then the music started--music without sound! The Mahars cannot +hear, so the drums and fifes and horns of earthly bands are unknown +among them. The "band" consists of a score or more Mahars. It filed +out in the center of the arena where the creatures upon the rocks might +see it, and there it performed for fifteen or twenty minutes. + +Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their heads in +a regular succession of measured movements resulting in a cadence which +evidently pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence of our own +instrumental music pleases our ears. Sometimes the band took measured +steps in unison to one side or the other, or backward and again +forward--it all seemed very silly and meaningless to me, but at the end +of the first piece the Mahars upon the rocks showed the first +indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by the dominant +race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up and down, and smote +their rocky perches with their mighty tails until the ground shook. +Then the band started another piece, and all was again as silent as the +grave. That was one great beauty about Mahar music--if you didn't +happen to like a piece that was being played all you had to do was shut +your eyes. + +When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and settled upon +the rocks above and behind the queen. Then the business of the day was +on. A man and woman were pushed into the arena by a couple of Sagoth +guardsmen. I leaned forward in my seat to scrutinize the +female--hoping against hope that she might prove to be another than +Dian the Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a while, and the sight +of the great mass of raven hair piled high upon her head filled me with +alarm. + +Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to admit a +huge, shaggy, bull-like creature. + +"A Bos," whispered Perry, excitedly. "His kind roamed the outer crust +with the cave bear and the mammoth ages and ages ago. We have been +carried back a million years, David, to the childhood of a planet--is +it not wondrous?" + +But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, and my heart stood +still in dumb misery at the sight of her, nor had I any eyes for the +wonders of natural history. But for Perry and Ghak I should have +leaped to the floor of the arena and shared whatever fate lay in store +for this priceless treasure of the Stone Age. + +With the advent of the Bos--they call the thing a thag within +Pellucidar--two spears were tossed into the arena at the feet of the +prisoners. It seemed to me that a bean shooter would have been as +effective against the mighty monster as these pitiful weapons. + +As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the ground with +the strength of many earthly bulls, another door directly beneath us +was opened, and from it issued the most terrific roar that ever had +fallen upon my outraged ears. I could not at first see the beast from +which emanated this fearsome challenge, but the sound had the effect of +bringing the two victims around with a sudden start, and then I saw the +girl's face--she was not Dian! I could have wept for relief. + +And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of that +fearsome sound creeping stealthily into view. It was a huge +tiger--such as hunted the great Bos through the jungles primeval when +the world was young. In contour and markings it was not unlike the +noblest of the Bengals of our own world, but as its dimensions were +exaggerated to colossal proportions so too were its colorings +exaggerated. Its vivid yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites were +as eider down; its blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its +coat long and shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful animal +there is no gainsaying, but if its size and colors are magnified here +within Pellucidar, so is the ferocity of its disposition. It is not +the occasional member of its species that is a man hunter--all are man +hunters; but they do not confine their foraging to man alone, for there +is no flesh or fish within Pellucidar that they will not eat with +relish in the constant efforts which they make to furnish their huge +carcasses with sufficient sustenance to maintain their mighty thews. + +Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and advanced, and +upon the other tarag, the frightful, crept toward them with gaping +mouth and dripping fangs. + +The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. At the +sound of the roaring of the tiger the bull's bellowing became a +veritable frenzy of rageful noise. Never in my life had I heard such +an infernal din as the two brutes made, and to think it was all lost +upon the hideous reptiles for whom the show was staged! + +The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from the other. +The two puny things standing between them seemed already lost, but at +the very moment that the beasts were upon them the man grasped his +companion by the arm and together they leaped to one side, while the +frenzied creatures came together like locomotives in collision. + +There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful ferocity +transcends the power of imagination or description. Time and again the +colossal bull tossed the enormous tiger high into the air, but each +time that the huge cat touched the ground he returned to the encounter +with apparently undiminished strength, and seemingly increased ire. + +For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with keeping out +of the way of the two creatures, but finally I saw them separate and +each creep stealthily toward one of the combatants. The tiger was now +upon the bull's broad back, clinging to the huge neck with powerful +fangs while its long, strong talons ripped the heavy hide into shreds +and ribbons. + +For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with pain and rage, +its cloven hoofs widespread, its tail lashing viciously from side to +side, and then, in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening about the +arena in frenzied attempt to unseat its rending rider. It was with +difficulty that the girl avoided the first mad rush of the wounded +animal. + +All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, until in +desperation it threw itself upon the ground, rolling over and over. A +little of this so disconcerted the tiger, knocking its breath from it I +imagine, that it lost its hold and then, quick as a cat, the great thag +was up again and had buried those mighty horns deep in the tarag's +abdomen, pinning him to the floor of the arena. + +The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears were gone, +and naught but a few strips of ragged, bloody flesh remained upon the +skull. Yet through all the agony of that fearful punishment the thag +still stood motionless pinning down his adversary, and then the man +leaped in, seeing that the blind bull would be the least formidable +enemy, and ran his spear through the tarag's heart. + +As the animal's fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his gory, +sightless head, and with a horrid roar ran headlong across the arena. +With great leaps and bounds he came, straight toward the arena wall +directly beneath where we sat, and then accident carried him, in one of +his mighty springs, completely over the barrier into the midst of the +slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. Swinging his bloody horns from +side to side the beast cut a wide swath before him straight upward +toward our seats. Before him slaves and gorilla-men fought in mad +stampede to escape the menace of the creature's death agonies, for such +only could that frightful charge have been. + +Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for the exits, +many of which pierced the wall of the amphitheater behind us. Perry, +Ghak, and I became separated in the chaos which reigned for a few +moments after the beast cleared the wall of the arena, each intent upon +saving his own hide. + +I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the fear mad mob +that were battling to escape. One would have thought that an entire +herd of thags was loose behind them, rather than a single blinded, +dying beast; but such is the effect of panic upon a crowd. + + + +VII + +FREEDOM + + +ONCE OUT OF THE DIRECT PATH OF THE ANIMAL, fear of it left me, but +another emotion as quickly gripped me--hope of escape that the +demoralized condition of the guards made possible for the instant. + +I thought of Perry, and but for the hope that I might better encompass his +release if myself free I should have put the thought of freedom from me +at once. As it was I hastened on toward the right searching for an +exit toward which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found it--a +low, narrow aperture leading into a dark corridor. + +Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into the shadows +of the tunnel, feeling my way along through the gloom for some +distance. The noises of the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter +until now all was as silent as the tomb about me. Faint light filtered +from above through occasional ventilating and lighting tubes, but it +was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes to cope with the +darkness, and so I was forced to move with extreme care, feeling my way +along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside me. + +Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my delight, I came +upon a flight of steps leading upward, at the top of which the +brilliant light of the noonday sun shone through an opening in the +ground. + +Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel's end, and peering out +saw the broad plain of Phutra before me. The numerous lofty, granite +towers which mark the several entrances to the subterranean city were +all in front of me--behind, the plain stretched level and unbroken to +the nearby foothills. I had come to the surface, then, beyond the +city, and my chances for escape seemed much enhanced. + +My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to cross the +plain, so deeply implanted are habits of thought; but of a sudden I +recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance which envelops +Pellucidar, and with a smile I stepped forth into the daylight. + +Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of Phutra--the gorgeous +flowering grass of the inner world, each particular blade of which is +tipped with a tiny, five-pointed blossom--brilliant little stars of +varying colors that twinkle in the green foliage to add still another +charm to the weird, yet lovely, landscape. + +But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant hills in +which I hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, trampling the +myriad beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force of +gravity is less upon the surface of the inner world than upon that of +the outer. He explained it all to me once, but I was never +particularly brilliant in such matters and so most of it has escaped +me. As I recall it the difference is due in some part to the +counter-attraction of that portion of the earth's crust directly +opposite the spot upon the face of Pellucidar at which one's +calculations are being made. Be that as it may, it always seemed to me +that I moved with greater speed and agility within Pellucidar than upon +the outer surface--there was a certain airy lightness of step that was +most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily detachment which I can only +compare with that occasionally experienced in dreams. + +And as I crossed Phutra's flower-bespangled plain that time I seemed +almost to fly, though how much of the sensation was due to Perry's +suggestion and how much to actuality I am sure I do not know. The more +I thought of Perry the less pleasure I took in my new-found freedom. +There could be no liberty for me within Pellucidar unless the old man +shared it with me, and only the hope that I might find some way to +encompass his release kept me from turning back to Phutra. + +Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that +some fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. It was +quite evident however that little less than a miracle could aid me, for +what could I accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed? It +was even doubtful that I could retrace my steps to Phutra should I once +pass beyond view of the plain, and even were that possible, what aid +could I bring to Perry no matter how far I wandered? + +The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, yet with +a stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward the foothills. Behind me +no sign of pursuit developed, before me I saw no living thing. It was +as though I moved through a dead and forgotten world. + +I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the limit of +the plain, but at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty +little canyon upward toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a +laughing brooklet, hurrying upon its noisy way down to the silent sea. +In its quieter pools I discovered many small fish, of four-or +five-pound weight I should imagine. In appearance, except as to size +and color, they were not unlike the whale of our own seas. As I +watched them playing about I discovered, not only that they suckled +their young, but that at intervals they rose to the surface to breathe +as well as to feed upon certain grasses and a strange, scarlet lichen +which grew upon the rocks just above the water line. + +It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved to capture +one of these herbivorous cetaceans--that is what Perry calls them--and +make as good a meal as one can on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had +become rather used, by this time, to the eating of food in its natural +state, though I still balked on the eyes and entrails, much to the +amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed these delicacies. + +Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive purple +whales rose to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water, and +then, like the beast of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my +victim, appeasing my hunger while he yet wriggled to escape. + +Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands and face +continued my flight. Above the source of the brook I encountered a +rugged climb to the summit of a long ridge. Beyond was a steep +declivity to the shore of a placid, inland sea, upon the quiet surface +of which lay several beautiful islands. + +The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast was to be +seen that might threaten my new-found liberty, I slid over the edge of +the bluff, and half sliding, half falling, dropped into the delightful +valley, the very aspect of which seemed to offer a haven of peace and +security. + +The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with +strangely shaped, colored shells; some empty, others still housing as +varied a multitude of mollusks as ever might have drawn out their +sluggish lives along the silent shores of the antediluvian seas of the +outer crust. As I walked I could not but compare myself with the first +man of that other world, so complete the solitude which surrounded me, +so primal and untouched the virgin wonders and beauties of adolescent +nature. I felt myself a second Adam wending my lonely way through the +childhood of a world, searching for my Eve, and at the thought there +rose before my mind's eye the exquisite outlines of a perfect face +surmounted by a loose pile of wondrous, raven hair. + +As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not until +I had come quite upon it that I discovered that which shattered all my +beautiful dream of solitude and safety and peace and primal +overlordship. The thing was a hollowed log drawn upon the sands, and +in the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. + +The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new form +of danger was still upon me when I heard a rattling of loose stones +from the direction of the bluff, and turning my eyes in that direction +I beheld the author of the disturbance, a great copper-colored man, +running rapidly toward me. + +There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite +sufficiently menacing, so that I did not need the added evidence of +brandishing spear and scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe +position, but whither to flee was indeed a momentous question. + +The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility of escaping +him upon the open beach. There was but a single alternative--the rude +skiff--and with a celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into +the sea and as it floated gave a final shove and clambered in over the +end. + +A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an +instant later his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed my shoulder and +buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. Then I grasped the +paddle, and with feverish haste urged the awkward, wobbly thing out +upon the surface of the sea. + +A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored one had +plunged in after me and was swimming rapidly in pursuit. His mighty +strokes bade fair to close up the distance between us in short order, +for at best I could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, +which nosed stubbornly in every direction but that which I desired to +follow, so that fully half my energy was expended in turning its blunt +prow back into the course. + +I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident that +my pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff within the next half-dozen +strokes. In a frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all +paddles in a hopeless effort to escape, and still the copper giant +behind me gained and gained. + +His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, sinuous +body shoot from the depths below. The man saw it too, and the look of +terror that overspread his face assured me that I need have no further +concern as to him, for the fear of certain death was in his look. + +And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster +of that prehistoric deep--a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged +jaws, and darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony +protuberances upon head and snout that formed short, stout horns. + +As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the doomed +man, and I could have sworn that in his I saw an expression of hopeless +appeal. But whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden +compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brother-man, and that he +might have killed me with pleasure had he caught me was forgotten in +the extremity of his danger. + +Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to engage my +pursuer, so now the skiff still drifted close beside the two. The +monster seemed to be but playing with his victim before he closed his +awful jaws upon him and dragged him down to his dark den beneath the +surface to devour him. The huge, snakelike body coiled and uncoiled +about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws snapped in the victim's face. +The forked tongue, lightning-like, ran in and out upon the copper skin. + +Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet +against the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass; but for all +the damage he inflicted he might as well have struck with his open palm. + +At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a fellowman +was dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile. +Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the spear that had been cast +after me by him whom I suddenly desired to save. With a wrench I tore +it loose, and standing upright in the wobbly log drove it with all the +strength of my two arms straight into the gaping jaws of the +hydrophidian. + +With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but +the spear, imbedded in its throat, prevented it from seizing me though +it came near to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me. + + + +VIII + +THE MAHAR TEMPLE + + +THE ABORIGINE, APPARENTLY UNINJURED, CLIMBED quickly into the skiff, +and seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the infuriated +creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the waters +about us and soon from the weakening struggles it became evident that I +had inflicted a death wound upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us +ceased entirely, and with a few convulsive movements it turned upon its +back quite dead. + +And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament in +which I had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of the +savage man whose skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the spear I +looked into his face to find him scrutinizing me intently, and there we +stood for some several minutes, each clinging tenaciously to the weapon +the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at each other. + +What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely the +question as to how soon the fellow would recommence hostilities. + +Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable to +translate. I shook my head in an effort to indicate my ignorance of +his language, at the same time addressing him in the bastard tongue +that the Sagoths use to converse with the human slaves of the Mahars. + +To my delight he understood and answered me in the same jargon. + +"What do you want of my spear?" he asked. + +"Only to keep you from running it through me," I replied. + +"I would not do that," he said, "for you have just saved my life," and +with that he released his hold upon it and squatted down in the bottom +of the skiff. + +"Who are you," he continued, "and from what country do you come?" + +I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to explain how I +came to Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it was as impossible for him to +grasp or believe the strange tale I told him as I fear it is for you +upon the outer crust to believe in the existence of the inner world. +To him it seemed quite ridiculous to imagine that there was another +world far beneath his feet peopled by beings similar to himself, and he +laughed uproariously the more he thought upon it. But it was ever +thus. That which has never come within the scope of our really +pitifully meager world-experience cannot be--our finite minds cannot +grasp that which may not exist in accordance with the conditions which +obtain about us upon the outside of the insignificant grain of dust +which wends its tiny way among the bowlders of the universe--the speck +of moist dirt we so proudly call the World. + +So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a Mezop, +and that his name was Ja. + +"Who are the Mezops?" I asked. "Where do they live?" + +He looked at me in surprise. + +"I might indeed believe that you were from another world," he said, +"for who of Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The Mezops live upon the +islands of the seas. In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop lives +elsewhere, and no others than Mezops dwell upon islands, but of course +it may be different in other far-distant lands. I do not know. At any +rate in this sea and those near by it is true that only people of my +race inhabit the islands. + +"We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going to +the mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon all but the +larger islands. And we are warriors also," he added proudly. "Even +the Sagoths of the Mahars fear us. Once, when Pellucidar was young, +the Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves as they do the other men +of Pellucidar, it is handed down from father to son among us that this +is so; but we fought so desperately and slew so many Sagoths, and those +of us that were captured killed so many Mahars in their own cities that +at last they learned that it were better to leave us alone, and later +came the time that the Mahars became too indolent even to catch their +own fish, except for amusement, and then they needed us to supply their +wants, and so a truce was made between the races. Now they give us +certain things which we are unable to produce in return for the fish +that we catch, and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace. + +"The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far from the +prying eyes of their own Sagoths, that they practice their religious +rites in the temples they have builded there with our assistance. If +you live among us you will doubtless see the manner of their worship, +which is strange indeed, and most unpleasant for the poor slaves they +bring to take part in it." + +As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him more +closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I should say six feet six or +seven inches, well developed and of a coppery red not unlike that of +our own North American Indian, nor were his features dissimilar to +theirs. He had the aquiline nose found among many of the higher +tribes, the prominent cheek bones, and black hair and eyes, but his +mouth and lips were better molded. All in all, Ja was an impressive +and handsome creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable +makeshift language we were compelled to use. + +During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was propelling the +skiff with vigorous strokes toward a large island that lay some +half-mile from the mainland. The skill with which he handled his crude +and awkward craft elicited my deepest admiration, since it had been so +short a time before that I had made such pitiful work of it. + +As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I followed him. +Together we dragged the skiff far up into the bushes that grew beyond +the sand. + +"We must hide our canoes," explained Ja, "for the Mezops of Luana are +always at war with us and would steal them if they found them," he +nodded toward an island farther out at sea, and at so great a distance +that it seemed but a blur hanging in the distant sky. The upward curve +of the surface of Pellucidar was constantly revealing the impossible to +the surprised eyes of the outer-earthly. To see land and water curving +upward in the distance until it seemed to stand on edge where it melted +into the distant sky, and to feel that seas and mountains hung +suspended directly above one's head required such a complete reversal +of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to stupefy one. + +No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the jungle, +presently emerging into a narrow but well-defined trail which wound +hither and thither much after the manner of the highways of all +primitive folk, but there was one peculiarity about this Mezop trail +which I was later to find distinguished them from all other trails that +I ever have seen within or without the earth. + +It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end suddenly in +the midst of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja would turn directly +back in his tracks for a little distance, spring into a tree, climb +through it to the other side, drop onto a fallen log, leap over a low +bush and alight once more upon a distinct trail which he would follow +back for a short distance only to turn directly about and retrace his +steps until after a mile or less this new pathway ended as suddenly and +mysteriously as the former section. Then he would pass again across +some media which would reveal no spoor, to take up the broken thread of +the trail beyond. + +As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I could not but +admire the native shrewdness of the ancient progenitor of the Mezops +who hit upon this novel plan to throw his enemies from his track and +delay or thwart them in their attempts to follow him to his deep-buried +cities. + +To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous method of +traveling through the jungle, but were you of Pellucidar you would +realize that time is no factor where time does not exist. So +labyrinthine are the windings of these trails, so varied the connecting +links and the distances which one must retrace one's steps from the +paths' ends to find them that a Mezop often reaches man's estate before +he is familiar even with those which lead from his own city to the sea. + +In fact three-fourths of the education of the young male Mezop consists +in familiarizing himself with these jungle avenues, and the status of +an adult is largely determined by the number of trails which he can +follow upon his own island. The females never learn them, since from +birth to death they never leave the clearing in which the village of +their nativity is situated except they be taken to mate by a male from +another village, or captured in war by the enemies of their tribe. + +After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been upward of +five miles we emerged suddenly into a large clearing in the exact +center of which stood as strange an appearing village as one might well +imagine. + +Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet above the +ground, and upon the tops of them spherical habitations of woven twigs, +mud covered, had been built. Each ball-like house was surmounted by +some manner of carven image, which Ja told me indicated the identity of +the owner. + +Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet wide, served to +admit light and ventilation. The entrances to the house were through +small apertures in the bases of the trees and thence upward by rude +ladders through the hollow trunks to the rooms above. The houses +varied in size from two to several rooms. The largest that I entered +was divided into two floors and eight apartments. + +All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay beautifully +cultivated fields in which the Mezops raised such cereals, fruits, and +vegetables as they required. Women and children were working in these +gardens as we crossed toward the village. At sight of Ja they saluted +deferentially, but to me they paid not the slightest attention. Among +them and about the outer verge of the cultivated area were many +warriors. These too saluted Ja, by touching the points of their spears +to the ground directly before them. + +Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the village--the +house with eight rooms--and taking me up into it gave me food and +drink. There I met his mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in her +arms. Ja told her of how I had saved his life, and she was thereafter +most kind and hospitable toward me, even permitting me to hold and +amuse the tiny bundle of humanity whom Ja told me would one day rule +the tribe, for Ja, it seemed, was the chief of the community. + +We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja's amusement, for +it seemed that he seldom if ever did so, and then the red man proposed +that I accompany him to the temple of the Mahars which lay not far from +his village. "We are not supposed to visit it," he said; "but the +great ones cannot hear and if we keep well out of sight they need never +know that we have been there. For my part I hate them and always have, +but the other chieftains of the island think it best that we continue +to maintain the amicable relations which exist between the two races; +otherwise I should like nothing better than to lead my warriors amongst +the hideous creatures and exterminate them--Pellucidar would be a +better place to live were there none of them." + +I wholly concurred in Ja's belief, but it seemed that it might be a +difficult matter to exterminate the dominant race of Pellucidar. Thus +conversing we followed the intricate trail toward the temple, which we +came upon in a small clearing surrounded by enormous trees similar to +those which must have flourished upon the outer crust during the +carboniferous age. + +Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of a rough +oval with rounded roof in which were several large openings. No doors +or windows were visible in the sides of the structure, nor was there +need of any, except one entrance for the slaves, since, as Ja +explained, the Mahars flew to and from their place of ceremonial, +entering and leaving the building by means of the apertures in the roof. + +"But," added Ja, "there is an entrance near the base of which even the +Mahars know nothing. Come," and he led me across the clearing and +about the end to a pile of loose rock which lay against the foot of the +wall. Here he removed a couple of large bowlders, revealing a small +opening which led straight within the building, or so it seemed, though +as I entered after Ja I discovered myself in a narrow place of extreme +darkness. + +"We are within the outer wall," said Ja. "It is hollow. Follow me +closely." + +The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend a +primitive ladder similar to that which leads from the ground to the +upper stories of his house. We ascended for some forty feet when the +interior of the space between the walls commenced to grow lighter and +presently we came opposite an opening in the inner wall which gave us +an unobstructed view of the entire interior of the temple. + +The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous +hideous Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of granite +rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon several of them I saw men and +women like myself. + +"What are the human beings doing here?" I asked. + +"Wait and you shall see," replied Ja. "They are to take a leading part +in the ceremonies which will follow the advent of the queen. You may +be thankful that you are not upon the same side of the wall as they." + +Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above +and a moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of +Pellucidar winged slowly and majestically through the large central +opening in the roof and circled in stately manner about the temple. + +There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty awe-inspiring +pterodactyls--thipdars, they are called within Pellucidar. Behind +these came the queen, flanked by other thipdars as she had been when +she entered the amphitheater at Phutra. + +Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber, to +settle finally upon the damp, cold bowlders that fringe the outer edge +of the pool. In the center of one side the largest rock was reserved +for the queen, and here she took her place surrounded by her terrible +guard. + +All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. One +might have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor slaves upon the +diminutive islands watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. The +men, for the most part, stood erect and stately with folded arms, +awaiting their doom; but the women and children clung to one another, +hiding behind the males. They are a noble-looking race, these cave men +of Pellucidar, and if our progenitors were as they, the human race of +the outer crust has deteriorated rather than improved with the march of +the ages. All they lack is opportunity. We have opportunity, and +little else. + +Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking about; then +very slowly she crawled to the edge of her throne and slid noiselessly +into the water. Up and down the long tank she swam, turning at the +ends as you have seen captive seals turn in their tiny tanks, turning +upon their backs and diving below the surface. + +Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she remained at +rest before the largest, which was directly opposite her throne. +Raising her hideous head from the water she fixed her great, round eyes +upon the slaves. They were fat and sleek, for they had been brought +from a distant Mahar city where human beings are kept in droves, and +bred and fattened, as we breed and fatten beef cattle. + +The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her victim tried +to turn away, hiding her face in her hands and kneeling behind a woman; +but the reptile, with unblinking eyes, stared on with such fixity that +I could have sworn her vision penetrated the woman, and the girl's arms +to reach at last the very center of her brain. + +Slowly the reptile's head commenced to move to and fro, but the eyes +never ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, and then the victim +responded. She turned wide, fear-haunted eyes toward the Mahar queen, +slowly she rose to her feet, and then as though dragged by some unseen +power she moved as one in a trance straight toward the reptile, her +glassy eyes fixed upon those of her captor. To the water's edge she +came, nor did she even pause, but stepped into the shallows beside the +little island. On she moved toward the Mahar, who now slowly retreated +as though leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl's knees, +and still she advanced, chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was +at her waist; now her armpits. Her fellows upon the island looked on +in horror, helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast of +their own. + +The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were exposed +above the surface of the water, and the girl had advanced until the end +of that repulsive beak was but an inch or two from her face, her +horror-filled eyes riveted upon those of the reptile. + +Now the water passed above the girl's mouth and nose--her eyes and +forehead all that showed--yet still she walked on after the retreating +Mahar. The queen's head slowly disappeared beneath the surface and +after it went the eyes of her victim--only a slow ripple widened toward +the shores to mark where the two vanished. + +For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves were +motionless in terror. The Mahars watched the surface of the water for +the reappearance of their queen, and presently at one end of the tank +her head rose slowly into view. She was backing toward the surface, +her eyes fixed before her as they had been when she dragged the +helpless girl to her doom. + +And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes of the +maiden come slowly out of the depths, following the gaze of the reptile +just as when she had disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came +the girl until she stood in water that reached barely to her knees, and +though she had been beneath the surface sufficient time to have drowned +her thrice over there was no indication, other than her dripping hair +and glistening body, that she had been submerged at all. + +Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and out again, +until the uncanny weirdness of the thing got on my nerves so that I +could have leaped into the tank to the child's rescue had I not taken a +firm hold of myself. + +Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came to the +surface I was horrified to see that one of the girl's arms was +gone--gnawed completely off at the shoulder--but the poor thing gave no +indication of realizing pain, only the horror in her set eyes seemed +intensified. + +The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then the +breasts, and then a part of the face--it was awful. The poor creatures +on the islands awaiting their fate tried to cover their eyes with their +hands to hide the fearful sight, but now I saw that they too were under +the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that they could only crouch in +terror with their eyes fixed upon the terrible thing that was +transpiring before them. + +Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, and when she +rose she came alone and swam sleepily toward her bowlder. The moment +she mounted it seemed to be the signal for the other Mahars to enter +the tank, and then commenced, upon a larger scale, a repetition of the +uncanny performance through which the queen had led her victim. + +Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars--they being the +weakest and most tender--and when they had satisfied their appetite for +human flesh, some of them devouring two and three of the slaves, there +were only a score of full-grown men left, and I thought that for some +reason these were to be spared, but such was far from the case, for as +the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen's thipdars darted into the +air, circled the temple once and then, hissing like steam engines, +swooped down upon the remaining slaves. + +There was no hypnotism here--just the plain, brutal ferocity of the +beast of prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat, but at that it +was less horrible than the uncanny method of the Mahars. By the time +the thipdars had disposed of the last of the slaves the Mahars were all +asleep upon their rocks, and a moment later the great pterodactyls +swung back to their posts beside the queen, and themselves dropped into +slumber. + +"I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept," I said to Ja. + +"They do many things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere," he +replied. "The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat human flesh, +yet slaves are brought here by thousands and almost always you will +find Mahars on hand to consume them. I imagine that they do not bring +their Sagoths here, because they are ashamed of the practice, which is +supposed to obtain only among the least advanced of their race; but I +would wager my canoe against a broken paddle that there is no Mahar but +eats human flesh whenever she can get it." + +"Why should they object to eating human flesh," I asked, "if it is true +that they look upon us as lower animals?" + +"It is not because they consider us their equals that they are supposed +to look with abhorrence upon those who eat our flesh," replied Ja; "it +is merely that we are warm-blooded animals. They would not think of +eating the meat of a thag, which we consider such a delicacy, any more +than I would think of eating a snake. As a matter of fact it is +difficult to explain just why this sentiment should exist among them." + +"I wonder if they left a single victim," I remarked, leaning far out of +the opening in the rocky wall to inspect the temple better. Directly +below me the water lapped the very side of the wall, there being a +break in the bowlders at this point as there was at several other +places about the side of the temple. + +My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed a part +of the wall, and all my weight upon it proved too much for it. It +slipped and I lunged forward. There was nothing to save myself and I +plunged headforemost into the water below. + +Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered no injury +from the fall, but as I was rising to the surface my mind filled with +the horrors of my position as I thought of the terrible doom which +awaited me the moment the eyes of the reptiles fell upon the creature +that had disturbed their slumber. + +As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly in +the direction of the islands that I might prolong my life to the +utmost. At last I was forced to rise for air, and as I cast a +terrified glance in the direction of the Mahars and the thipdars I was +almost stunned to see that not a single one remained upon the rocks +where I had last seen them, nor as I searched the temple with my eyes +could I discern any within it. + +For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I realized +that the reptiles, being deaf, could not have been disturbed by the +noise my body made when it hit the water, and that as there is no such +thing as time within Pellucidar there was no telling how long I had +been beneath the surface. It was a difficult thing to attempt to +figure out by earthly standards--this matter of elapsed time--but when +I set myself to it I began to realize that I might have been submerged +a second or a month or not at all. You have no conception of the +strange contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all methods +of measuring time, as we know them upon earth, are non-existent. + +I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved me +for the moment, when the memory of the hypnotic powers of the Mahars +filled me with apprehension lest they be practicing their uncanny art +upon me to the end that I merely imagined that I was alone in the +temple. At the thought cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore, +and as I crawled from the water onto one of the tiny islands I was +trembling like a leaf--you cannot imagine the awful horror which even +the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar induces in the +human mind, and to feel that you are in their power--that they are +crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to drag you down beneath the waters and +devour you! It is frightful. + +But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that I was +indeed alone within the temple. How long I should be alone was the +next question to assail me as I swam frantically about once more in +search of a means to escape. + +Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled +into the tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless he +had felt as certain of my doom when he saw me topple from our hiding +place as I had, and lest he too should be discovered, had hastened from +the temple and back to his village. + +I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the +doorways in the roof, for it did not seem reasonable to believe that +the thousands of slaves which were brought here to feed the Mahars the +human flesh they craved would all be carried through the air, and so I +continued my search until at last it was rewarded by the discovery of +several loose granite blocks in the masonry at one end of the temple. + +A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones to +permit me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later I had +scurried across the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond. + +Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath the +giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the grinning fangs of +death out of the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers lay hidden +in this island jungle, there could be none so fearsome as those which I +had just escaped. I knew that I could meet death bravely enough if it +but came in the form of some familiar beast or man--anything other than +the hideous and uncanny Mahars. + + + +IX + +THE FACE OF DEATH + + +I MUST HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP FROM EXHAUSTION. When I awoke I was very +hungry, and after busying myself searching for fruit for a while, I set +off through the jungle to find the beach. I knew that the island was +not so large but that I could easily find the sea if I did but move in +a straight line, but there came the difficulty as there was no way in +which I could direct my course and hold it, the sun, of course, being +always directly above my head, and the trees so thickly set that I +could see no distant object which might serve to guide me in a straight +line. + +As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four +times and slept twice before I reached the sea, but at last I did so, +and my pleasure at the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the chance +discovery of a hidden canoe among the bushes through which I had +stumbled just prior to coming upon the beach. + +I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft +down to the water and shove it far out from shore. My experience with +Ja had taught me that if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick +about it and get far beyond the owner's reach as soon as possible. + +I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that at +which Ja and I had entered it, for the mainland was nowhere in sight. +For a long time I paddled around the shore, though well out, before I +saw the mainland in the distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in +directing my course toward it, for I had long since made up my mind to +return to Phutra and give myself up that I might be once more with +Perry and Ghak the Hairy One. + +I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, +especially in view of the fact that our plans were already well +formulated to make a break for freedom together. Of course I realized +that the chances of the success of our proposed venture were slim +indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy freedom without Perry so +long as the old man lived, and I had learned that the probability that +I might find him was less than slight. + +Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and wit +against the savage and primordial world in which I found myself. I +could have lived in seclusion within some rocky cave until I had found +the means to outfit myself with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, and +then set out in search of her whose image had now become the constant +companion of my waking hours, and the central and beloved figure of my +dreams. + +But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my duty +and wish to be again with him, that we might share the dangers and +vicissitudes of the strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; +the great, shaggy man had found a place in the hearts of us both, for +he was indeed every inch a man and king. Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, +too, if judged too harshly by the standards of effete twentieth-century +civilization, but withal noble, dignified, chivalrous, and loveable. + +Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered Ja's +canoe, and a short time later I was scrambling up the steep bank to +retrace my steps from the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I +entered the canyon beyond the summit, for here I found that several of +them centered at the point where I crossed the divide, and which one I +had traversed to reach the pass I could not for the life of me remember. + +It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which seemed +the easiest going, and in this I made the same mistake that many of us +do in selecting the path along which we shall follow out the course of +our lives, and again learned that it is not always best to follow the +line of least resistance. + +By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced +that I was upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra and the inland sea +I had not slept at all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps to +the summit of the divide and explore another canyon seemed the only +solution of my problem, but a sudden widening and levelness of the +canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it was about to open into +a level country, and with the lure of discovery strong upon me I +decided to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned back. + +The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before me I +saw a narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my right the side of +the canyon continued to the water's edge, the valley lying to my left, +and the foot of it running gradually into the sea, where it formed a +broad level beach. + +Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost to +the water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. From the nature of +the vegetation I was convinced that the land between the ocean and the +foothills was swampy, though directly before me it seemed dry enough +all the way to the sandy strip along which the restless waters advanced +and retreated. + +Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene was very +beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and tangled vegetation of +the swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, but +though I stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, and if anything +lay hid there my eyes could not penetrate the dense foliage to discern +it. + +Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and lonely +sea across whose forbidding bosom no human being had yet ventured, to +discover what strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its +invisible islands held of riches, wonders, or adventure. What savage +faces, what fierce and formidable beasts were this very instant +watching the lapping of the waves upon its farther shore! How far did +it extend? Perry had told me that the seas of Pellucidar were small in +comparison with those of the outer crust, but even so this great ocean +might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For countless +ages it had rolled up and down its countless miles of shore, and yet +today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip that was visible +from its beaches. + +The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as though I +had been carried back to the birth time of our own outer world to look +upon its lands and seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was +a new world, all untouched. It called to me to explore it. I was +dreaming of the excitement and adventure which lay before us could +Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when something, a slight noise I +imagine, drew my attention behind me. + +As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took +wing before the terrible embodiment of all three in concrete form that +I beheld advancing upon me. + +A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the mighty jaws +of an alligator. Its immense carcass must have weighed tons, and yet +it moved swiftly and silently toward me. Upon one hand was the bluff +that ran from the canyon to the sea, on the other the fearsome swamp +from which the creature had sneaked upon me, behind lay the mighty +untracked sea, and before me in the center of the narrow way that led +to safety stood this huge mountain of terrible and menacing flesh. + +A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I was +facing one of those long-extinct, prehistoric creatures whose +fossilized remains are found within the outer crust as far back as the +Triassic formation, a gigantic labyrinthodon. And there I was, +unarmed, and, with the exception of a loin cloth, as naked as I had +come into the world. I could imagine how my first ancestor felt that +distant, prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first time the +terrifying progenitor of the thing that had me cornered now beside the +restless, mysterious sea. + +Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within +Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at that moment that he had handed +down to me with the various attributes that I presumed I have inherited +from him, the specific application of the instinct of self-preservation +which saved him from the fate which loomed so close before me today. + +To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar to +jumping into a den of lions to escape one upon the outside. The sea +and swamp both were doubtless alive with these mighty, carnivorous +amphibians, and if not, the individual that menaced me would pursue me +into either the sea or the swamp with equal facility. + +There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. I +thought of Perry--how he would wonder what had become of me. I thought +of my friends of the outer world, and of how they all would go on +living their lives in total ignorance of the strange and terrible fate +that had overtaken me, or unguessing the weird surroundings which had +witnessed the last frightful agony of my extinction. And with these +thoughts came a realization of how unimportant to the life and +happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We may be +snuffed out without an instant's warning, and for a brief day our +friends speak of us with subdued voices. The following morning, while +the first worm is busily engaged in testing the construction of our +coffin, they are teeing up for the first hole to suffer more acute +sorrow over a sliced ball than they did over our, to us, untimely +demise. The labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. He seemed to +realize that escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn that +his huge, fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of my +predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy morsel which would +so soon be pulp between those formidable teeth? + +He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to me from +the direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and could have shouted +in delight at the sight that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving +frantically to me, and urging me to run for it to the cliff's base. + +I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked me for +his breakfast, but at least I should not die alone. Human eyes would +watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some +slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it. + +To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable +cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, agile as a monkey, +crawl down the precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small +projections, and the tough creepers that had found root-hold here and +there. + +The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double his +portion of human flesh, so he was in no haste to pursue me to the cliff +and frighten away this other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted along +behind me. + +As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, but +I doubted if the thing would prove successful. He had come down to +within twenty feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with one hand to +a small ledge, and with his feet resting precariously upon tiny bushes +that grew from the solid face of the rock, he lowered the point of his +long spear until it hung some six feet above the ground. + +To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and +precipitating both to the same doom from which the copper-colored one +was attempting to save me seemed utterly impossible, and as I came near +the spear I told Ja so, and that I could not risk him to try to save +myself. + +But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no danger +himself. + +"The danger is still yours," he called, "for unless you move much more +rapidly than you are now, the sithic will be upon you and drag you back +before ever you are halfway up the spear--he can rear up and reach you +with ease anywhere below where I stand." + +Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped the +spear and clambered up toward the red man as rapidly as I could--being +so far removed from my simian ancestors as I am. I imagine the +slow-witted sithic, as Ja called him, suddenly realized our intentions +and that he was quite likely to lose all his meal instead of having it +doubled as he had hoped. + +When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss that fairly +shook the ground, and came charging after me at a terrific rate. I had +reached the top of the spear by this time, or almost; another six +inches would give me a hold on Ja's hand, when I felt a sudden wrench +from below and glancing fearfully downward saw the mighty jaws of the +monster close on the sharp point of the weapon. + +I made a frantic effort to reach Ja's hand, the sithic gave a +tremendous tug that came near to jerking Ja from his frail hold on the +surface of the rock, the spear slipped from his fingers, and still +clinging to it I plunged feet foremost toward my executioner. + +At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja's hand the +creature must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, for when I came +down, still clinging to the butt end of the weapon, the point yet +rested in his mouth and the result was that the sharpened end +transfixed his lower jaw. + +With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, lost +my hold upon the spear, rolled the length of his face and head, across +his short neck onto his broad back and from there to the ground. + +Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing madly +for the path by which I had entered this horrible valley. A glance +over my shoulder showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear +stuck through his lower jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in +this occupation that I had gained the safety of the cliff top before he +was ready to take up the pursuit. When he did not discover me in sight +within the valley he dashed, hissing, into the rank vegetation of the +swamp and that was the last I saw of him. + + + +X + +PHUTRA AGAIN + + +I HASTENED TO THE CLIFF EDGE ABOVE JA AND helped him to a secure +footing. He would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to save me, +which had come so near miscarrying. + +"I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple," +he said, "for not even I could save you from their clutches, and you +may imagine my surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon the +beach of the mainland I discovered your own footprints in the sand +beside it. + +"I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you must +be entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers which lurk +upon the mainland both in the form of savage beasts and reptiles, and +men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you to this point. It is +well that I arrived when I did." + +"But why did you do it?" I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship on +the part of a man of another world and a different race and color. + +"You saved my life," he replied; "from that moment it became my duty to +protect and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop had I evaded +my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this instance for I like you. +I wish that you would come and live with me. You shall become a member +of my tribe. Among us there is the best of hunting and fishing, and +you shall have, to choose a mate from, the most beautiful girls of +Pellucidar. Will you come?" + +I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty +was to them first. Afterward I should return and visit him--if I could +ever find his island. + +"Oh, that is easy, my friend," he said. "You need merely to come to +the foot of the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds. There you +will find a river which flows into the Lural Az. Directly opposite the +mouth of the river you will see three large islands far out, so far +that they are barely discernible, the one to the extreme left as you +face them from the mouth of the river is Anoroc, where I rule the tribe +of Anoroc." + +"But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?" I asked. "Men say +that they are visible from half Pellucidar," he replied. + +"How large is Pellucidar?" I asked, wondering what sort of theory these +primitive men had concerning the form and substance of their world. + +"The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell," he +answered, "but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, we should fall +back were we to travel far in any direction, and all the waters of +Pellucidar would run to one spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite +flat and extends no man knows how far in all directions. At the edges, +so my ancestors have reported and handed down to me, is a great wall +that prevents the earth and waters from escaping over into the burning +sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never have been so far from Anoroc +as to have seen this wall with my own eyes. However, it is quite +reasonable to believe that this is true, whereas there is no reason at +all in the foolish belief of the Mahars. According to them +Pellucidarians who live upon the opposite side walk always with their +heads pointed downward!" and Ja laughed uproariously at the very +thought. + +It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had not +advanced far in learning, and the thought that the ugly Mahars had so +outstripped them was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered how many +ages it would take to lift these people out of their ignorance even +were it given to Perry and me to attempt it. Possibly we would be +killed for our pains as were those men of the outer world who dared +challenge the dense ignorance and superstitions of the earth's younger +days. But it was worth the effort if the opportunity ever presented +itself. + +And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity--that I might +make a small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, and thus note the +effect of my teaching upon a Pellucidarian. + +"Ja," I said, "what would you say were I to tell you that in so far as +the Mahars' theory of the shape of Pellucidar is concerned it is +correct?" + +"I would say," he replied, "that either you are a fool, or took me for +one." + +"But, Ja," I insisted, "if their theory is incorrect how do you account +for the fact that I was able to pass through the earth from the outer +crust to Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a sea of flame +beneath us, wherein no peoples could exist, and yet I come from a +great world that is covered with human beings, and beasts, and birds, +and fishes in mighty oceans." + +"You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with your +head pointed downward?" he scoffed. "And were I to believe that, my +friend, I should indeed be mad." + +I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means of +the dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it would be for a body +to fall off the earth under any circumstances. He listened so intently +that I thought I had made an impression, and started the train of +thought that would lead him to a partial understanding of the truth. +But I was mistaken. + +"Your own illustration," he said finally, "proves the falsity of your +theory." He dropped a fruit from his hand to the ground. "See," he +said, "without support even this tiny fruit falls until it strikes +something that stops it. If Pellucidar were not supported upon the +flaming sea it too would fall as the fruit falls--you have proven it +yourself!" He had me, that time--you could see it in his eye. + +It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for +when I contemplated the necessity explanation of our solar system and +the universe I realized how futile it would be to attempt to picture to +Ja or any other Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the planets, and the +countless stars. Those born within the inner world could no more +conceive of such things than can we of the outer crust reduce to +factors appreciable to our finite minds such terms as space and +eternity. + +"Well, Ja," I laughed, "whether we be walking with our feet up or down, +here we are, and the question of greatest importance is not so much +where we came from as where we are going now. For my part I wish that +you could guide me to Phutra where I may give myself up to the Mahars +once more that my friends and I may work out the plan of escape which +the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us together and drove us to +the arena to witness the punishment of the slaves who killed the +guardsman. I wish now that I had not left the arena for by this time +my friends and I might have made good our escape, whereas this delay +may mean the wrecking of all our plans, which depended for their +consummation upon the continued sleep of the three Mahars who lay in +the pit beneath the building in which we were confined." + +"You would return to captivity?" cried Ja. + +"My friends are there," I replied, "the only friends I have in +Pellucidar, except yourself. What else may I do under the +circumstances?" + +He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head sorrowfully. + +"It is what a brave man and a good friend should do," he said; "yet it +seems most foolish, for the Mahars will most certainly condemn you to +death for running away, and so you will be accomplishing nothing for +your friends by returning. Never in all my life have I heard of a +prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free will. There are but +few who escape them, though some do, and these would rather die than be +recaptured." + +"I see no other way, Ja," I said, "though I can assure you that I would +rather go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. However, Perry is much +too pious to make the probability at all great that I should ever be +called upon to rescue him from the former locality." + +Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could, he +said, "You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea upon which +Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried in the ground go there. +Piece by piece they are carried down to Molop Az by the little demons +who dwell there. We know this because when graves are opened we find +that the bodies have been partially or entirely borne off. That is why +we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees where the birds may find them +and bear them bit by bit to the Dead World above the Land of Awful +Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground that it +may go to Molop Az." + +As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come to +the great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to dissuade me from +returning to Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to do so, he +consented to guide me to a point from which I could see the plain where +lay the city. To my surprise the distance was but short from the beach +where I had again met Ja. It was evident that I had spent much time +following the windings of a tortuous canyon, while just beyond the ridge +lay the city of Phutra near to which I must have come several times. + +As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the +flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final effort to persuade me to +abandon my mad purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was firm in +my resolve, and at last he bid me good-bye, assured in his own mind +that he was looking upon me for the last time. + +I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much +indeed. With his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as a base, and +his savage warriors as escort Perry and I could have accomplished much +in the line of exploration, and I hoped that were we successful in our +effort to escape we might return to Anoroc later. + +There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished first--at least +it was the great thing to me--the finding of Dian the Beautiful. I +wanted to make amends for the affront I had put upon her in my +ignorance, and I wanted to--well, I wanted to see her again, and to be +with her. + +Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers, and +then across the rolling land toward the shadowless columns that guard +the ways to buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile from the nearest entrance +I was discovered by the Sagoth guard, and in an instant four of the +gorilla-men were dashing toward me. + +Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches +I paid not the slightest attention to them, walking quietly toward them +as though unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect upon +them that I had hoped, and as we came quite near together they ceased +their savage shouting. It was evident that they had expected me to +turn and flee at sight of them, thus presenting that which they most +enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast their spears. + +"What do you here?" shouted one, and then as he recognized me, "Ho! It +is the slave who claims to be from another world--he who escaped when +the thag ran amuck within the amphitheater. But why do you return, +having once made good your escape?" + +"I did not 'escape'," I replied. "I but ran away to avoid the thag, as +did others, and coming into a long passage I became confused and lost +my way in the foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my way +back." + +"And you come of your free will back to Phutra!" exclaimed one of the +guardsmen. + +"Where else might I go?" I asked. "I am a stranger within Pellucidar +and know no other where than Phutra. Why should I not desire to be in +Phutra? Am I not well fed and well treated? Am I not happy? What +better lot could man desire?" + +The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them, and so +being stupid brutes they took me to their masters whom they felt would +be better fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for riddle they +still considered it. + +I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing them +off the scent of my purposed attempt at escape. If they thought that I +was so satisfied with my lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily +return when I had once had so excellent an opportunity to escape, they +would never for an instant imagine that I could be occupied in +arranging another escape immediately upon my return to the city. + +So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within +the large room that was the thing's office. With cold, reptilian eyes +the creature seemed to bore through the thin veneer of my deceit and +read my inmost thoughts. It heeded the story which the Sagoths told of +my return to Phutra, watching the gorilla-men's lips and fingers during +the recital. Then it questioned me through one of the Sagoths. + +"You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because you +think yourself better off here than elsewhere--do you not know that you +may be the next chosen to give up your life in the interests of the +wonderful scientific investigations that our learned ones are +continually occupied with?" + +I hadn't heard of anything of that nature, but I thought best not to +admit it. + +"I could be in no more danger here," I said, "than naked and unarmed in +the savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar. I was +fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I barely +escaped death within the jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am sure that I +am safer in the hands of intelligent creatures such as rule Phutra. At +least such would be the case in my own world, where human beings like +myself rule supreme. There the higher races of man extend protection +and hospitality to the stranger within their gates, and being a +stranger here I naturally assumed that a like courtesy would be +accorded me." + +The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased speaking +and the Sagoth had translated my words to his master. The creature +seemed deep in thought. Presently he communicated some message to the +Sagoth. The latter turned, and motioning me to follow him, left the +presence of the reptile. Behind and on either side of me marched the +balance of the guard. + +"What are they going to do with me?" I asked the fellow at my right. + +"You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you +regarding this strange world from which you say you come." + +After a moment's silence he turned to me again. + +"Do you happen to know," he asked, "what the Mahars do to slaves who +lie to them?" + +"No," I replied, "nor does it interest me, as I have no intention of +lying to the Mahars." + +"Then be careful that you don't repeat the impossible tale you told +Sol-to-to just now--another world, indeed, where human beings rule!" he +concluded in fine scorn. + +"But it is the truth," I insisted. "From where else then did I come? +I am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could see that." + +"It is your misfortune then," he remarked dryly, "that you may not be +judged by one with but half an eye." + +"What will they do with me," I asked, "if they do not have a mind to +believe me?" + +"You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used in +research work by the learned ones," he replied. + +"And what will they do with me there?" I persisted. + +"No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with them, +but as the latter never return, their knowledge does them but little +good. It is said that the learned ones cut up their subjects while +they are yet alive, thus learning many useful things. However I should +not imagine that it would prove very useful to him who was being cut +up; but of course this is all but conjecture. The chances are that ere +long you will know much more about it than I," and he grinned as he +spoke. The Sagoths have a well-developed sense of humor. + +"And suppose it is the arena," I continued; "what then?" + +"You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you +escaped?" he said. + +"Yes." + +"Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for them," +he explained, "though of course the same kinds of animals might not be +employed." + +"It is sure death in either event?" I asked. + +"What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not +know, nor does any other," he replied; "but those who go to the arena +may come out alive and thus regain their liberty, as did the two whom +you saw." + +"They gained their liberty? And how?" + +"It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive +within the arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it has +happened that several mighty warriors from far distant lands, whom we +have captured on our slave raids, have battled the brutes turned in +upon them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom. In the +instance which you witnessed the beasts killed each other, but the +result was the same--the man and woman were liberated, furnished with +weapons, and started on their homeward journey. Upon the left shoulder +of each a mark was burned--the mark of the Mahars--which will forever +protect these two from slaving parties." + +"There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena, and +none at all if the learned ones drag me to the pits?" + +"You are quite right," he replied; "but do not felicitate yourself too +quickly should you be sent to the arena, for there is scarce one in a +thousand who comes out alive." + +To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which I had +been confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. At the doorway I +was turned over to the guards there. + +"He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly," said he +who had brought me back, "so have him in readiness." + +The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I had +returned of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt that it would be +safe to give me liberty within the building as had been the custom +before I had escaped, and so I was told to return to whatever duty had +been mine formerly. + +My first act was to hunt up Perry, whom I found poring as usual over +the great tomes that he was supposed to be merely dusting and +rearranging upon new shelves. + +As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me, only +to resume his work as though I had never been away at all. I was both +astonished and hurt at his indifference. And to think that I was +risking death to return to him purely from a sense of duty and +affection! + +"Why, Perry!" I exclaimed, "haven't you a word for me after my long +absence?" + +"Long absence!" he repeated in evident astonishment. "What do you +mean?" + +"Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed me +since that time we were separated by the charging thag within the +arena?" + +"'That time'," he repeated. "Why man, I have but just returned from +the arena! You reached here almost as soon as I. Had you been much +later I should indeed have been worried, and as it is I had intended +asking you about how you escaped the beast as soon as I had completed +the translation of this most interesting passage." + +"Perry, you ARE mad," I exclaimed. "Why, the Lord only knows how long +I have been away. I have been to other lands, discovered a new race of +humans within Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their worship in their +hidden temple, and barely escaped with my life from them and from a +great labyrinthodon that I met afterward, following my long and tedious +wanderings across an unknown world. I must have been away for months, +Perry, and now you barely look up from your work when I return and +insist that we have been separated but a moment. Is that any way to +treat a friend? I'm surprised at you, Perry, and if I'd thought for a +moment that you cared no more for me than this I should not have +returned to chance death at the hands of the Mahars for your sake." + +The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There was a +puzzled expression upon his wrinkled face, and a look of hurt sorrow in +his eyes. + +"David, my boy," he said, "how could you for a moment doubt my love for +you? There is something strange here that I cannot understand. I know +that I am not mad, and I am equally sure that you are not; but how in +the world are we to account for the strange hallucinations that each of +us seems to harbor relative to the passage of time since last we saw +each other. You are positive that months have gone by, while to me it +seems equally certain that not more than an hour ago I sat beside you +in the amphitheater. Can it be that both of us are right and at the +same time both are wrong? First tell me what time is, and then maybe I +can solve our problem. Do you catch my meaning?" + +I didn't and said so. + +"Yes," continued the old man, "we are both right. To me, bent over my +book here, there has been no lapse of time. I have done little or +nothing to waste my energies and so have required neither food nor +sleep, but you, on the contrary, have walked and fought and wasted +strength and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by nutriment and food, +and so, having eaten and slept many times since last you saw me you +naturally measure the lapse of time largely by these acts. As a matter +of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction that there is no +such thing as time--surely there can be no time here within Pellucidar, +where there are no means for measuring or recording time. Why, the +Mahars themselves take no account of such a thing as time. I find here +in all their literary works but a single tense, the present. There +seems to be neither past nor future with them. Of course it is +impossible for our outer-earthly minds to grasp such a condition, but +our recent experiences seem to demonstrate its existence." + +It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to +enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it, and after listening with +interest to my account of the adventures through which I had passed he +returned once more to the subject, which he was enlarging upon with +considerable fluency when he was interrupted by the entrance of a +Sagoth. + +"Come!" commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. "The investigators +would speak with you." + +"Good-bye, Perry!" I said, clasping the old man's hand. "There may be +nothing but the present and no such thing as time, but I feel that I am +about to take a trip into the hereafter from which I shall never +return. If you and Ghak should manage to escape I want you to promise +me that you will find Dian the Beautiful and tell her that with my last +words I asked her forgiveness for the unintentional affront I put upon +her, and that my one wish was to be spared long enough to right the +wrong that I had done her." + +Tears came to Perry's eyes. + +"I cannot believe but that you will return, David," he said. "It would +be awful to think of living out the balance of my life without you +among these hateful and repulsive creatures. If you are taken away I +shall never escape, for I feel that I am as well off here as I should +be anywhere within this buried world. Good-bye, my boy, good-bye!" and +then his old voice faltered and broke, and as he hid his face in his +hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by the shoulder and +hustled me from the chamber. + + + +XI + +FOUR DEAD MAHARS + + +A MOMENT LATER I WAS STANDING BEFORE A DOZEN Mahars--the social +investigators of Phutra. They asked me many questions, through a +Sagoth interpreter. I answered them all truthfully. They seemed +particularly interested in my account of the outer earth and the +strange vehicle which had brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. I +thought that I had convinced them, and after they had sat in silence +for a long time following my examination, I expected to be ordered +returned to my quarters. + +During this apparent silence they were debating through the medium of +strange, unspoken language the merits of my tale. At last the head of +the tribunal communicated the result of their conference to the officer +in charge of the Sagoth guard. + +"Come," he said to me, "you are sentenced to the experimental pits for +having dared to insult the intelligence of the mighty ones with the +ridiculous tale you have had the temerity to unfold to them." + +"Do you mean that they do not believe me?" I asked, totally astonished. + +"Believe you!" he laughed. "Do you mean to say that you expected any +one to believe so impossible a lie?" + +It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard down +through the dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom. At a low +level we came upon a number of lighted chambers in which we saw many +Mahars engaged in various occupations. To one of these chambers my +guard escorted me, and before leaving they chained me to a side wall. +There were other humans similarly chained. Upon a long table lay a +victim even as I was ushered into the room. Several Mahars stood about +the poor creature holding him down so that he could not move. Another, +grasping a sharp knife with her three-toed fore foot, was laying open +the victim's chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered +and the shrieks and groans of the tortured man were terrible to hear. +This, indeed, was vivisection with a vengeance. Cold sweat broke out +upon me as I realized that soon my turn would come. And to think that +where there was no such thing as time I might easily imagine that my +suffering was enduring for months before death finally released me! + +The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I had been +brought into the room. So deeply immersed were they in their work that +I am sure they did not even know that the Sagoths had entered with me. +The door was close by. Would that I could reach it! But those heavy +chains precluded any such possibility. I looked about for some means +of escape from my bonds. Upon the floor between me and the Mahars lay +a tiny surgical instrument which one of them must have dropped. It +looked not unlike a button-hook, but was much smaller, and its point +was sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood days had I picked locks +with a buttonhook. Could I but reach that little bit of polished steel +I might yet effect at least a temporary escape. + +Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching one hand as +far out as I could my fingers still fell an inch short of the coveted +instrument. It was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber of my being as I +would, I could not quite make it. + +At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the object. My +heart came to my throat! I could just touch the thing! But suppose +that in my effort to drag it toward me I should accidentally shove it +still farther away and thus entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke +out upon me from every pore. Slowly and cautiously I made the effort. +My toes dropped upon the cold metal. Gradually I worked it toward me +until I felt that it was within reach of my hand and a moment later I +had turned about and the precious thing was in my grasp. + +Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my chain. It +was pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and a moment later +I was free. The Mahars were now evidently completing their work at the +table. One already turned away and was examining other victims, +evidently with the intention of selecting the next subject. + +Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the creature +walking toward us I might have escaped that moment. Slowly the thing +approached me, when its attention was attracted by a huge slave chained +a few yards to my right. Here the reptile stopped and commenced to go +over the poor devil carefully, and as it did so its back turned toward +me for an instant, and in that instant I gave two mighty leaps that +carried me out of the chamber into the corridor beyond, down which I +raced with all the speed I could command. + +Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only thought was +to place as much distance as possible between me and that frightful +chamber of torture. + +Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later realizing the +danger of running into some new predicament, were I not careful, I +moved still more slowly and cautiously. After a time I came to a +passage that seemed in some mysterious way familiar to me, and +presently, chancing to glance within a chamber which led from the +corridor I saw three Mahars curled up in slumber upon a bed of skins. +I could have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the same corridor +and the same Mahars that I had intended to have lead so important a +role in our escape from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, +for the reptiles still slept. + +My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels in search +of Perry and Ghak, but there was nothing else to be done, and so I +hastened upward. When I came to the frequented portions of the +building, I found a large burden of skins in a corner and these I +lifted to my head, carrying them in such a way that ends and corners +fell down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. Thus disguised +I found Perry and Ghak together in the chamber where we had been wont +to eat and sleep. + +Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of course they +had known nothing of the fate that had been meted out to me by my +judges. It was decided that no time should now be lost before +attempting to put our plan of escape to the test, as I could not hope +to remain hidden from the Sagoths long, nor could I forever carry that +bale of skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion. However +it seemed likely that it would carry me once more safely through the +crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels, and so I set out +with Perry and Ghak--the stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking +me. + +Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the main +floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak halted to await me. +The buildings are cut out of the solid limestone formation. There is +nothing at all remarkable about their architecture. The rooms are +sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular, and again oval in shape. +The corridors which connect them are narrow and not always straight. +The chambers are lighted by diffused sunlight reflected through tubes +similar to those by which the avenues are lighted. The lower the tiers +of chambers, the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely unlighted. +The Mahars can see quite well in semidarkness. + +Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, and slaves; +but no attention was paid to us as we had become a part of the domestic +life of the building. There was but a single entrance leading from the +place into the avenue and this was well guarded by Sagoths--this +doorway alone were we forbidden to pass. It is true that we were not +supposed to enter the deeper corridors and apartments except on special +occasions when we were instructed to do so; but as we were considered a +lower order without intelligence there was little reason to fear that +we could accomplish any harm by so doing, and so we were not hindered +as we entered the corridor which led below. + +Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, and the +arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. As many slaves bore +skin-wrapped burdens to and fro my load attracted no comment. Where I +left Ghak and Perry there were no other creatures in sight, and so I +withdrew one sword from the package, and leaving the balance of the +weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the lower levels. + +Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept I entered +silently on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures were without the +sense of hearing. With a quick thrust through the heart I disposed of +the first but my second thrust was not so fortunate, so that before I +could kill the next of my victims it had hurled itself against the +third, who sprang quickly up, facing me with wide-distended jaws. But +fighting is not the occupation which the race of Mahars loves, and when +the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of its companions, and +that my sword was red with their blood, it made a dash to escape me. +But I was too quick for it, and so, half hopping, half flying, it +scurried down another corridor with me close upon its heels. + +Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all probability my +instant death. This thought lent wings to my feet; but even at my best +I could do no more than hold my own with the leaping thing before me. + +Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the corridor, +and an instant later as I rushed in I found myself facing two of the +Mahars. The one who had been there when we entered had been occupied +with a number of metal vessels, into which had been put powders and +liquids as I judged from the array of flasks standing about upon the +bench where it had been working. In an instant I realized what I had +stumbled upon. It was the very room for the finding of which Perry had +given me minute directions. It was the buried chamber in which was +hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. And on the bench beside +the flasks lay the skin-bound book which held the only copy of the +thing I was to have sought, after dispatching the three Mahars in their +sleep. + +There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in which I now +stood facing the two frightful reptiles. Cornered, I knew that they +would fight like demons, and they were well equipped to fight if fight +they must. Together they launched themselves upon me, and though I ran +one of them through the heart on the instant, the other fastened its +gleaming fangs about my sword arm above the elbow, and then with her +sharp talons commenced to rake me about the body, evidently intent upon +disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope that I might +release my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which seemed to be +severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered was intense, but it +only served to spur me to greater efforts to overcome my antagonist. + +Back and forth across the floor we struggled--the Mahar dealing me +terrific, cutting blows with her fore feet, while I attempted to +protect my body with my left hand, at the same time watching for an +opportunity to transfer my blade from my now useless sword hand to its +rapidly weakening mate. At last I was successful, and with what seemed +to me my last ounce of strength I ran the blade through the ugly body +of my foe. + +Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from pain and +loss of blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant pride that I +stepped across its convulsively stiffening corpse to snatch up the most +potent secret of a world. A single glance assured me it was the very +thing that Perry had described to me. + +And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the human race of +Pellucidar--did there flash through my mind the thought that countless +generations of my own kind yet unborn would have reason to worship me +for the thing that I had accomplished for them? I did not. I thought +of a beautiful oval face, gazing out of limpid eyes, through a waving +mass of jet-black hair. I thought of red, red lips, God-made for +kissing. And of a sudden, apropos of nothing, standing there alone in +the secret chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, I realized that I loved +Dian the Beautiful. + + + +XII + +PURSUIT + + +FOR AN INSTANT I STOOD THERE THINKING OF HER, and then, with a sigh, I +tucked the book in the thong that supported my loin cloth, and turned +to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which leads +aloft from the lower chambers I whistled in accordance with the +prearranged signal which was to announce to Perry and Ghak that I had +been successful. A moment later they stood beside me, and to my +surprise I saw that Hooja the Sly One accompanied them. + +"He joined us," explained Perry, "and would not be denied. The fellow +is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than be thwarted of our chance +now I told him that I would bring him to you, and let you decide +whether he might accompany us." + +I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if +he thought it would profit him he would betray us; but I saw no way out +of it now, and the fact that I had killed four Mahars instead of only +the three I had expected to, made it possible to include the fellow in +our scheme of escape. + +"Very well," I said, "you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first +intimation of treachery I shall run my sword through you. Do you +understand?" + +He said that he did. + +Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and so +succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves that there seemed an +excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an +easy thing to fasten the hides together where we had split them along +the belly to remove them from their carcasses, but by remaining out +until the others had all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving +an aperture in the breast of Perry's skin through which he could pass +his hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design to +really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the +heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and by the same +means were enabled to move them about in a life-like manner. We had +our greatest difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that problem was +finally solved, so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. +Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats into which our heads were +thrust permitted us to see well enough to guide our progress. + +Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak headed +the strange procession, then came Perry, followed by Hooja, while I +brought up the rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my +sword that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise into his +vitals were he to show any indication of faltering. + +As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy +corridors of the main level, my heart came up into my mouth. It is +with no sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened--never before +in my life, nor since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing +fear and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I +sweat it then. + +Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when +they are not using their wings, we crept through throngs of busy +slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we reached +the outer door which leads into the main avenue of Phutra. Many +Sagoths loitered near the opening. They glanced at Ghak as he padded +between them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. Now it was my turn, +and then in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that the warm +blood from my wounded arm was trickling down through the dead foot of +the Mahar skin I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement, +for I saw a Sagoth call a companion's attention to it. + +The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to +me in the sign language which these two races employ as a means of +communication. Even had I known what he was saying I could not have +replied with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen a great +Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look. It seemed my only +hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I moved my sword so +that it made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the +gorilla-man. For a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the +fellow with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started +slowly on. For a moment all hung in the balance, but before I touched +him the guard stepped to one side, and I passed on out into the avenue. + +On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very +numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. Fortunately, +there was a great concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake +which lies a mile or more from the city. They go there to indulge +their amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and enjoying the +cool depths of the water. It is a fresh-water lake, shallow, and free +from the larger reptiles which make the use of the great seas of +Pellucidar impossible for any but their own kind. + +In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the +plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the stream that was +traveling toward the lake, but finally, at the bottom of a little gully +he halted, and there we remained until all had passed and we were +alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set off directly away from +Phutra. + +The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible +prisons unbearable, so that after passing a low divide, and entering a +sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had +brought us thus far in safety. + +I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling +flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped in our +tracks. How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How we +barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions and tigers the size of which +would dwarf into pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the +outer world. + +On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between +ourselves and Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us to his own +land--the land of Sari. No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we +were sure that somewhere behind us relentless Sagoths were dogging our +tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt down their quarry until +they had captured it or themselves been turned back by a superior force. + +Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite +strong enough in their mountain fastness to beat off any number of +Sagoths. + +At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have been +years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment which buttressed the +foothills of Sari. At almost the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever +quite as much behind as before, announced that he could see a body of +men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake. It was the +long-expected pursuit. + +I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them. + +"We may," he replied; "but you will find that the Sagoths can move with +incredible swiftness, and as they are almost tireless they are +doubtless much fresher than we. Then--" he paused, glancing at Perry. + +I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the +period of our flight either Ghak or I had half supported him on the +march. With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths +might easily overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights which +confronted us. + +"You and Hooja go on ahead," I said. "Perry and I will make it if we +are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, and there is no +reason why all should be lost because of that. It can't be helped--we +have simply to face it." + +"I will not desert a companion," was Ghak's simple reply. I hadn't +known that this great, hairy, primeval man had any such nobility of +character stowed away inside him. I had always liked him, but now to +my liking was added honor and respect. Yes, and love. + +But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach +his people he might be able to bring out a sufficient force to drive +off the Sagoths and rescue Perry and myself. + +No, he wouldn't leave us, and that was all there was to it, but he +suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn the Sarians of the king's +danger. It didn't require much urging to start Hooja--the naked idea +was enough to send him leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which +we now had reached. + +Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak's life and mine and the +old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him, although I knew that +he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling +into the hands of the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in +part, by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying him. While +the act cut down Ghak's speed he still could travel faster thus than +when half supporting the stumbling old man. + + + +XIII + +THE SLY ONE + + +THE SAGOTHS WERE GAINING ON US RAPIDLY, FOR once they had sighted us +they had greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up the +narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the heights of Sari. On +either side rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, parti-colored rock, +while beneath our feet a thick mountain grass formed a soft and +noiseless carpet. Since we had entered the canyon we had had no +glimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope that they had +lost our trail and that we would reach the now rapidly nearing cliffs +in time to scale them before we should be overtaken. + +Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the success +of Hooja's mission. By now he should have reached the outposts of the +Sarians, and we should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmen +as they swarmed to arms in answer to their king's appeal for succor. +In another moment the frowning cliffs ahead should be black with +primeval warriors. But nothing of the kind happened--as a matter of +fact the Sly One had betrayed us. At the moment that we expected to +see Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at Hooja's back, the craven +traitor was sneaking around the outskirts of the nearest Sarian +village, that he might come up from the other side when it was too late +to save us, claiming that he had become lost among the mountains. + +Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had +struck in Dian's protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal to +sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon me. + +As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians +appeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the sound +of rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me over +his shoulder that we were lost. + +A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at the +far end of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we had just +passed, and then a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view; +but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence +that the gorilla-man had sighted us. + +Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another +branch ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so that +appeared more like the main canyon than the lefthand branch. The +Sagoths were now not over two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I +saw that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape other than by a +ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, and as I +reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance. + +Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghak +and Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon, and as +the Sagoth's savage yell announced that he had seen me I turned and +fled up the right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entire +party of man-hunters raced headlong after me up one canyon while Ghak +bore Perry to safety up the other. + +Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when my +very life depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I ran any +better than on the occasions when my pitiful base running had called +down upon my head the rooter's raucous and reproachful cries of "Ice +Wagon," and "Call a cab." + +The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular, +fleeter than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon had +become a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed +a pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could not even +guess--possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of feet into the corresponding +valley upon the other side. Could it be that I had plunged into a +cul-de-sac? + +Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the top +of the canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to check them +temporarily, and to this end had unslung my rudely made bow and plucked +an arrow from the skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. As I +fitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped and wheeled toward the +gorilla-man. + +In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our +escape from Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game by +means of my arrows, and so, through necessity, had developed a fair +degree of accuracy. During our flight from Phutra I had restrung my +bow with a piece of heavy gut taken from a huge tiger which Ghak and I +had worried and finally dispatched with arrows, spear, and sword. The +hard wood of the bow was extremely tough and this, with the strength +and elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted confidence in my +weapon. + +Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then--never were my +nerves and muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully and +deliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had never before +seen a bow and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over his dull +intellect that the thing I held toward him was some sort of engine of +destruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously swinging his +hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods in which they +employ this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they achieve, even +under the most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous. + +My shaft was drawn back its full length--my eye had centered its sharp +point upon the left breast of my adversary; and then he launched his +hatchet and I released my arrow. At the instant that our missiles flew +I leaped to one side, but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his +attack with a spear thrust. I felt the swish of the hatchet as it +grazed my head, and at the same instant my shaft pierced the Sagoth's +savage heart, and with a single groan he lunged almost at my +feet--stone dead. Close behind him were two more--fifty yards +perhaps--but the distance gave me time to snatch up the dead +guardsman's shield, for the close call his hatchet had just given me +had borne in upon me the urgent need I had for one. Those which I had +purloined at Phutra we had not been able to bring along because their +size precluded our concealing them within the skins of the Mahars which +had brought us safely from the city. + +With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with another +arrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his fellow's +hatchet sped toward me I caught it upon the shield, and fitted another +shaft for him; but he did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned +and retreated toward the main body of gorilla-men. Evidently he had +seen enough of me for the moment. + +Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently +overanxious to press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested I +reached the top of the canyon where I found a sheer drop of two or +three hundred feet to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the left a +narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff. Along this +I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond the canyon's +end, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening to a large +cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight about +another projecting buttress of the mountain. + +Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could +advance upon me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting him +until he came full upon me around the corner of the turn. About me lay +scattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were of various +sizes and shapes, but enough were of handy dimensions for use as +ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering a number of stones +into a little pile beside the mouth of the cave I waited the advance of +the Sagoths. + +As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint sound +that should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight noise from +within the cave's black depths attracted my attention. It might have +been produced by the moving of the great body of some huge beast rising +from the rock floor of its lair. At almost the same instant I thought +that I caught the scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond the +turn. For the next few seconds my attention was considerably divided. + +And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes +glaring into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet above +my head. It is true that the beast who owned them might be standing +upon a ledge within the cave, or that it might be rearing up upon its +hind legs; but I had seen enough of the monsters of Pellucidar to know +that I might be facing some new and frightful Titan whose dimensions +and ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen before. + +Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the cave, +and now, deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and ominous growl. I +waited no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with the thing +which owned that voice. The noise had not been loud--I doubt if the +Sagoths heard it at all--but the suggestion of latent possibilities +behind it was such that I knew it would only emanate from a gigantic +and ferocious beast. + +As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the cave, +where I no longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but an instant +later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warily +advanced beyond the cliff's turn on the far side of the cave's mouth. +As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge in pursuit, and after +him came as many of his companions as could crowd upon each other's +heels. At the same time the beast emerged from the cave, so that he +and the Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge. + +The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully +eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the end +of its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sighted +the Sagoths it emitted a most frightful roar, and with open mouth +charged full upon them. With a cry of terror the foremost gorilla-man +turned to escape, but behind him he ran full upon his on-rushing +companions. + +The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth +nearest the cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and leaped +deliberately to an awful death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feet +below. Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered in the +next--there was a sickening sound of crushing bones, and the mangled +corpse was dropped over the cliff's edge. Nor did the mighty beast +even pause in his steady advance along the ledge. + +Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to escape +him, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing the +demoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long time I could hear +the horrid roaring of the brute intermingled with the screams and +shrieks of his victims, until finally the awful sounds dwindled and +disappeared in the distance. + +Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen and +returned with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is called, +pursued the Sagoths until it had exterminated the entire band. Ghak +was, of course, positive that I had fallen prey to the terrible +creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of beasts. + +Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall prey +either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along the ledge, +believing that by following around the mountain I could reach the land +of Sari from another direction. But I evidently became confused by the +twisting and turning of the canyons and gullies, for I did not come to +the land of Sari then, nor for a long time thereafter. + + + +XIV + +THE GARDEN OF EDEN + + +WITH NO HEAVENLY GUIDE, IT IS LITTLE WONDER that I became confused and +lost in the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. What, in reality, +I did was to pass entirely through them and come out above the valley +upon the farther side. I know that I wandered for a long time, until +tired and hungry I came upon a small cave in the face of the limestone +formation which had taken the place of the granite farther back. + +The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous side of a +lofty cliff. The way to it was such that I knew no extremely +formidable beast could frequent it, nor was it large enough to make a +comfortable habitat for any but the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet +it was with the utmost caution that I crawled within its dark interior. + +Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft in the +rock above which let the sunlight filter in in sufficient quantities +partially to dispel the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave +was entirely empty, nor were there any signs of its having been +recently occupied. The opening was comparatively small, so that after +considerable effort I was able to lug up a bowlder from the valley +below which entirely blocked it. + +Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and on +this trip was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, the diminutive +horse of Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of a fox terrier, +which abounds in all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food and +bedding I returned to my lair, where after a meal of raw meat, to which +I had now become quite accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the +entrance and curled myself upon a bed of grasses--a naked, primeval, +cave man, as savagely primitive as my prehistoric progenitors. + +I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled out +upon the little rocky shelf which was my front porch. Before me spread +a small but beautiful valley, through the center of which a clear and +sparkling river wound its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters of +which were just visible between the two mountain ranges which embraced +this little paradise. The sides of the opposite hills were green with +verdure, for a great forest clothed them to the foot of the red and +yellow and copper green of the towering crags which formed their +summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, while +here and there patches of wild flowers made great splashes of vivid +color against the prevailing green. + +Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike +trees--three or four together as a rule. Beneath these stood antelope, +while others grazed in the open, or wandered gracefully to a nearby +ford to drink. There were several species of this beautiful animal, +the most magnificent somewhat resembling the giant eland of Africa, +except that their spiral horns form a complete curve backward over +their ears and then forward again beneath them, ending in sharp and +formidable points some two feet before the face and above the eyes. In +size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet they are very +agile and fast. The broad yellow bands that stripe the dark roan of +their coats made me take them for zebra when I first saw them. All in +all they are handsome animals, and added the finishing touch to the +strange and lovely landscape that spread before my new home. + +I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with it as a +base make a systematic exploration of the surrounding country in search +of the land of Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcass of +the orthopi I had killed before my last sleep. Then I hid the Great +Secret in a deep niche at the back of my cave, rolled the bowlder +before my front door, and with bow, arrows, sword, and shield scrambled +down into the peaceful valley. + +The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, the +little orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and galloping to safest +distances. All the animals stopped feeding as I approached, and after +moving to what they considered a safe distance stood contemplating me +with serious eyes and up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bull +antelopes of the striped species lowered his head and bellowed +angrily--even taking a few steps in my direction, so that I thought he +meant to charge; but after I had passed, he resumed feeding as though +nothing had disturbed him. + +Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, and +across the river saw a great sadok, the enormous double-horned +progenitor of the modern rhinoceros. At the valley's end the cliffs +upon the left ran out into the sea, so that to pass around them as I +desired to do it was necessary to scale them in search of a ledge along +which I might continue my journey. Some fifty feet from the base I +came upon a projection which formed a natural path along the face of +the cliff, and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff's end. + +Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the +cliffs--the stratum which formed it evidently having been forced up at +this steep angle when the mountains behind it were born. As I climbed +carefully up the ascent my attention suddenly was attracted aloft by +the sound of strange hissing, and what resembled the flapping of wings. + +And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision the most +frightful thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. It was a giant +dragon such as is pictured in the legends and fairy tales of earth +folk. Its huge body must have measured forty feet in length, while the +batlike wings that supported it in midair had a spread of fully thirty. +Its gaping jaws were armed with long, sharp teeth, and its claw +equipped with horrible talons. + +The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was issuing +from its throat, and seemed to be directed at something beyond and +below me which I could not see. The ledge upon which I stood +terminated abruptly a few paces farther on, and as I reached the end I +saw the cause of the reptile's agitation. + +Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at this +point, so that beyond the spot where I stood the strata had slipped +down a matter of twenty feet. The result was that the continuation of +my ledge lay twenty feet below me, where it ended as abruptly as did +the end upon which I stood. + +And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable break in +the ledge, stood the object of the creature's attack--a girl cowering +upon the narrow platform, her face buried in her arms, as though to +shut out the sight of the frightful death which hovered just above her. + +The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in upon its +prey. There was no time to be lost, scarce an instant in which to +weigh the possible chances that I had against the awfully armed +creature; but the sight of that frightened girl below me called out to +all that was best in me, and the instinct for protection of the other +sex, which nearly must have equaled the instinct of self-preservation +in primeval man, drew me to the girl's side like an irresistible magnet. + +Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the end of the +ledge upon which I stood, for the tiny shelf twenty feet below. At the +same instant the dragon darted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent +upon the scene must have startled him for he veered to one side, and +then rose above us once more. + +The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl that the end +had come, for she thought I was the dragon; but finally when no cruel +fangs closed upon her she raised her eyes in astonishment. As they +fell upon me the expression that came into them would be difficult to +describe; but her feelings could scarcely have been one whit more +complicated than my own--for the wide eyes that looked into mine were +those of Dian the Beautiful. + +"Dian!" I cried. "Dian! Thank God that I came in time." + +"You?" she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor could I tell +whether she were glad or angry that I had come. + +Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly that I had +no time to unsling my bow. All that I could do was to snatch up a +rock, and hurl it at the thing's hideous face. Again my aim was true, +and with a hiss of pain and rage the reptile wheeled once more and +soared away. + +Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the next attack, +and as I did so I looked down at the girl, so that I surprised her in a +surreptitious glance which she was stealing at me; but immediately, she +again covered her face with her hands. + +"Look at me, Dian," I pleaded. "Are you not glad to see me?" + +She looked straight into my eyes. + +"I hate you," she said, and then, as I was about to beg for a fair +hearing she pointed over my shoulder. "The thipdar comes," she said, +and I turned again to meet the reptile. + +So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel bloodhound of +the Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl of the outer world. But this +time I met it with a weapon it never had faced before. I had selected +my longest arrow, and with all my strength had bent the bow until the +very tip of the shaft rested upon the thumb of my left hand, and then +as the great creature darted toward us I let drive straight for that +tough breast. + +Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty creature +fell turning and twisting into the sea below, my arrow buried +completely in its carcass. I turned toward the girl. She was looking +past me. It was evident that she had seen the thipdar die. + +"Dian," I said, "won't you tell me that you are not sorry that I have +found you?" + +"I hate you," was her only reply; but I imagined that there was less +vehemence in it than before--yet it might have been but my imagination. + +"Why do you hate me, Dian?" I asked, but she did not answer me. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked, "and what has happened to you since +Hooja freed you from the Sagoths?" + +At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, but +finally she thought better of it. + +"I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she said. "After I +escaped from the Sagoths I made my way alone back to my own land; but +on account of Jubal I did not dare enter the villages or let any of my +friends know that I had returned for fear that Jubal might find out. +By watching for a long time I found that my brother had not yet +returned, and so I continued to live in a cave beside a valley which my +race seldom frequents, awaiting the time that he should come back and +free me from Jubal. + +"But at last one of Jubal's hunters saw me as I was creeping toward my +father's cave to see if my brother had yet returned and he gave the +alarm and Jubal set out after me. He has been pursuing me across many +lands. He cannot be far behind me now. When he comes he will kill you +and carry me back to his cave. He is a terrible man. I have gone as +far as I can go, and there is no escape," and she looked hopelessly up +at the continuation of the ledge twenty feet above us. + +"But he shall not have me," she suddenly cried, with great vehemence. +"The sea is there"--she pointed over the edge of the cliff--"and the +sea shall have me rather than Jubal." + +"But I have you now Dian," I cried; "nor shall Jubal, nor any other +have you, for you are mine," and I seized her hand, nor did I lift it +above her head and let it fall in token of release. + +She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my eyes with +level gaze. + +"I do not believe you," she said, "for if you meant it you would have +done this when the others were present to witness it--then I should +truly have been your mate; now there is no one to see you do it, for +you know that without witnesses your act does not bind you to me," and +she withdrew her hand from mine and turned away. + +I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply couldn't +forget the humiliation that I had put upon her on that other occasion. + +"If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to prove it," +she said, "if Jubal does not catch and kill you. I am in your power, +and the treatment you accord me will be the best proof of your +intentions toward me. I am not your mate, and again I tell you that I +hate you, and that I should be glad if I never saw you again." + +Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In fact I +found candor and directness to be quite a marked characteristic of the +cave men of Pellucidar. Finally I suggested that we make some attempt +to gain my cave, where we might escape the searching Jubal, for I am +free to admit that I had no considerable desire to meet the formidable +and ferocious creature, of whose mighty prowess Dian had told me when I +first met her. He it was who, armed with a puny knife, had met and +killed a cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was Jubal who could +cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass of the sadok at +fifty paces. It was he who had crushed the skull of a charging dyryth +with a single blow of his war club. No, I was not pining to meet the +Ugly One--and it was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for +him; but the matter was taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often +the way, and I did meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face. + +This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge the way +she had come, searching for a path that would lead us to the top of the +cliff, for I knew that we could then cross over to the edge of my own +little valley, where I felt certain we should find a means of ingress +from the cliff top. As we proceeded along the ledge I gave Dian minute +directions for finding my cave against the chance of something +happening to me. I knew that she would be quite safely hidden away +from pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, and the valley +would afford her ample means of sustenance. + +Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My heart was sad +and heavy, and I wanted to make her feel badly by suggesting that +something terrible might happen to me--that I might, in fact, be +killed. But it didn't work worth a cent, at least as far as I could +perceive. Dian simply shrugged those magnificent shoulders of hers, +and murmured something to the effect that one was not rid of trouble so +easily as that. + +For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to think that +I had twice protected her from attack--the last time risking my life to +save hers. It was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Age +could be so ungrateful--so heartless; but maybe her heart partook of +the qualities of her epoch. + +Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened and +extended by the action of the water draining through it from the +plateau above. It gave us a rather rough climb to the summit, but +finally we stood upon the level mesa which stretched back for several +miles to the mountain range. Behind us lay the broad inland sea, +curving upward in the horizonless distance to merge into the blue of +the sky, so that for all the world it looked as though the sea lapped +back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond the distant +mountains at our backs--the weird and uncanny aspect of the seascapes +of Pellucidar balk description. + +At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country was open +and clear to the plateau's farther verge. It was in this direction +that our way led, and we had turned to resume our journey when Dian +touched my arm. I turned to her, thinking that she was about to make +peace overtures; but I was mistaken. + +"Jubal," she said, and nodded toward the forest. + +I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a perfect whale +of a man. He must have been seven feet tall, and proportioned +accordingly. He still was too far off to distinguish his features. + +"Run," I said to Dian. "I can engage him until you get a good start. +Maybe I can hold him until you have gotten entirely away," and then, +without a backward glance, I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had +hoped that Dian would have a kind word to say to me before she went, +for she must have known that I was going to my death for her sake; but +she never even so much as bid me good-bye, and it was with a heavy +heart that I strode through the flower-bespangled grass to my doom. + +When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his features I +understood how it was that he had earned the sobriquet of Ugly One. +Apparently some fearful beast had ripped away one entire side of his +face. The eye was gone, the nose, and all the flesh, so that his jaws +and all his teeth were exposed and grinning through the horrible scar. + +Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others of his +handsome race, and it may be that the terrible result of this encounter +had tended to sour an already strong and brutal character. However +this may be it is quite certain that he was not a pretty sight, and now +that his features, or what remained of them, were distorted in rage at +the sight of Dian with another male, he was indeed most terrible to +see--and much more terrible to meet. + +He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised his mighty +spear, while I halted and fitting an arrow to my bow took as steady aim +as I could. I was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess that +the sight of this awful man had wrought upon my nerves to such an +extent that my knees were anything but steady. What chance had I +against this mighty warrior for whom even the fiercest cave bear had no +terrors! Could I hope to best one who slaughtered the sadok and dyryth +singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself, my fear was +more for Dian than for my own fate. + +And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped spear, and I +raised my shield to break the force of its terrific velocity. The +impact hurled me to my knees, but the shield had deflected the missile +and I was unscathed. Jubal was rushing upon me now with the only +remaining weapon that he carried--a murderous-looking knife. He was +too close for a careful bowshot, but I let drive at him as he came, +without taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part of his thigh, +inflicting a painful but not disabling wound. And then he was upon me. + +My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his raised arm, +and when he wheeled to come at me again he found a sword's point in his +face. And a moment later he felt an inch or two of it in the muscles +of his knife arm, so that thereafter he went more warily. + +It was a duel of strategy now--the great, hairy man maneuvering to get +inside my guard where he could bring those giant thews to play, while +my wits were directed to the task of keeping him at arm's length. +Thrice he rushed me, and thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield. +Each time my sword found his body--once penetrating to his lung. He +was covered with blood by this time, and the internal hemorrhage +induced paroxysms of coughing that brought the red stream through the +hideous mouth and nose, covering his face and breast with bloody froth. +He was a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead. + +As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be perfectly +candid, I had not expected to survive the first rush of that monstrous +engine of ungoverned rage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from +utter contempt of me, began to change to a feeling of respect, and then +in his primitive mind there evidently loomed the thought that perhaps +at last he had met his master, and was facing his end. + +At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can account for his +next act, which was in the nature of a last resort--a sort of forlorn +hope, which could only have been born of the belief that if he did not +kill me quickly I should kill him. It happened on the occasion of his +fourth charge, when, instead of striking at me with his knife, he +dropped that weapon, and seizing my sword blade in both his hands +wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily as from a babe. + +Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an instant +glaring into my face with such a horrid leer of malignant triumph as to +almost unnerve me--then he sprang for me with his bare hands. But it +was Jubal's day to learn new methods of warfare. For the first time he +had seen a bow and arrows, never before that duel had he beheld a +sword, and now he learned what a man who knows may do with his bare +fists. + +As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath his +outstretched arm, and as I came up planted as clean a blow upon his jaw +as ever you have seen. Down went that great mountain of flesh +sprawling upon the ground. He was so surprised and dazed that he lay +there for several seconds before he made any attempt to rise, and I +stood over him with another dose ready when he should gain his knees. + +Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; but +he didn't stay up--I let him have a left fair on the point of the jaw +that sent him tumbling over on his back. By this time I think Jubal +had gone mad with hate, for no sane man would have come back for more +as many times as he did. Time after time I bowled him over as fast as +he could stagger up, until toward the last he lay longer on the ground +between blows, and each time came up weaker than before. + +He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, and +presently a terrific blow over the heart sent him reeling heavily to +the ground, where he lay very still, and somehow I knew at once that +Jubal the Ugly One would never get up again. But even as I looked upon +that massive body lying there so grim and terrible in death, I could +not believe that I, single-handed, had bested this slayer of fearful +beasts--this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age. + +Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the dead body of +my foeman, and as I thought of the battle I had just fought and won a +great idea was born in my brain--the outcome of this and the suggestion +that Perry had made within the city of Phutra. If skill and science +could render a comparative pygmy the master of this mighty brute, what +could not the brute's fellows accomplish with the same skill and +science. Why all Pellucidar would be at their feet--and I would be +their king and Dian their queen. + +Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite within the +possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even were I king. She was +quite the most superior person I ever had met--with the most convincing +way of letting you know that she was superior. Well, I could go to the +cave, and tell her that I had killed Jubal, and then she might feel +more kindly toward me, since I had freed her of her tormentor. I hoped +that she had found the cave easily--it would be terrible had I lost her +again, and I turned to gather up my shield and bow to hurry after her, +when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten paces behind me. + +"Girl!" I cried, "what are you doing here? I thought that you had gone +to the cave, as I told you to do." + +Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the majesty +out of me, and left me feeling more like the palace janitor--if palaces +have janitors. + +"As you told me to do!" she cried, stamping her little foot. "I do as +I please. I am the daughter of a king, and furthermore, I hate you." + +I was dumbfounded--this was my thanks for saving her from Jubal! I +turned and looked at the corpse. "May be that I saved you from a worse +fate, old man," I said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she never +seemed to notice it at all. + +"Let us go to my cave," I said, "I am tired and hungry." + +She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. I was too +angry, and she evidently didn't care to converse with the lower orders. +I was mad all the way through, as I had certainly felt that at least a +word of thanks should have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own +standards, I must have done a very wonderful thing to have killed the +redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand encounter. + +We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went down into the +valley and bowled over a small antelope, which I dragged up the steep +ascent to the ledge before the door. Here we ate in silence. +Occasionally I glanced at her, thinking that the sight of her tearing +at raw flesh with her hands and teeth like some wild animal would cause +a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; but to my surprise I found +that she ate quite as daintily as the most civilized woman of my +acquaintance, and finally I found myself gazing in foolish rapture at +the beauties of her strong, white teeth. Such is love. + +After our repast we went down to the river together and bathed our +hands and faces, and then after drinking our fill went back to the +cave. Without a word I crawled into the farthest corner and, curling +up, was soon asleep. + +When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out across the +valley. As I came out she moved to one side to let me pass, but she +had no word for me. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn't. Every time +I looked at her something came up in my throat, so that I nearly +choked. I had never been in love before, but I did not need any aid in +diagnosing my case--I certainly had it and had it bad. God, how I +loved that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl! + +After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended returning to her +tribe now that Jubal was dead, but she shook her head sadly, and said +that she did not dare, for there was still Jubal's brother to be +considered--his oldest brother. + +"What has he to do with it?" I asked. "Does he too want you, or has +the option on you become a family heirloom, to be passed on down from +generation to generation?" + +She was not quite sure as to what I meant. + +"It is probable," she said, "that they all will want revenge for the +death of Jubal--there are seven of them--seven terrible men. Someone +may have to kill them all, if I am to return to my people." + +It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too large for +me--about seven sizes, in fact. + +"Had Jubal any cousins?" I asked. It was just as well to know the +worst at once. + +"Yes," replied Dian, "but they don't count--they all have mates. +Jubal's brothers have no mates because Jubal could get none for +himself. He was so ugly that women ran away from him--some have even +thrown themselves from the cliffs of Amoz into the Darel Az rather than +mate with the Ugly One." + +"But what had that to do with his brothers?" I asked. + +"I forget that you are not of Pellucidar," said Dian, with a look of +pity mixed with contempt, and the contempt seemed to be laid on a +little thicker than the circumstance warranted--as though to make quite +certain that I shouldn't overlook it. "You see," she continued, "a +younger brother may not take a mate until all his older brothers have +done so, unless the older brother waives his prerogative, which Jubal +would not do, knowing that as long as he kept them single they would be +all the keener in aiding him to secure a mate." + +Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began to entertain +hopes that she might be warming up toward me a bit, although upon what +slender thread I hung my hopes I soon discovered. + +"As you dare not return to Amoz," I ventured, "what is to become of you +since you cannot be happy here with me, hating me as you do?" + +"I shall have to put up with you," she replied coldly, "until you see +fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace, then I shall get along very +well alone." + +I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible that even a +prehistoric woman could be so cold and heartless and ungrateful. Then +I arose. + +"I shall leave you NOW," I said haughtily, "I have had quite enough of +your ingratitude and your insults," and then I turned and strode +majestically down toward the valley. I had taken a hundred steps in +absolute silence, and then Dian spoke. + +"I hate you!" she shouted, and her voice broke--in rage, I thought. + +I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn't gone too far when I began to +realize that I couldn't leave her alone there without protection, to +hunt her own food amid the dangers of that savage world. She might +hate me, and revile me, and heap indignity after indignity upon me, as +she already had, until I should have hated her; but the pitiful fact +remained that I loved her, and I couldn't leave her there alone. + +The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the time I +reached the valley I was furious, and the result of it was that I +turned right around and went up that cliff again as fast as I had come +down. I saw that Dian had left the ledge and gone within the cave, but +I bolted right in after her. She was lying upon her face on the pile +of grasses I had gathered for her bed. When she heard me enter she +sprang to her feet like a tigress. + +"I hate you!" she cried. + +Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the +semidarkness of the cave I could not see her features, and I was rather +glad, for I disliked to think of the hate that I should have read there. + +I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across the cave and +grasped her by the wrists, and when she struggled, I put my arm around +her so as to pinion her hands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, +but I took my free hand and pushed her head back--I imagine that I had +suddenly turned brute, that I had gone back a thousand million years, +and was again a veritable cave man taking my mate by force--and then I +kissed that beautiful mouth again and again. + +"Dian," I cried, shaking her roughly, "I love you. Can't you +understand that I love you? That I love you better than all else in +this world or my own? That I am going to have you? That love like +mine cannot be denied?" + +I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my eyes became +accustomed to the light I saw that she was smiling--a very contented, +happy smile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, +she was trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened my grip upon them +so that she could do so. Slowly they came up and stole about my neck, +and then she drew my lips down to hers once more and held them there +for a long time. At last she spoke. + +"Why didn't you do this at first, David? I have been waiting so long." + +"What!" I cried. "You said that you hated me!" + +"Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I loved you +before I knew that you loved me?" she asked. + +"But I have told you right along that I love you," I said. "Love +speaks in acts," she replied. "You could have made your mouth say what +you wished it to say, but just now when you came and took me in your +arms your heart spoke to mine in the language that a woman's heart +understands. What a silly man you are, David." + +"Then you haven't hated me at all, Dian?" I asked. + +"I have loved you always," she whispered, "from the first moment that I +saw you, although I did not know it until that time you struck down +Hooja the Sly One, and then spurned me." + +"But I didn't spurn you, dear," I cried. "I didn't know your ways--I +doubt if I do now. It seems incredible that you could have reviled me +so, and yet have cared for me all the time." + +"You might have known," she said, "when I did not run away from you +that it was not hate which chained me to you. While you were battling +with Jubal, I could have run to the edge of the forest, and when I +learned the outcome of the combat it would have been a simple thing to +have eluded you and returned to my own people." + +"But Jubal's brothers--and cousins--" I reminded her, "how about them?" + +She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder. + +"I had to tell you SOMETHING, David," she whispered. "I must needs +have SOME excuse for remaining near you." + +"You little sinner!" I exclaimed. "And you have caused me all this +anguish for nothing!" + +"I have suffered even more," she answered simply, "for I thought that +you did not love me, and I was helpless. I couldn't come to you and +demand that my love be returned, as you have just come to me. Just now +when you went away hope went with you. I was wretched, terrified, +miserable, and my heart was breaking. I wept, and I have not done that +before since my mother died," and now I saw that there was the moisture +of tears about her eyes. It was near to making me cry myself when I +thought of all that poor child had been through. Motherless and +unprotected; hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideous +brute of a man; exposed to the attacks of the countless fearsome +denizens of its mountains, its plains, and its jungles--it was a +miracle that she had survived it all. + +To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears must have +endured that the human race of the outer crust might survive. It made +me very proud to think that I had won the love of such a woman. Of +course she couldn't read or write; there was nothing cultured or +refined about her as you judge culture and refinement; but she was the +essence of all that is best in woman, for she was good, and brave, and +noble, and virtuous. And she was all these things in spite of the fact +that their observance entailed suffering and danger and possible death. + +How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in the first +place! She would have been his lawful mate. She would have been queen +in her own land--and it meant just as much to the cave woman to be a +queen in the Stone Age as it does to the woman of today to be a queen +now; it's all comparative glory any way you look at it, and if there +were only half-naked savages on the outer crust today, you'd find that +it would be considerable glory to be the wife of a Dahomey chief. + +I couldn't help but compare Dian's action with that of a splendid young +woman I had known in New York--I mean splendid to look at and to talk +to. She had been head over heels in love with a chum of mine--a clean, +manly chap--but she had married a broken-down, disreputable old +debauchee because he was a count in some dinky little European +principality that was not even accorded a distinctive color by Rand +McNally. + +Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian. + +After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious to see +Perry, and to know that all was right with him. I had told Dian about +our plan of emancipating the human race of Pellucidar, and she was +fairly wild over it. She said that if Dacor, her brother, would only +return he could easily be king of Amoz, and that then he and Ghak could +form an alliance. That would give us a flying start, for the Sarians +and the Amozites were both very powerful tribes. Once they had been +armed with swords, and bows and arrows, and trained in their use we +were confident that they could overcome any tribe that seemed +disinclined to join the great army of federated states with which we +were planning to march upon the Mahars. + +I explained the various destructive engines of war which Perry and I +could construct after a little experimentation--gunpowder, rifles, +cannon, and the like, and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms +about my neck, and tell me what a wonderful thing I was. She was +beginning to think that I was omnipotent although I really hadn't done +anything but talk--but that is the way with women when they love. +Perry used to say that if a fellow was one-tenth as remarkable as his +wife or mother thought him, he would have the world by the tail with a +down-hill drag. + +The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of poisonous +vipers before we reached the valley. A little fellow stung me on the +ankle, and Dian made me come back to the cave. She said that I mustn't +exercise, or it might prove fatal--if it had been a full-grown snake +that struck me she said, I wouldn't have moved a single pace from the +nest--I'd have died in my tracks, so virulent is the poison. As it was +I must have been laid up for quite a while, though Dian's poultices of +herbs and leaves finally reduced the swelling and drew out the poison. + +The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an idea which +added a thousand-fold to the value of my arrows as missiles of offense +and defense. As soon as I was able to be about again, I sought out +some adult vipers of the species which had stung me, and having killed +them, I extracted their virus, smearing it upon the tips of several +arrows. Later I shot a hyaenodon with one of these, and though my +arrow inflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beast crumpled in +death almost immediately after he was hit. + +We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it was with +feelings of sincere regret that we bade good-bye to our beautiful +Garden of Eden, in the comparative peace and harmony of which we had +lived the happiest moments of our lives. How long we had been there I +did not know, for as I have told you, time had ceased to exist for me +beneath that eternal noonday sun--it may have been an hour, or a month +of earthly time; I do not know. + + + +XV + +BACK TO EARTH + + +WE CROSSED THE RIVER AND PASSED THROUGH THE mountains beyond, and +finally we came out upon a great level plain which stretched away as +far as the eye could reach. I cannot tell you in what direction it +stretched even if you would care to know, for all the while that I was +within Pellucidar I never discovered any but local methods of +indicating direction--there is no north, no south, no east, no west. +UP is about the only direction which is well defined, and that, of +course, is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun neither rises +nor sets there is no method of indicating direction beyond visible +objects such as high mountains, forests, lakes, and seas. + +The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the Darel Az +upon the shore nearest the Mountains of the Clouds is about as near to +any direction as any Pellucidarian can come. If you happen not to have +heard of the Darel Az, or the white cliffs, or the Mountains of the +Clouds you feel that there is something lacking, and long for the good +old understandable northeast and southwest of the outer world. + +We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two enormous +animals approaching us from a great distance. So far were they that we +could not distinguish what manner of beasts they might be, but as they +came closer, I saw that they were enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a +hundred feet long, with tiny heads perched at the top of very long +necks. Their heads must have been quite forty feet from the ground. +The beasts moved very slowly--that is their action was slow--but their +strides covered such a great distance that in reality they traveled +considerably faster than a man walks. + +As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back of each sat +a human being. Then Dian knew what they were, though she never before +had seen one. + +"They are lidis from the land of the Thorians," she cried. "Thoria +lies at the outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. The Thorians +alone of all the races of Pellucidar ride the lidi, for nowhere else +than beside the dark country are they found." + +"What is the Land of Awful Shadow?" I asked. + +"It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World," replied Dian; "the +Dead World which hangs forever between the sun and Pellucidar above the +Land of Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World which makes the great +shadow upon this portion of Pellucidar." + +I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure that I do yet, +for I have never been to that part of Pellucidar from which the Dead +World is visible; but Perry says that it is the moon of Pellucidar--a +tiny planet within a planet--and that it revolves around the earth's +axis coincidently with the earth, and thus is always above the same +spot within Pellucidar. + +I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him about this +Dead World, for he seemed to think that it explained the hitherto +inexplicable phenomena of nutation and the precession of the equinoxes. + +When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we saw that one +was a man and the other a woman. The former had held up his two hands, +palms toward us, in sign of peace, and I had answered him in kind, when +he suddenly gave a cry of astonishment and pleasure, and slipping from +his enormous mount ran forward toward Dian, throwing his arms about her. + +In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an instant; since +Dian quickly drew the man toward me, telling him that I was David, her +mate. + +"And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David," she said to me. + +It appeared that the woman was Dacor's mate. He had found none to his +liking among the Sari, nor farther on until he had come to the land of +the Thoria, and there he had found and fought for this very lovely +Thorian maiden whom he was bringing back to his own people. + +When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to accompany +us to Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come to an agreement relative to +an alliance, as Dacor was quite as enthusiastic about the proposed +annihilation of the Mahars and Sagoths as either Dian or I. + +After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, we came to +the first of the Sarian villages which consists of between one and two +hundred artificial caves cut into the face of a great cliff. Here to +our immense delight, we found both Perry and Ghak. The old man was +quite overcome at sight of me for he had long since given me up as dead. + +When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn't quite know what to say, +but he afterward remarked that with the pick of two worlds I could not +have done better. + +Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it was at a +council of the head men of the various tribes of the Sari that the +eventual form of government was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, the +various kingdoms were to remain virtually independent, but there was to +be one great overlord, or emperor. It was decided that I should be the +first of the dynasty of the emperors of Pellucidar. + +We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, and poison +pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which provided the virus, and +it was they who mined the iron ore, and fashioned the swords under +Perry's direction. Rapidly the fever spread from one tribe to another +until representatives from nations so far distant that the Sarians had +never even heard of them came in to take the oath of allegiance which +we required, and to learn the art of making the new weapons and using +them. + +We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of the +federation, and the movement had reached colossal proportions before +the Mahars discovered it. The first intimation they had was when three +of their great slave caravans were annihilated in rapid succession. +They could not comprehend that the lower orders had suddenly developed +a power which rendered them really formidable. + +In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our Sarians took a +number of Sagoth prisoners, and among them were two who had been +members of the guards within the building where we had been confined at +Phutra. They told us that the Mahars were frantic with rage when they +discovered what had taken place in the cellars of the buildings. The +Sagoths knew that something very terrible had befallen their masters, +but the Mahars had been most careful to see that no inkling of the true +nature of their vital affliction reached beyond their own race. How +long it would take for the race to become extinct it was impossible +even to guess; but that this must eventually happen seemed inevitable. + +The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of any one of +us alive, and at the same time had threatened to inflict the direst +punishment upon whomever should harm us. The Sagoths could not +understand these seemingly paradoxical instructions, though their +purpose was quite evident to me. The Mahars wanted the Great Secret, +and they knew that we alone could deliver it to them. + +Perry's experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the fashioning +of rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we had hoped--there was a +whole lot about these two arts which Perry didn't know. We were both +assured that the solution of these problems would advance the cause of +civilization within Pellucidar thousands of years at a single stroke. +Then there were various other arts and sciences which we wished to +introduce, but our combined knowledge of them did not embrace the +mechanical details which alone could render them of commercial, or +practical value. + +"David," said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to produce +gunpowder that would even burn, "one of us must return to the outer +world and bring back the information we lack. Here we have all the +labor and materials for reproducing anything that ever has been +produced above--what we lack is knowledge. Let us go back and get that +knowledge in the shape of books--then this world will indeed be at our +feet." + +And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, which +still lay upon the edge of the forest at the point where we had first +penetrated to the surface of the inner world. Dian would not listen to +any arrangement for my going which did not include her, and I was not +sorry that she wished to accompany me, for I wanted her to see my +world, and I wanted my world to see her. + +With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, which +Perry soon had hoisted into position with its nose pointed back toward +the outer crust. He went over all the machinery carefully. He +replenished the air tanks, and manufactured oil for the engine. At +last everything was ready, and we were about to set out when our +pickets, a long, thin line of which had surrounded our camp at all +times, reported that a great body of what appeared to be Sagoths and +Mahars were approaching from the direction of Phutra. + +Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to witness the first +clash between two fair-sized armies of the opposing races of +Pellucidar. I realized that this was to mark the historic beginning of +a mighty struggle for possession of a world, and as the first emperor +of Pellucidar I felt that it was not alone my duty, but my right, to be +in the thick of that momentous struggle. + +As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many Mahars with +the Sagoth troops--an indication of the vast importance which the +dominant race placed upon the outcome of this campaign, for it was not +customary with them to take active part in the sorties which their +creatures made for slaves--the only form of warfare which they waged +upon the lower orders. + +Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to view the +prospector. I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians on the right of our +battle line. Dacor took the left, while I commanded the center. +Behind us I stationed a sufficient reserve under one of Ghak's head +men. The Sagoths advanced steadily with menacing spears, and I let +them come until they were within easy bowshot before I gave the word to +fire. + +At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front ranks of the +gorilla-men crumpled to the ground; but those behind charged over the +prostrate forms of their comrades in a wild, mad rush to be upon us +with their spears. A second volley stopped them for an instant, and +then my reserve sprang through the openings in the firing line to +engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy spears of the Sagoths +were no match for the swords of the Sarian and Amozite, who turned the +spear thrusts aside with their shields and leaped to close quarters +with their lighter, handier weapons. + +Ghak took his archers along the enemy's flank, and while the swordsmen +engaged them in front, he poured volley after volley into their +unprotected left. The Mahars did little real fighting, and were more +in the way than otherwise, though occasionally one of them would fasten +its powerful jaw upon the arm or leg of a Sarian. + +The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I led our men +in upon the Sagoth's right with naked swords they were already so +demoralized that they turned and fled before us. We pursued them for +some time, taking many prisoners and recovering nearly a hundred +slaves, among whom was Hooja the Sly One. + +He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his own land; +but that his life had been spared in hope that through him the Mahars +would learn the whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak and I were +inclined to think that the Sly One had been guiding this expedition to +the land of Sari, where he thought that the book might be found in +Perry's possession; but we had no proof of this and so we took him in +and treated him as one of us, although none liked him. And how he +rewarded my generosity you will presently learn. + +There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so fearful were +our own people of them that they would not approach them unless +completely covered from the sight of the reptiles by a piece of skin. +Even Dian shared the popular superstition regarding the evil effects of +exposure to the eyes of angry Mahars, and though I laughed at her fears +I was willing enough to humor them if it would relieve her apprehension +in any degree, and so she sat apart from the prospector, near which the +Mahars had been chained, while Perry and I again inspected every +portion of the mechanism. + +At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to one of the +men without to fetch Dian. It happened that Hooja stood quite close to +the doorway of the prospector, so that it was he who, without my +knowledge, went to bring her; but how he succeeded in accomplishing the +fiendish thing he did, I cannot guess, unless there were others in the +plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, since all my people were +loyal to me and would have made short work of Hooja had he suggested +the heartless scheme, even had he had time to acquaint another with it. +It was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it was the +result of sudden impulse, aided by a number of, to Hooja, fortuitous +circumstances occurring at precisely the right moment. + +All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the prospector, +still wrapped from head to toe in the skin of an enormous cave lion +which covered her since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into camp. +He deposited his burden in the seat beside me. I was all ready to get +under way. The good-byes had been said. Perry had grasped my hand in +the last, long farewell. I closed and barred the outer and inner +doors, took my seat again at the driving mechanism, and pulled the +starting lever. + +As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our first trial of +the iron monster, there was a frightful roaring beneath us--the giant +frame trembled and vibrated--there was a rush of sound as the loose +earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner and outer +jackets to be deposited in our wake. Once more the thing was off. + +But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my seat by the +sudden lurching of the prospector. At first I did not realize what had +happened, but presently it dawned upon me that just before entering the +crust the towering body had fallen through its supporting scaffolding, +and that instead of entering the ground vertically we were plunging +into it at a different angle. Where it would bring us out upon the +upper crust I could not even conjecture. And then I turned to note the +effect of this strange experience upon Dian. She still sat shrouded in +the great skin. + +"Come, come," I cried, laughing, "come out of your shell. No Mahar +eyes can reach you here," and I leaned over and snatched the lion skin +from her. And then I shrank back upon my seat in utter horror. + +The thing beneath the skin was not Dian--it was a hideous Mahar. +Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja had played upon me, and the +purpose of it. Rid of me, forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would +be at his mercy. Frantically I tore at the steering wheel in an effort +to turn the prospector back toward Pellucidar; but, as on that other +occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair. + +It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of that journey. +It varied but little from the former one which had brought us from the +outer to the inner world. Because of the angle at which we had entered +the ground the trip required nearly a day longer, and brought me out +here upon the sand of the Sahara instead of in the United States as I +had hoped. + +For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. I dared +not leave the prospector for fear I should never be able to find it +again--the shifting sands of the desert would soon cover it, and then +my only hope of returning to my Dian and her Pellucidar would be gone +forever. + +That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, for how +may I know upon what part of Pellucidar my return journey may +terminate--and how, without a north or south or an east or a west may I +hope ever to find my way across that vast world to the tiny spot where +my lost love lies grieving for me? + + +That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the goat-skin tent +upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. The next day he took me out +to see the prospector--it was precisely as he had described it. So +huge was it that it could have been brought to this inaccessible part +of the world by no means of transportation that existed there--it could +only have come in the way that David Innes said it came--up through the +crust of the earth from the inner world of Pellucidar. + +I spent a week with him, and then, abandoning my lion hunt, returned +directly to the coast and hurried to London where I purchased a great +quantity of stuff which he wished to take back to Pellucidar with him. +There were books, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, cameras, chemicals, +telephones, telegraph instruments, wire, tools and more books--books +upon every subject under the sun. He said he wanted a library with +which they could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth century in the +Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I got it for him. + +I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied them to the +end of the railroad; but from here I was recalled to America upon +important business. However, I was able to employ a very trustworthy +man to take charge of the caravan--the same guide, in fact, who had +accompanied me on the previous trip into the Sahara--and after writing +a long letter to Innes in which I gave him my American address, I saw +the expedition head south. + +Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five hundred +miles of double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. I had it packed +on a special reel at his suggestion, as it was his idea that he could +fasten one end here before he left and by paying it out through the end +of the prospector lay a telegraph line between the outer and inner +worlds. In my letter I told him to be sure to mark the terminus of the +line very plainly with a high cairn, in case I was not able to reach +him before he set out, so that I might easily find and communicate with +him should he be so fortunate as to reach Pellucidar. + +I received several letters from him after I returned to America--in +fact he took advantage of every northward-passing caravan to drop me +word of some sort. His last letter was written the day before he +intended to depart. Here it is. + + +MY DEAR FRIEND: + +Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. That is if +the Arabs don't get me. They have been very nasty of late. I don't +know the cause, but on two occasions they have threatened my life. +One, more friendly than the rest, told me today that they intended +attacking me tonight. It would be unfortunate should anything of that +sort happen now that I am so nearly ready to depart. + +However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the hour +approaches, the slenderer my chances for success appear. + +Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north for me, so +good-bye, and God bless you for your kindness to me. + +The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand to the +south--he thinks it is the party coming to murder me, and he doesn't +want to be found with me. So good-bye again. + +Yours, + +DAVID INNES. + + +A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, headed for +the spot where I had left Innes. My first disappointment was when I +discovered that my old guide had died within a few weeks of my return, +nor could I find any member of my former party who could lead me to the +same spot. + +For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing countless +desert sheiks in the hope that at last I might find one who had heard +of Innes and his wonderful iron mole. Constantly my eyes scanned the +blinding waste of sand for the rocky cairn beneath which I was to find +the wires leading to Pellucidar--but always was I unsuccessful. + +And always do these awful questions harass me when I think of David +Innes and his strange adventures. + +Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? +Or, did he again turn the nose of his iron monster toward the inner +world? Did he reach it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of +the great crust? And if he did come again to Pellucidar was it to +break through into the bottom of one of her great island seas, or among +some savage race far, far from the land of his heart's desire? + +Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, at +the end of two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost cairn? I wonder. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's At the Earth's Core, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE EARTH'S CORE *** + +***** This file should be named 123.txt or 123.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/123/ + +Produced by Judith Boss. 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Nor could you wonder +had you witnessed a recent experience of mine when, +in the armor of blissful and stupendous ignorance, +I gaily narrated the gist of it to a Fellow of the Royal +Geological Society on the occasion of my last trip to London. + +You would surely have thought that I had been detected +in no less a heinous crime than the purloining of the Crown +Jewels from the Tower, or putting poison in the coffee +of His Majesty the King. + +The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed +before I was half through!--it is all that saved him +from exploding--and my dreams of an Honorary Fellowship, +gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame faded into +the thin, cold air of his arctic atmosphere. + +But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would +the learned Fellow of the Royal Geological Society, had you +and he heard it from the lips of the man who told it to me. +Had you seen, as I did, the fire of truth in those gray eyes; +had you felt the ring of sincerity in that quiet voice; +had you realized the pathos of it all--you, too, would believe. +You would not have needed the final ocular proof that I +had--the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature which he +had brought back with him from the inner world. + +I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, +upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. He was standing +before a goat-skin tent amidst a clump of date palms within +a tiny oasis. Close by was an Arab douar of some eight +or ten tents. + +I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party +consisted of a dozen children of the desert--I was the only +"white" man. As we approached the little clump of verdure +I saw the man come from his tent and with hand-shaded eyes +peer intently at us. At sight of me he advanced rapidly +to meet us. + +"A white man!" he cried. "May the good Lord be praised! I +have been watching you for hours, hoping against hope that +THIS time there would be a white man. Tell me the date. +What year is it?" + +And when I had told him he staggered as though he had +been struck full in the face, so that he was compelled +to grasp my stirrup leather for support. + +"It cannot be!" he cried after a moment. "It cannot be! +Tell me that you are mistaken, or that you are but joking." + +"I am telling you the truth, my friend," I replied. +"Why should I deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so +simple a matter as the date?" + +For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head. + +"Ten years!" he murmured, at last. "Ten years, and I +thought that at the most it could be scarce more than one!" +That night he told me his story--the story that I give you +here as nearly in his own words as I can recall them. + + + +I + +TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + + +I WAS BORN IN CONNECTICUT ABOUT THIRTY YEARS ago. +My name is David Innes. My father was a wealthy mine owner. +When I was nineteen he died. All his property was to be +mine when I had attained my majority--provided that I +had devoted the two years intervening in close application +to the great business I was to inherit. + +I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent-- +not because of the inheritance, but because I loved +and honored my father. For six months I toiled in the +mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to know +every minute detail of the business. + +Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old +fellow who had devoted the better part of a long life +to the perfection of a mechanical subterranean prospector. +As relaxation he studied paleontology. I looked over +his plans, listened to his arguments, inspected his working +model--and then, convinced, I advanced the funds necessary +to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. + +I shall not go into the details of its construction--it lies +out there in the desert now--about two miles from here. +Tomorrow you may care to ride out and see it. Roughly, it is +a steel cylinder a hundred feet long, and jointed so that +it may turn and twist through solid rock if need be. +At one end is a mighty revolving drill operated by an +engine which Perry said generated more power to the cubic +inch than any other engine did to the cubic foot. +I remember that he used to claim that that invention +alone would make us fabulously wealthy--we were going +to make the whole thing public after the successful issue +of our first secret trial--but Perry never returned +from that trial trip, and I only after ten years. + +I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous +occasion upon which we were to test the practicality +of that wondrous invention. It was near midnight when we +repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry had constructed +his "iron mole" as he was wont to call the thing. +The great nose rested upon the bare earth of the floor. +We passed through the doors into the outer jacket, +secured them, and then passing on into the cabin, +which contained the controlling mechanism within the +inner tube, switched on the electric lights. + +Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held +the life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture +fresh air to replace that which we consumed in breathing; +to his instruments for recording temperatures, speed, distance, +and for examining the materials through which we were to pass. + +He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty +cogs which transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant +drill at the nose of his strange craft. + +Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged +upon transverse bars that we would be upright whether +the craft were ploughing her way downward into the bowels +of the earth, or running horizontally along some great +seam of coal, or rising vertically toward the surface again. + +At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. +For a moment we were silent, and then the old man's hand +grasped the starting lever. There was a frightful roaring +beneath us--the giant frame trembled and vibrated--there +was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through +the hollow space between the inner and outer jackets +to be deposited in our wake. We were off! + +The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. +For a full minute neither of us could do aught but cling +with the proverbial desperation of the drowning man to +the handrails of our swinging seats. Then Perry glanced +at the thermometer. + +"Gad!" he cried, "it cannot be possible--quick! What does +the distance meter read?" + +That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, +and as I turned to take a reading from the former I could +see Perry muttering. + +"Ten degrees rise--it cannot be possible!" and then I +saw him tug frantically upon the steering wheel. + +As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I +translated Perry's evident excitement, and my heart +sank within me. But when I spoke I hid the fear which +haunted me. "It will be seven hundred feet, Perry," I said, +"by the time you can turn her into the horizontal." + +"You'd better lend me a hand then, my boy," he replied, +"for I cannot budge her out of the vertical alone. +God give that our combined strength may be equal to the task, +for else we are lost." + +I wormed my way to the old man's side with never a doubt +but that the great wheel would yield on the instant +to the power of my young and vigorous muscles. Nor was +my belief mere vanity, for always had my physique been +the envy and despair of my fellows. And for that very +reason it had waxed even greater than nature had intended, +since my natural pride in my great strength had led me +to care for and develop my body and my muscles by every +means within my power. What with boxing, football, +and baseball, I had been in training since childhood. + +And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold +of the huge iron rim; but though I threw every ounce of my +strength into it, my best effort was as unavailing as Perry's +had been--the thing would not budge--the grim, insensate, +horrible thing that was holding us upon the straight +road to death! + +At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word +returned to my seat. There was no need for words--at least +none that I could imagine, unless Perry desired to pray. +And I was quite sure that he would, for he never left an +opportunity neglected where he might sandwich in a prayer. +He prayed when he arose in the morning, he prayed +before he ate, he prayed when he had finished eating, +and before he went to bed at night he prayed again. +In between he often found excuses to pray even when the +provocation seemed far-fetched to my worldly eyes--now +that he was about to die I felt positive that I should +witness a perfect orgy of prayer--if one may allude +with such a simile to so solemn an act. + +But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring +him in the face Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. +From his lips there flowed--not prayer--but a clear and limpid +stream of undiluted profanity, and it was all directed +at that quietly stubborn piece of unyielding mechanism. + +"I should think, Perry," I chided, "that a man of your +professed religiousness would rather be at his prayers +than cursing in the presence of imminent death." + +"Death!" he cried. "Death is it that appalls you? +That is nothing by comparison with the loss the world +must suffer. Why, David within this iron cylinder we have +demonstrated possibilities that science has scarce dreamed. +We have harnessed a new principle, and with it animated +a piece of steel with the power of ten thousand men. +That two lives will be snuffed out is nothing to the world +calamity that entombs in the bowels of the earth the +discoveries that I have made and proved in the successful +construction of the thing that is now carrying us farther +and farther toward the eternal central fires." + +I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more +concerned with our own immediate future than with any +problematic loss which the world might be about to suffer. +The world was at least ignorant of its bereavement, +while to me it was a real and terrible actuality. + +"What can we do?" I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath +the mask of a low and level voice. + +"We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere +tanks are empty," replied Perry, "or we may continue +on with the slight hope that we may later sufficiently +deflect the prospector from the vertical to carry us along +the arc of a great circle which must eventually return us +to the surface. If we succeed in so doing before we reach +the higher internal temperature we may even yet survive. +There would seem to me to be about one chance in several +million that we shall succeed--otherwise we shall die +more quickly but no more surely than as though we sat +supinely waiting for the torture of a slow and horrible death." + +I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. +While we were talking the mighty iron mole had bored its way +over a mile into the rock of the earth's crust. + +"Let us continue on, then," I replied. "It should soon +be over at this rate. You never intimated that the speed +of this thing would be so high, Perry. Didn't you know it?" + +"No," he answered. "I could not figure the speed exactly, +for I had no instrument for measuring the mighty power +of my generator. I reasoned, however, that we should make +about five hundred yards an hour." + +"And we are making seven miles an hour," I concluded +for him, as I sat with my eyes upon the distance meter. +"How thick is the Earth's crust, Perry?" I asked. + +"There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there +are geologists," was his answer. "One estimates it +thirty miles, because the internal heat, increasing at +the rate of about one degree to each sixty to seventy +feet depth, would be sufficient to fuse the most refractory +substances at that distance beneath the surface. +Another finds that the phenomena of precession and +nutation require that the earth, if not entirely solid, +must at least have a shell not less than eight hundred +to a thousand miles in thickness. So there you are. +You may take your choice." + +"And if it should prove solid?" I asked. + +"It will be all the same to us in the end, David," +replied Perry. "At the best our fuel will suffice to carry +us but three or four days, while our atmosphere cannot +last to exceed three. Neither, then, is sufficient to bear +us in the safety through eight thousand miles of rock to +the antipodes." + +"If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come +to a final stop between six and seven hundred miles +beneath the earth's surface; but during the last hundred +and fifty miles of our journey we shall be corpses. +Am I correct?" I asked. + +"Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?" + +"I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce +believe that either of us realizes the real terrors of +our position. I feel that I should be reduced to panic; +but yet I am not. I imagine that the shock has been +so great as to partially stun our sensibilities." + +Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was +rising with less rapidity. It was now but 140 degrees, +although we had penetrated to a depth of nearly four miles. +I told Perry, and he smiled. + +"We have shattered one theory at least," was his +only comment, and then he returned to his self-assumed +occupation of fluently cursing the steering wheel. +I once heard a pirate swear, but his best efforts would +have seemed like those of a tyro alongside of Perry's +masterful and scientific imprecations. + +Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might +as well have essayed to swing the earth itself. At my +suggestion Perry stopped the generator, and as we came +to rest I again threw all my strength into a supreme effort +to move the thing even a hair's breadth--but the results +were as barren as when we had been traveling at top speed. + +I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. +Perry pulled it toward him, and once again we were plunging +downward toward eternity at the rate of seven miles an hour. +I sat with my eyes glued to the thermometer and the +distance meter. The mercury was rising very slowly now, +though even at 145 degrees it was almost unbearable within +the narrow confines of our metal prison. + +About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this +unfortunate journey, we had bored to a depth of eighty-four +miles, at which point the mercury registered 153 degrees F. + +Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager +food he sustained his optimism I could not conjecture. +From cursing he had turned to singing--I felt that the +strain had at last affected his mind. For several hours +we had not spoken except as he asked me for the readings +of the instruments from time to time, and I announced them. +My thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I recalled +numerous acts of my past life which I should have been glad +to have had a few more years to live down. There was the +affair in the Latin Commons at Andover when Calhoun and I +had put gunpowder in the stove--and nearly killed one of +the masters. And then--but what was the use, I was about +to die and atone for all these things and several more. +Already the heat was sufficient to give me a foretaste +of the hereafter. A few more degrees and I felt that I +should lose consciousness. + +"What are the readings now, David?" Perry's voice broke +in upon my somber reflections. + +"Ninety miles and 153 degrees," I replied. + +"Gad, but we've knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory +into a cocked hat!" he cried gleefully. + +"Precious lot of good it will do us," I growled back. + +"But my boy," he continued, "doesn't that temperature reading +mean anything to you? Why it hasn't gone up in six miles. +Think of it, son!" + +"Yes, I'm thinking of it," I answered; "but what difference +will it make when our air supply is exhausted whether +the temperature is 153 degrees or 153,000? We'll be just +as dead, and no one will know the difference, anyhow." +But I must admit that for some unaccountable reason +the stationary temperature did renew my waning hope. +What I hoped for I could not have explained, nor did +I try. The very fact, as Perry took pains to explain, +of the blasting of several very exact and learned +scientific hypotheses made it apparent that we could not +know what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, +and so we might continue to hope for the best, at least +until we were dead--when hope would no longer be essential +to our happiness. It was very good, and logical reasoning, +and so I embraced it. + +At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 +DEGREES! When I announced it Perry reached over and hugged me. + +From then on until noon of the second day, it continued +to drop until it became as uncomfortably cold as it had +been unbearably hot before. At the depth of two hundred +and forty miles our nostrils were assailed by almost +overpowering ammonia fumes, and the temperature had dropped +to TEN BELOW ZERO! We suffered nearly two hours of this +intense and bitter cold, until at about two hundred +and forty-five miles from the surface of the earth we +entered a stratum of solid ice, when the mercury quickly +rose to 32 degrees. During the next three hours we +passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging +into another series of ammonia-impregnated strata, +where the mercury again fell to ten degrees below zero. + +Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at +last we were nearing the molten interior of the earth. +At four hundred miles the temperature had reached 153 degrees. +Feverishly I watched the thermometer. Slowly it rose. +Perry had ceased singing and was at last praying. + +Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually +increasing heat seemed to our distorted imaginations +much greater than it really was. For another hour I +saw that pitiless column of mercury rise and rise until +at four hundred and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. +Now it was that we began to hang upon those readings +in almost breathless anxiety. + +One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum +temperature above the ice stratum. Would it stop at this +point again, or would it continue its merciless climb? We +knew that there was no hope, and yet with the persistence +of life itself we continued to hope against practical certainty. + +Already the air tanks were at low ebb--there was barely +enough of the precious gases to sustain us for another +twelve hours. But would we be alive to know or care? +It seemed incredible. + +At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading. + +"Perry!" I shouted. "Perry, man! She's going down! She's +going down! She's 152 degrees again." + +"Gad!" he cried. "What can it mean? Can the earth +be cold at the center?" + +"I do not know, Perry," I answered; "but thank God, +if I am to die it shall not be by fire--that is all that I +have feared. I can face the thought of any death but that." + +Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it +had seven miles from the surface of the earth, and then +of a sudden the realization broke upon us that death was +very near. Perry was the first to discover it. I saw him +fussing with the valves that regulate the air supply. +And at the same time I experienced difficulty in breathing. +My head felt dizzy--my limbs heavy. + +I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake +and sat erect again. Then he turned toward me. + +"Good-bye, David," he said. "I guess this is the end," +and then he smiled and closed his eyes. + +"Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you," I answered, +smiling back at him. But I fought off that awful lethargy. +I was very young--I did not want to die. + +For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping +death that surrounded me upon all sides. At first I +found that by climbing high into the framework above me +I could find more of the precious life-giving elements, +and for a while these sustained me. It must have been +an hour after Perry had succumbed that I at last came +to the realization that I could no longer carry on this +unequal struggle against the inevitable. + +With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned +mechanically toward the distance meter. It stood at exactly +five hundred miles from the earth's surface--and then +of a sudden the huge thing that bore us came to a stop. +The rattle of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket ceased. +The wild racing of the giant drill betokened that it +was running loose in AIR--and then another truth flashed +upon me. The point of the prospector was ABOVE us. +Slowly it dawned on me that since passing through the ice +strata it had been above. We had turned in the ice +and sped upward toward the earth's crust. Thank God! We +were safe! + +I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were +to have been taken during the passage of the prospector +through the earth, and my fondest hopes were realized--a +flood of fresh air was pouring into the iron cabin. +The reaction left me in a state of collapse, and I +lost consciousness. + + + +II + +A STRANGE WORLD + + +I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT, +for as I lunged forward from the crossbeam to which I +had been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floor +of the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. + +My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought +that upon the very threshold of salvation he might be dead. +Tearing open his shirt I placed my ear to his breast. +I could have cried with relief--his heart was beating +quite regularly. + +At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it +smartly across his forehead and face several times. +In a moment I was rewarded by the raising of his lids. +For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite uncomprehending. +Then his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he sat +up sniffing the air with an expression of wonderment upon +his face. + +"Why, David," he cried at last, "it's air, as sure as I live. +Why--why what does it mean? Where in the world are we? +What has happened?" + +"It means that we're back at the surface all right, Perry," I +cried; +"but where, I don't know. I haven't opened her up yet. +Been too busy reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a close +squeak!" + +"You say we're back at the surface, David? How can +that be? How long have I been unconscious?" + +"Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. +Don't you recall the sudden whirling of our seats? +After that the drill was above you instead of below. +We didn't notice it at the time; but I recall it now." + +"You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, +David? That is not possible. The prospector cannot turn +unless its nose is deflected from the outside--by some +external force or resistance--the steering wheel within +would have moved in response. The steering wheel has +not budged, David, since we started. You know that." + +I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in +pure air, and copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin. + +"We couldn't have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know +as well as you," I replied; "but the fact remains +that we did, for here we are this minute at the surface +of the earth again, and I am going out to see just where." + +"Better wait till morning, David--it must be midnight now." + +I glanced at the chronometer. + +"Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, +so it must be midnight. Nevertheless I am going to have +a look at the blessed sky that I had given up all hope +of ever seeing again," and so saying I lifted the bars +from the inner door, and swung it open. There was quite +a quantity of loose material in the jacket, and this I +had to remove with a shovel to get at the opposite door +in the outer shell. + +In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock +to the floor of the cabin to expose the door beyond. +Perry was directly behind me as I threw it open. +The upper half was above the surface of the ground. +With an expression of surprise I turned and looked at +Perry--it was broad daylight without! + +"Something seems to have gone wrong either with our +calculations or the chronometer," I said. Perry shook +his head--there was a strange expression in his eyes. + +"Let's have a look beyond that door, David," he cried. + +Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation +of a landscape at once weird and beautiful. Before us +a low and level shore stretched down to a silent sea. +As far as the eye could reach the surface of the water +was dotted with countless tiny isles--some of towering, +barren, granitic rock--others resplendent in gorgeous +trappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred with +the magnificent splendor of vivid blooms. + +Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant +arborescent ferns intermingled with the commoner types +of a primeval tropical forest. Huge creepers depended +in great loops from tree to tree, dense under-brush +overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. +Upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid +coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands, +but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy +as the grave. + +And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays +out of a cloudless sky. + +"Where on earth can we be?" I asked, turning to Perry. + +For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood +with bowed head, buried in deep thought. But at last +he spoke. + +"David," he said, "I am not so sure that we are ON earth." + +"What do you mean Perry?" I cried. "Do you think that we +are dead, and this is heaven?" He smiled, and turning, +pointing to the nose of the prospector protruding from +the ground at our backs. + +"But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed +come to the country beyond the Styx. The prospector +renders that theory untenable--it, certainly, could never +have gone to heaven. However I am willing to concede +that we actually may be in another world from that +which we have always known. If we are not ON earth, +there is every reason to believe that we may be IN it." + +"We may have quartered through the earth's crust and come +out upon some tropical island of the West Indies," +I suggested. Again Perry shook his head. + +"Let us wait and see, David," he replied, "and in the +meantime suppose we do a bit of exploring up and down +the coast--we may find a native who can enlighten us." + +As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and +earnestly across the water. Evidently he was wrestling +with a mighty problem. + +"David," he said abruptly, "do you perceive anything +unusual about the horizon?" + +As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the +strangeness of the landscape that had haunted me from +the first with an illusive suggestion of the bizarre +and unnatural--THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as the eye +could reach out the sea continued and upon its bosom +floated tiny islands, those in the distance reduced +to mere specks; but ever beyond them was the sea, +until the impression became quite real that one was +LOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyes +could fathom--the distance was lost in the distance. +That was all--there was no clear-cut horizontal +line marking the dip of the globe below the line of vision. + +"A great light is commencing to break on me," continued Perry, +taking out his watch. "I believe that I have partially +solved the riddle. It is now two o'clock. When we emerged +from the prospector the sun was directly above us. +Where is it now?" + +I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless +in the center of the heaven. And such a sun! I had +scarcely noticed it before. Fully thrice the size of +the sun I had known throughout my life, and apparently +so near that the sight of it carried the conviction +that one might almost reach up and touch it. + +"My God, Perry, where are we?" I exclaimed. "This thing +is beginning to get on my nerves." + +"I think that I may state quite positively, David," +he commenced, "that we are--" but he got no further. +From behind us in the vicinity of the prospector there +came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever +had fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned +to discover the author of that fearsome noise. + +Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the +sight that met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it. +Emerging from the forest was a colossal beast which closely +resembled a bear. It was fully as large as the largest +elephant and with great forepaws armed with huge claws. +Its nose, or snout, depended nearly a foot below its +lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk. +The giant body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair. + +Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, +shuffling trot. I turned to Perry to suggest that it +might be wise to seek other surroundings--the idea had +evidently occurred to Perry previously, for he was already +a hundred paces away, and with each second his prodigious +bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed +what latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed. + +I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the +forest which ran out toward the sea not far from where we +had been standing, and as the mighty creature, the sight +of which had galvanized him into such remarkable action, +was forging steadily toward me. I set off after Perry, +though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It was evident +that the massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed, +so all that I considered necessary was to gain the trees +sufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safety +of some great branch before it came up. + +Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at +Perry's frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety +of the lower branches of the trees he now had reached. +The stems were bare for a distance of some fifteen feet--at +least on those trees which Perry attempted to ascend, +for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger of +the forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. +A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat +only to fall back to the ground once more, and with each +failure he cast a horrified glance over his shoulder at +the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken +shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest. + +At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness +of one's wrist, and when I reached the trees he was racing +madly up it, hand over hand. He had almost reached the lowest +branch of the tree from which the creeper depended when +the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell sprawling +at my feet. + +The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast +was already too close to us for comfort. Seizing Perry +by the shoulder I dragged him to his feet, and rushing +to a smaller tree--one that he could easily encircle with +his arms and legs--I boosted him as far up as I could, +and then left him to his fate, for a glance over my +shoulder revealed the awful beast almost upon me. + +It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. +Its enormous bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet +to cope with the agility of my young muscles, and so I was +enabled to dodge out of its way and run completely behind +it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit. + +The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me +safely lodged in the branches of a tree a few paces +from that in which Perry had at last found a haven. + +Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were +quite safe, and so did Perry. He was praying--raising +his voice in thanksgiving at our deliverance--and had +just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that the thing +couldn't climb a tree when without warning it reared up +beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and reached +those fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon +which he crouched. + +The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry's +scream of fright, and he came near tumbling headlong +into the gaping jaws beneath him, so precipitate was +his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. +It was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him gain +a higher branch in safety. + +And then the brute did that which froze us both anew +with horror. Grasping the tree's stem with his powerful +paws he dragged down with all the great weight of his +huge bulk and all the irresistible force of those +mighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began to +bend toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward +as the tree leaned more and more from the perpendicular. +Perry clung chattering in a panic of terror. Higher and +higher into the bending and swaying tree he clambered. +More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward +the ground. + +I saw now why the great brute was armed with such +enormous paws. The use that he was putting them to was +precisely that for which nature had intended them. +The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed that mighty +carcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage. +The reason for its attacking us might easily be accounted +for on the supposition of an ugly disposition such as that +which the fierce and stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. +But these were later reflections. At the moment I was too +frantic with apprehension on Perry's behalf to consider aught +other than a means to save him from the death that loomed so +close. + +Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in +the open, I dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only on +distracting the thing's attention from Perry long enough +to enable the old man to gain the safety of a larger tree. +There were many close by which not even the terrific +strength of that titanic monster could bend. + +As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from +the tangled mass that matted the jungle-like floor of the +forest and, leaping unnoticed behind the shaggy back, +dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked like magic. +From the previous slowness of the beast I had been led +to look for no such marvelous agility as he now displayed. +Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all fours +and at the same time swung his great, wicked tail with a +force that would have broken every bone in my body had it +struck me; but, fortunately, I had turned to flee at the +very instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering back. + +As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running +along the edge of the forest rather than making for the +open beach. In a moment I was knee-deep in rotting vegetation, +and the awful thing behind me was gaining rapidly +as I floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate myself. + +A fallen log gave me an instant's advantage, for climbing +upon it I leaped to another a few paces farther on, +and in this way was able to keep clear of the mush that +carpeted the surrounding ground. But the zigzag course +that this necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap +upon me that my pursuer was steadily gaining upon me. + +Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, +piercing barks--much the sound that a pack of wolves +raises when in full cry. Involuntarily I glanced +backward to discover the origin of this new and menacing +note with the result that I missed my footing and went +sprawling once more upon my face in the deep muck. + +My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I +must feel the weight of one of his terrible paws before I +could rise, but to my surprise the blow did not fall upon me. +The howling and snapping and barking of the new element +which had been infused into the melee now seemed centered +quite close behind me, and as I raised myself upon my hands +and glanced around I saw what it was that had distracted +the DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called, +from my trail. + +It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like +creatures--wild dogs they seemed--that rushed growling +and snapping in upon it from all sides, so that they sank +their white fangs into the slow brute and were away again +before it could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping tail. + +But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. +Chattering and gibbering through the lower branches of +the trees came a company of manlike creatures evidently +urging on the dog pack. They were to all appearances +strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa. +Their skins were very black, and their features much +like those of the more pronounced Negroid type except +that the head receded more rapidly above the eyes, +leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were rather +longer and their legs shorter in proportion to the torso +than in man, and later I noticed that their great toes +protruded at right angles from their feet--because of their +arboreal habits, I presume. Behind them trailed long, +slender tails which they used in climbing quite as much as +they did either their hands or feet. + +I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered +that the wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay. +At sight of me several of the savage creatures left off +worrying the great brute to come slinking with bared fangs +toward me, and as I turned to run toward the trees again +to seek safety among the lower branches, I saw a number +of the man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage +of the nearest tree. + +Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, +but at least there was a doubt as to the reception +these grotesque parodies on humanity would accord me, +while there was none as to the fate which awaited me +beneath the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers. + +And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass +beneath that which held the man-things and take refuge +in another farther on; but the wolf-dogs were very close +behind me--so close that I had despaired of escaping them, +when one of the creatures in the tree above swung +down headforemost, his tail looped about a great limb, +and grasping me beneath my armpits swung me in safety up +among his fellows. + +There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement +and curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair, +and my flesh. They turned me about to see if I had a tail, +and when they discovered that I was not so equipped they +fell into roars of laughter. Their teeth were very large +and white and even, except for the upper canines which were +a trifle longer than the others--protruding just a bit +when the mouth was closed. + +When they had examined me for a few moments one of them +discovered that my clothing was not a part of me, with the +result that garment by garment they tore it from me amidst +peals of the wildest laughter. Apelike, they essayed +to don the apparel themselves, but their ingenuity +was not sufficient to the task and so they gave it up. + +In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch +a glimpse of Perry, but nowhere about could I see him, +although the clump of trees in which he had first taken +refuge was in full view. I was much exercised by fear +that something had befallen him, and though I called his +name aloud several times there was no response. + +Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures +threw it to the ground, and catching me, one on either side, +by an arm, started off at a most terrifying pace through +the tree tops. Never have I experienced such a journey +before or since--even now I oftentimes awake from a deep +sleep haunted by the horrid remembrance of that awful experience. + +From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying +squirrels, while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as I +glimpsed the depths beneath, into which a single misstep +on the part of either of my bearers would hurl me. +As they bore me along, my mind was occupied with a thousand +bewildering thoughts. What had become of Perry? Would +I ever see him again? What were the intentions of these +half-human things into whose hands I had fallen? Were they +inhabitants of the same world into which I had been born? +No! It could not be. But yet where else? I had not left +that earth--of that I was sure. Still neither could I +reconcile the things which I had seen to a belief that +I was still in the world of my birth. With a sigh I gave it up. + + + +III + +A CHANGE OF MASTERS + + +WE MUST HAVE TRAVELED SEVERAL MILES THROUGH the dark +and dismal wood when we came suddenly upon a dense +village built high among the branches of the trees. +As we approached it my escort broke into wild shouting +which was immediately answered from within, and a moment +later a swarm of creatures of the same strange race +as those who had captured me poured out to meet us. +Again I was the center of a wildly chattering horde. +I was pulled this way and that. Pinched, pounded, +and thumped until I was black and blue, yet I do not +think that their treatment was dictated by either cruelty +or malice--I was a curiosity, a freak, a new plaything, +and their childish minds required the added evidence of all +their senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. + +Presently they dragged me within the village, +which consisted of several hundred rude shelters +of boughs and leaves supported upon the branches of the trees. + +Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, +were dead branches and the trunks of small trees which connected +the huts upon one tree to those within adjoining trees; +the whole network of huts and pathways forming an almost +solid flooring a good fifty feet above the ground. + +I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting +bridges between the trees, but later when I saw the motley +aggregation of half-savage beasts which they kept within +their village I realized the necessity for the pathways. +There were a number of the same vicious wolf-dogs +which we had left worrying the dyryth, and many goatlike +animals whose distended udders explained the reasons +for their presence. + +My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; +then two of the creatures squatted down before the entrance--to +prevent my escape, doubtless. Though where I should have +escaped to I certainly had not the remotest conception. +I had no more than entered the dark shadows of the interior +than there fell upon my ears the tones of a familiar voice, +in prayer. + +"Perry!" I cried. "Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you +are safe." + +"David! Can it be possible that you escaped?" And the old +man stumbled toward me and threw his arms about me. + +He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been +seized by a number of the ape-creatures and borne through +the tree tops to their village. His captors had been +as inquisitive as to his strange clothing as had mine, +with the same result. As we looked at each other we +could not help but laugh. + +"With a tail, David," remarked Perry, "you would make +a very handsome ape." + +"Maybe we can borrow a couple," I rejoined. "They seem +to be quite the thing this season. I wonder what the +creatures intend doing with us, Perry. They don't seem +really savage. What do you suppose they can be? You +were about to tell me where we are when that great hairy +frigate bore down upon us--have you really any idea at all?" + +"Yes, David," he replied, "I know precisely where we are. +We have made a magnificent discovery, my boy! We have +proved that the earth is hollow. We have passed entirely +through its crust to the inner world." + +"Perry, you are mad!" + +"Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our +prospector bore us through the crust beneath our outer world. +At that point it reached the center of gravity of the +five-hundred-mile-thick crust. Up to that point we had been +descending--direction is, of course, merely relative. +Then at the moment that our seats revolved--the thing +that made you believe that we had turned about and were +speeding upward--we passed the center of gravity and, +though we did not alter the direction of our progress, +yet we were in reality moving upward--toward the surface +of the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and flora +which we have seen convince you that you are not in the +world of your birth? And the horizon--could it present +the strange aspects which we both noted unless we were +indeed standing upon the inside surface of a sphere?" + +"But the sun, Perry!" I urged. "How in the world can +the sun shine through five hundred miles of solid crust?" + +"It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. +It is another sun--an entirely different sun--that +casts its eternal noonday effulgence upon the face +of the inner world. Look at it now, David--if you can +see it from the doorway of this hut--and you will see +that it is still in the exact center of the heavens. +We have been here for many hours--yet it is still noon. + +"And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once +a nebulous mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. +At length a thin crust of solid matter formed upon +its outer surface--a sort of shell; but within it was +partially molten matter and highly expanded gases. +As it continued to cool, what happened? Centrifugal +force hurled the particles of the nebulous center toward +the crust as rapidly as they approached a solid state. +You have seen the same principle practically applied +in the modern cream separator. Presently there was only +a small super-heated core of gaseous matter remaining +within a huge vacant interior left by the contraction +of the cooling gases. The equal attraction of the solid +crust from all directions maintained this luminous core +in the exact center of the hollow globe. What remains +of it is the sun you saw today--a relatively tiny thing +at the exact center of the earth. Equally to every part +of this inner world it diffuses its perpetual noonday light +and torrid heat. + +"This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to +support animal life long ages after life appeared upon +the outer crust, but that the same agencies were at work +here is evident from the similar forms of both animal +and vegetable creation which we have already seen. +Take the great beast which attacked us, for example. +Unquestionably a counterpart of the Megatherium of the +post-Pliocene period of the outer crust, whose fossilized +skeleton has been found in South America." + +"But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?" I urged. +"Surely they have no counterpart in the earth's history." + +"Who can tell?" he rejoined. "They may constitute the +link between ape and man, all traces of which have been +swallowed by the countless convulsions which have racked +the outer crust, or they may be merely the result of evolution +along slightly different lines--either is quite possible." + +Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance +of several of our captors before the entrance of the hut. +Two of them entered and dragged us forth. The perilous +pathways and the surrounding trees were filled with +the black ape-men, their females, and their young. +There was not an ornament, a weapon, or a garment among +the lot. + +"Quite low in the scale of creation," commented Perry. + +"Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though," +I replied. "Now what do you suppose they intend doing +with us?" + +We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our +trip to the village we were seized by a couple of the +powerful creatures and whirled away through the tree tops, +while about us and in our wake raced a chattering, +jabbering, grinning horde of sleek, black ape-things. + +Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased +beating as we plunged toward instant death among the tangled +deadwood beneath. But on both occasions those lithe, +powerful tails reached out and found sustaining branches, +nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp upon me. +In fact, it seemed that the incidents were of no greater +moment to them than would be the stubbing of one's toe +at a street crossing in the outer world--they but laughed +uproariously and sped on with me. + +For some time they continued through the forest--how long +I could not guess for I was learning, what was later +borne very forcefully to my mind, that time ceases to be +a factor the moment means for measuring it cease to exist. +Our watches were gone, and we were living beneath a +stationary sun. Already I was puzzled to compute the period +of time which had elapsed since we broke through the crust +of the inner world. It might be hours, or it might be +days--who in the world could tell where it was always +noon! By the sun, no time had elapsed--but my judgment +told me that we must have been several hours in this +strange world. + +Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon +a level plain. A short distance before us rose a few low, +rocky hills. Toward these our captors urged us, and after +a short time led us through a narrow pass into a tiny, +circular valley. Here they got down to work, and we +were soon convinced that if we were not to die to make +a Roman holiday, we were to die for some other purpose. +The attitude of our captors altered immediately as they +entered the natural arena within the rocky hills. +Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity marked their bestial +faces--bared fangs menaced us. + +We were placed in the center of the amphitheater--the +thousand creatures forming a great ring about us. +Then a wolf-dog was brought--hyaenadon Perry called it--and +turned loose with us inside the circle. The thing's +body was as large as that of a full-grown mastiff, +its legs were short and powerful, and its jaws broad +and strong. Dark, shaggy hair covered its back and sides, +while its breast and belly were quite white. As it slunk +toward us it presented a most formidable aspect with its +upcurled lips baring its mighty fangs. + +Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked +up a small stone. At my movement the beast veered off +a bit and commenced circling us. Evidently it had been +a target for stones before. The ape-things were dancing +up and down urging the brute on with savage cries, +until at last, seeing that I did not throw, he charged us. + +At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning +ball teams. My speed and control must both have been +above the ordinary, for I made such a record during +my senior year at college that overtures were made +to me in behalf of one of the great major-league teams; +but in the tightest pitch that ever had confronted me +in the past I had never been in such need for control +as now. + +As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles +under absolute command, though the grinning jaws were +hurtling toward me at terrific speed. And then I let go, +with every ounce of my weight and muscle and science in back +of that throw. The stone caught the hyaenodon full upon +the end of the nose, and sent him bowling over upon his back. + +At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose +from the circle of spectators, so that for a moment +I thought that the upsetting of their champion was +the cause; but in this I soon saw that I was mistaken. +As I looked, the ape-things broke in all directions +toward the surrounding hills, and then I distinguished +the real cause of their perturbation. Behind them, +streaming through the pass which leads into the valley, +came a swarm of hairy men--gorilla-like creatures armed +with spears and hatchets, and bearing long, oval shields. +Like demons they set upon the ape-things, and before +them the hyaenodon, which had now regained its senses +and its feet, fled howling with fright. Past us swept +the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy ones accord +us more than a passing glance until the arena had been +emptied of its former occupants. Then they returned to us, +and one who seemed to have authority among them directed +that we be brought with them. + +When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the +great plain we saw a caravan of men and women--human +beings like ourselves--and for the first time hope +and relief filled my heart, until I could have cried +out in the exuberance of my happiness. It is true +that they were a half-naked, wild-appearing aggregation; +but they at least were fashioned along the same lines +as ourselves--there was nothing grotesque or horrible about +them as about the other creatures in this strange, +weird world. + +But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we +discovered that the poor wretches were chained neck to neck +in a long line, and that the gorilla-men were their guards. +With little ceremony Perry and I were chained at the end +of the line, and without further ado the interrupted +march was resumed. + +Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; +but now the tiresome monotony of the long march +across the sun-baked plain brought on all the agonies +consequent to a long-denied sleep. On and on we stumbled +beneath that hateful noonday sun. If we fell we were +prodded with a sharp point. Our companions in chains +did not stumble. They strode along proudly erect. +Occasionally they would exchange words with one another +in a monosyllabic language. They were a noble-appearing +race with well-formed heads and perfect physiques. +The men were heavily bearded, tall and muscular; the women, +smaller and more gracefully molded, with great masses +of raven hair caught into loose knots upon their heads. +The features of both sexes were well proportioned--there +was not a face among them that would have been called +even plain if judged by earthly standards. They wore +no ornaments; but this I later learned was due to the +fact that their captors had stripped them of everything +of value. As garmenture the women possessed a single +robe of some light-colored, spotted hide, rather similar +in appearance to a leopard's skin. This they wore either +supported entirely about the waist by a leathern thong, +so that it hung partially below the knee on one side, +or possibly looped gracefully across one shoulder. +Their feet were shod with skin sandals. The men wore +loin cloths of the hide of some shaggy beast, long ends +of which depended before and behind nearly to the ground. +In some instances these ends were finished with the +strong talons of the beast from which the hides had +been taken. + +Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like men, +were rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so +they were indeed mighty creatures. Their arms and legs +were proportioned more in conformity with human standards, +but their entire bodies were covered with shaggy, brown hair, +and their faces were quite as brutal as those of the few stuffed +specimens of the gorilla which I had seen in the museums at home. + +Their only redeeming feature lay in the development +of the head above and back of the ears. In this +respect they were not one whit less human than we. +They were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth which +reached to the knees. Beneath this they wore only a loin +cloth of the same material, while their feet were shod +with thick hide of some mammoth creature of this inner world. + +Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of +metal--silver predominating--and on their tunics were sewn +the heads of tiny reptiles in odd and rather artistic designs. +They talked among themselves as they marched along on +either side of us, but in a language which I perceived +differed from that employed by our fellow prisoners. +When they addressed the latter they used what appeared +to be a third language, and which I later learned is +a mongrel tongue rather analogous to the Pidgin-English +of the Chinese coolie. + +How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. +Both of us were asleep much of the time for hours before +a halt was called--then we dropped in our tracks. +I say "for hours," but how may one measure time where time +does not exist! When our march commenced the sun stood +at zenith. When we halted our shadows still pointed +toward nadir. Whether an instant or an eternity of +earthly time elapsed who may say. That march may have +occupied nine years and eleven months of the ten years +that I spent in the inner world, or it may have been +accomplished in the fraction of a second--I cannot tell. +But this I do know that since you have told me that ten +years have elapsed since I departed from this earth +I have lost all respect for time--I am commencing to +doubt that such a thing exists other than in the weak, +finite mind of man. + + + +IV + +DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + + +WHEN OUR GUARDS AROUSED US FROM SLEEP WE were much refreshed. +They gave us food. Strips of dried meat it was, but it +put new life and strength into us, so that now we too +marched with high-held heads, and took noble strides. +At least I did, for I was young and proud; but poor Perry +hated walking. On earth I had often seen him call a cab +to travel a square--he was paying for it now, and his old +legs wobbled so that I put my arm about him and half carried +him through the balance of those frightful marches. + +The country began to change at last, and we wound up +out of the level plain through mighty mountains of +virgin granite. The tropical verdure of the lowlands was +replaced by hardier vegetation, but even here the effects +of constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity +of the trees and the profusion of foliage and blooms. +Crystal streams roared through their rocky channels, +fed by the perpetual snows which we could see far above us. +Above the snowcapped heights hung masses of heavy clouds. +It was these, Perry explained, which evidently served +the double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and +protecting them from the direct rays of the sun. + +By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard +language in which our guards addressed us, as well +as making good headway in the rather charming tongue +of our co-captives. Directly ahead of me in the chain +gang was a young woman. Three feet of chain linked us +together in a forced companionship which I, at least, +soon rejoiced in. For I found her a willing teacher, +and from her I learned the language of her tribe, +and much of the life and customs of the inner world--at +least that part of it with which she was familiar. + +She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, +and that she belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells +in the cliffs above the Darel Az, or shallow sea. + +"How came you here?" I asked her. + +"I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she answered, +as though that was explanation quite sufficient. + +"Who is Jubal the Ugly One?" I asked. "And why did you +run away from him?" + +She looked at me in surprise. + +"Why DOES a woman run away from a man?" she answered +my question with another. + +"They do not, where I come from," I replied. +"Sometimes they run after them." + +But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp +the fact that I was of another world. She was quite as +positive that creation was originated solely to produce her +own kind and the world she lived in as are many of the outer +world. + +"But Jubal," I insisted. "Tell me about him, and why you +ran away to be chained by the neck and scourged across +the face of a world." + +"Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father's house. +It was the head of a mighty tandor. It remained there +and no greater trophy was placed beside it. So I knew +that Jubal the Ugly One would come and take me as his mate. +None other so powerful wished me, or they would have +slain a mightier beast and thus have won me from Jubal. +My father is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, +but a sadok tossed him, and never again had he the full +use of his right arm. My brother, Dacor the Strong One, +had gone to the land of Sari to steal a mate for himself. +Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save +me from Jubal the Ugly One, and I ran away and hid among +the hills that skirt the land of Amoz. And there these +Sagoths found me and made me captive." + +"What will they do with you?" I asked. "Where are they +taking us?" + +Again she looked her incredulity. + +"I can almost believe that you are of another world," +she said, "for otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable. +Do you really mean that you do not know that the Sagoths +are the creatures of the Mahars--the mighty Mahars who +think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows +upon its surface, or creeps or burrows beneath, or swims +within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its air? +Next you will be telling me that you never before heard +of the Mahars!" + +I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; +but there was no alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, +so I made a clean breast of my pitiful ignorance as to the +mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But she did her very best +to enlighten me, though much that she said was as Greek +would have been to her. She described the Mahars largely +by comparisons. In this way they were like unto thipdars, +in that to the hairless lidi. + +About all I gleaned of them was that they were +quite hideous, had wings, and webbed feet; lived in +cities built beneath the ground; could swim under +water for great distances, and were very, very wise. +The Sagoths were their weapons of offense and defense, +and the races like herself were their hands and feet--they +were the slaves and servants who did all the manual labor. +The Mahars were the heads--the brains--of the inner world. +I longed to see this wondrous race of supermen. + +Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, +as we occasionally did, though sometimes the halts seemed +ages apart, he would join in the conversation, as would +Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just ahead of Dian +the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. +He too entered the conversation occasionally. Most of +his remarks were directed toward Dian the Beautiful. +It didn't take half an eye to see that he had developed +a bad case; but the girl appeared totally oblivious +to his thinly veiled advances. Did I say thinly veiled? +There is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, +I have forgotten which, who indicate their preference +for the lady of their affections by banging her over +the head with a bludgeon. By comparison with this method +Hooja's lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. +At first it caused me to blush violently although I +have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in other +less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, +and Hamburg. + +But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see +that she considered herself as entirely above and apart from +her present surroundings and company. She talked with me, +and with Perry, and with the taciturn Ghak because we +were respectful; but she couldn't even see Hooja the +Sly One, much less hear him, and that made him furious. +He tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up +ahead of him in the slave gang, but the fellow only poked +him with his spear and told him that he had selected the +girl for his own property--that he would buy her from the +Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, +was the city of our destination. + +After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted +a salt sea, upon whose bosom swam countless horrid things. +Seal-like creatures there were with long necks stretching +ten and more feet above their enormous bodies and whose +snake heads were split with gaping mouths bristling +with countless fangs. There were huge tortoises too, +paddling about among these other reptiles, which Perry +said were Plesiosaurs of the Lias. I didn't question his +veracity--they might have been most anything. + +Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, +and that the other, and more fearsome reptiles, which +occasionally +rose from the deep to do battle with them, were azdyryths, +or sea-dyryths--Perry called them Ichthyosaurs. +They resembled a whale with the head of an alligator. + +I had forgotten what little geology I had studied +at school--about all that remained was an impression +of horror that the illustrations of restored prehistoric +monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined belief +that any man with a pig's shank and a vivid imagination +could "restore" most any sort of paleolithic monster he +saw fit, and take rank as a first class paleontologist. +But when I saw these sleek, shiny carcasses shimmering in +the sunlight as they emerged from the ocean, shaking their +giant heads; when I saw the waters roll from their sinuous +bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided hither +and thither, now upon the surface, now half submerged; +as I saw them meet, open-mouthed, hissing and snorting, +in their titanic and interminable warring I realized +how futile is man's poor, weak imagination by comparison +with Nature's incredible genius. + +And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said +so himself. + +"David," he remarked, after we had marched for a long time +beside that awful sea. "David, I used to teach geology, +and I thought that I believed what I taught; but now I +see that I did not believe it--that it is impossible +for man to believe such things as these unless he sees +them with his own eyes. We take things for granted, +perhaps, because we are told them over and over again, +and have no way of disproving them--like religions, +for example; but we don't believe them, we only think +we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you +will find that the geologists and paleontologists will +be the first to set you down a liar, for they know +that no such creatures as they restore ever existed. +It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an equally +imaginary epoch--but now? poof!" + +At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough +slack chain to permit him to worm himself back quite close +to Dian. We were all standing, and as he edged near the +girl she turned her back upon him in such a truly earthly +feminine manner that I could scarce repress a smile; but it +was a short-lived smile for on the instant the Sly One's +hand fell upon the girl's bare arm, jerking her roughly +toward him. + +I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics +which prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did +not need the appealing look which the girl shot to me +from her magnificent eyes to influence my subsequent act. +What the Sly One's intention was I paused not to inquire; +but instead, before he could lay hold of her with his +other hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw that +felled him in his tracks. + +A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners +and the Sagoths who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I +later learned, because I had championed the girl, but for +the neat and, to them, astounding method by which I had bested +Hooja. + +And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering +eyes, +and then she dropped her head, her face half averted, +and a delicate flush suffused her cheek. For a moment +she stood thus in silence, and then her head went high, +and she turned her back upon me as she had upon Hooja. +Some of the prisoners laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak +the Hairy One go very black as he looked at me searchingly. +And what I could see of Dian's cheek went suddenly from red +to white. + +Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized +that in some way I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could +not prevail upon her to talk with me that I might learn +wherein I had erred--in fact I might quite as well have +been addressing a sphinx for all the attention I got. +At last my own foolish pride stepped in and prevented +my making any further attempts, and thus a companionship +that without my realizing it had come to mean a great deal +to me was cut off. Thereafter I confined my conversation +to Perry. Hooja did not renew his advances toward the girl, +nor did he again venture near me. + +Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became +a perfect nightmare of horrors to me. The more firmly +fixed became the realization that the girl's friendship +had meant so much to me, the more I came to miss it; +and the more impregnable the barrier of silly pride. +But I was very young and would not ask Ghak for the +explanation which I was sure he could give, and that might +have made everything all right again. + +On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently +to notice me--when her eyes wandered in my direction +she looked either over my head or directly through me. +At last I became desperate, and determined to swallow +my self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me how I +had offended, and how I might make reparation. I made +up my mind that I should do this at the next halt. +We were approaching another range of mountains at the time, +and when we reached them, instead of winding across +them through some high-flung pass we entered a mighty +natural tunnel--a series of labyrinthine grottoes, +dark as Erebus. + +The guards had no torches or light of any description. +In fact we had seen no artificial light or sign of +fire since we had entered Pellucidar. In a land of +perpetual noon there is no need of light above ground, +yet I marveled that they had no means of lighting +their way through these dark, subterranean passages. +So we crept along at a snail's pace, with much stumbling +and falling--the guards keeping up a singsong chant ahead +of us, interspersed with certain high notes which I found +always indicated rough places and turns. + +Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak +to Dian until I could see from the expression of her face +how she was receiving my apologies. At last a faint +glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the tunnel, +for which I for one was devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden +turn we emerged into the full light of the noonday sun. + +But with it came a sudden realization of what meant +to me a real catastrophe--Dian was gone, and with her +a half-dozen other prisoners. The guards saw it too, +and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to behold. +Their awesome, bestial faces were contorted in the most +diabolical expressions, as they accused each other of +responsibility for the loss. Finally they fell upon us, +beating us with their spear shafts, and hatchets. +They had already killed two near the head of the line, +and were like to have finished the balance of us when +their leader finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. +Never in all my life had I witnessed a more horrible +exhibition of bestial rage--I thanked God that Dian had not +been one of those left to endure it. + +Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me +each alternate one had been freed commencing with Dian. +Hooja was gone. Ghak remained. What could it mean? How +had it been accomplished? The commander of the guards +was investigating. Soon he discovered that the rude +locks which had held the neckbands in place had been +deftly picked. + +"Hooja the Sly One," murmured Ghak, who was now next to me +in line. "He has taken the girl that you would not have," +he continued, glancing at me. + +"That I would not have!" I cried. "What do you mean?" + +He looked at me closely for a moment. + +"I have doubted your story that you are from another world," +he said at last, "but yet upon no other grounds could +your ignorance of the ways of Pellucidar be explained. +Do you really mean that you do not know that you offended +the Beautiful One, and how?" + +"I do not know, Ghak," I replied. + +"Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar +intervenes between another man and the woman the other +man would have, the woman belongs to the victor. +Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have claimed +her or released her. Had you taken her hand, it would +have indicated your desire to make her your mate, and had +you raised her hand above her head and then dropped it, +it would have meant that you did not wish her for a mate +and that you released her from all obligation to you. +By doing neither you have put upon her the greatest affront +that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. +No man will take her as mate, or may take her honorably, +until he shall have overcome you in combat, and men do not +choose slave women as their mates--at least not the men +of Pellucidar." + +"I did not know, Ghak," I cried. "I did not know. +Not for all Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the Beautiful +by word, or look, or act of mine. I do not want her as +my slave. I do not want her as my--" but here I stopped. +The vision of that sweet and innocent face floated before +me amidst the soft mists of imagination, and where I had +on the second believed that I clung only to the memory +of a gentle friendship I had lost, yet now it seemed +that it would have been disloyalty to her to have said +that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as my mate. +I had not thought of her except as a welcome friend +in a strange, cruel world. Even now I did not think +that I loved her. + +I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my +expression than in my words, for presently he laid +his hand upon my shoulder. + +"Man of another world," he said, "I believe you. +Lips may lie, but when the heart speaks through the eyes +it tells only the truth. Your heart has spoken to me. +I know now that you meant no affront to Dian the Beautiful. +She is not of my tribe; but her mother is my sister. +She does not know it--her mother was stolen by Dian's +father who came with many others of the tribe of Amoz +to battle with us for our women--the most beautiful women +of Pellucidar. Then was her father king of Amoz, and her +mother was daughter of the king of Sari--to whose power I, +his son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, +though her father is no longer king since the sadok tossed +him and Jubal the Ugly One wrested his kingship from him. +Because of her lineage the wrong you did her was greatly +magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never +forgive you." + +I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I +could release the girl from the bondage and ignominy +I had unwittingly placed upon her. + +"If ever you find her, yes," he answered. "Merely to +raise her hand above her head and drop it in the presence +of others is sufficient to release her; but how may you +ever find her, you who are doomed to a life of slavery +yourself in the buried city of Phutra?" + +"Is there no escape?" I asked. + +"Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him," +replied Ghak. "But there are no more dark places on +the way to Phutra, and once there it is not so easy--the +Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from Phutra +there are the thipdars--they would find you, and then--" +the Hairy One shuddered. "No, you will never escape +the Mahars." + +It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought +about it; but he only shrugged his shoulders and continued +a longwinded prayer he had been at for some time. +He was wont to say that the only redeeming feature of our +captivity was the ample time it gave him for the improvisation +of prayers--it was becoming an obsession with him. +The Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit +of declaiming throughout entire marches. One of them +asked him what he was saying--to whom he was talking. +The question gave me an idea, so I answered quickly +before Perry could say anything. + +"Do not interrupt him," I said. "He is a very holy +man in the world from which we come. He is speaking +to spirits which you cannot see--do not interrupt him +or they will spring out of the air upon you and rend you +limb from limb--like that," and I jumped toward the great +brute with a loud "Boo!" that sent him stumbling backward. + +I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make +any capital out of Perry's harmless mania I wanted to make +it while the making was prime. It worked splendidly. +The Sagoths treated us both with marked respect during +the balance of the journey, and then passed the word along +to their masters, the Mahars. + +Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. +The entrance to it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, +which guarded a flight of steps leading to the buried city. +Sagoths were on guard here as well as at a hundred or more +other towers scattered about over a large plain. + + + +V + +SLAVES + + +AS WE DESCENDED THE BROAD STAIRCASE WHICH led to the main +avenue of Phutra I caught my first sight of the dominant +race of the inner world. Involuntarily I shrank back +as one of the creatures approached to inspect us. +A more hideous thing it would be impossible to imagine. +The all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar are great reptiles, +some six or eight feet in length, with long narrow heads +and great round eyes. Their beak-like mouths are lined +with sharp, white fangs, and the backs of their huge, +lizard bodies are serrated into bony ridges from their +necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are +equipped with three webbed toes, while from the fore feet +membranous wings, which are attached to their bodies just +in front of the hind legs, protrude at an angle of 45 +degrees toward the rear, ending in sharp points several +feet above their bodies. + +I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. +The old man was gazing at the horrid creature with wide +astonished eyes. When it passed on, he turned to me. + +"A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David," he said, +"but, gad, how enormous! The largest remains we ever +have discovered have never indicated a size greater than +that attained by an ordinary crow." + +As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we +saw many thousand of the creatures coming and going upon +their daily duties. They paid but little attention to us. +Phutra is laid out underground with a regularity that +indicates remarkable engineering skill. It is hewn from +solid limestone strata. The streets are broad and of a +uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals tubes pierce +the roof of this underground city, and by means of lenses +and reflectors transmit the sunlight, softened and diffused, +to dispel what would otherwise be Cimmerian darkness. +In like manner air is introduced. + +Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, +where one of the Sagoths who had formed our guard explained +to a Maharan official the circumstances surrounding our capture. +The method of communication between these two was remarkable +in that no spoken words were exchanged. They employed +a species of sign language. As I was to learn later, +the Mahars have no ears, not any spoken language. +Among themselves they communicate by means of what Perry +says must be a sixth sense which is cognizant of a fourth +dimension. + +I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain +it to me upon numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, +but he said no, that it was not telepathy since they could +only communicate when in each others' presence, nor could +they talk with the Sagoths or the other inhabitants +of Pellucidar by the same method they used to converse +with one another. + +"What they do," said Perry, "is to project their thoughts +into the fourth dimension, when they become appreciable +to the sixth sense of their listener. Do I make myself +quite clear?" + +"You do not, Perry," I replied. He shook his head +in despair, and returned to his work. They had set us +to carrying a great accumulation of Maharan literature +from one apartment to another, and there arranging it +upon shelves. I suggested to Perry that we were in the +public library of Phutra, but later, as he commenced +to discover the key to their written language, he assured +me that we were handling the ancient archives of the race. + +During this period my thoughts were continually upon +Dian the Beautiful. I was, of course, glad that she had +escaped the Mahars, and the fate that had been suggested +by the Sagoth who had threatened to purchase her upon our +arrival at Phutra. I often wondered if the little party +of fugitives had been overtaken by the guards who had returned +to search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but that I +should have been more contented to know that Dian was here +in Phutra, than to think of her at the mercy of Hooja +the Sly One. Ghak, Perry, and I often talked together +of possible escape, but the Sarian was so steeped in his +lifelong belief that no one could escape from the Mahars +except by a miracle, that he was not much aid to us--his +attitude was of one who waits for the miracle to come to him. + +At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps +of iron which we discovered among some rubbish in the cells +where we slept, for we were permitted almost unrestrained +freedom of action within the limits of the building to which +we had been assigned. So great were the number of slaves +who waited upon the inhabitants of Phutra that none of us +was apt to be overburdened with work, nor were our masters +unkind to us. + +We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed +our beds, and then Perry conceived the idea of making bows +and arrows--weapons apparently unknown within Pellucidar. +Next came shields; but these I found it easier to steal +from the walls of the outer guardroom of the building. + +We had completed these arrangements for our protection +after leaving Phutra when the Sagoths who had been sent +to recapture the escaped prisoners returned with four +of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian and two others +had eluded them. It so happened that Hooja was confined +in the same building with us. He told Ghak that he had +not seen Dian or the others after releasing them within +the dark grotto. What had become of them he had not +the faintest conception--they might be wandering yet, +lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not dead +from starvation. + +I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate +of Dian, and at this time, I imagine, came the first +realization that my affection for the girl might be +prompted by more than friendship. During my waking +hours she was constantly the subject of my thoughts, +and when I slept her dear face haunted my dreams. +More than ever was I determined to escape the Mahars. + +"Perry, " I confided to the old man, "if I have to search +every inch of this diminutive world I am going to find +Dian the Beautiful and right the wrong I unintentionally +did her." That was the excuse I made for Perry's benefit. + +"Diminutive world!" he scoffed. "You don't know what you +are talking about, my boy," and then he showed me a map +of Pellucidar which he had recently discovered among +the manuscript he was arranging. + +"Look," he cried, pointing to it, "this is evidently water, +and all this land. Do you notice the general configuration +of the two areas? Where the oceans are upon the outer crust, +is land here. These relatively small areas of ocean follow +the general lines of the continents of the outer world. + +"We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; +then the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 miles, +and the superficial area 165,480,000 square miles. +Three-fourths of this is land. Think of it! A land area +of 124,110,000 square miles! Our own world contains +but 53,000,000 square miles of land, the balance of its +surface being covered by water. Just as we often compare +nations by their relative land areas, so if we compare +these two worlds in the same way we have the strange +anomaly of a larger world within a smaller one! + +"Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your +Dian? Without stars, or moon, or changing sun how could +you find her even though you knew where she might be found?" + +The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; +but I found that it left me all the more determined +to attempt it. + +"If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it," +I suggested. + +Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight +to him. + +"Ghak," I said, "we are determined to escape from +this bondage. Will you accompany us?" + +"They will set the thipdars upon us," he said, "and then +we shall be killed; but--" he hesitated--"I would take +the chance if I thought that I might possibly escape +and return to my own people." + +"Could you find your way back to your own land?" asked Perry. +"And could you aid David in his search for Dian?" + +"Yes." + +"But how," persisted Perry, "could you travel to strange +country without heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?" + +Ghak didn't know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies +or a compass, but he assured us that you might blindfold +any man of Pellucidar and carry him to the farthermost +corner of the world, yet he would be able to come directly +to his own home again by the shortest route. He seemed +surprised to think that we found anything wonderful in it. +Perry said it must be some sort of homing instinct such +as is possessed by certain breeds of earthly pigeons. +I didn't know, of course, but it gave me an idea. + +"Then Dian could have found her way directly to her +own people?" I asked. + +"Surely," replied Ghak, "unless some mighty beast of prey +killed her." + +I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry +and Ghak counseled waiting for some propitious accident +which would insure us some small degree of success. +I didn't see what accident could befall a whole community +in a land of perpetual daylight where the inhabitants had +no fixed habits of sleep. Why, I am sure that some of the +Mahars never sleep, while others may, at long intervals, +crawl into the dark recesses beneath their dwellings and +curl up in protracted slumber. Perry says that if a Mahar +stays awake for three years he will make up all his lost +sleep in a long year's snooze. That may be all true, but I +never saw but three of them asleep, and it was the sight +of these three that gave me a suggestion for our means of escape. + +I had been searching about far below the levels that we +slaves were supposed to frequent--possibly fifty feet +beneath the main floor of the building--among a network +of corridors and apartments, when I came suddenly upon +three Mahars curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I +thought they were dead, but later their regular breathing +convinced me of my error. Like a flash the thought +came to me of the marvelous opportunity these sleeping +reptiles offered as a means of eluding the watchfulness +of our captors and the Sagoth guards. + +Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, +to me, meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. +To my surprise he was horrified. + +"It would be murder, David," he cried. + +"Murder to kill a reptilian monster?" I asked in astonishment. + +"Here they are not monsters, David," he replied. +"Here they are the dominant race--we are the 'monsters'--the +lower orders. In Pellucidar evolution has progressed +along different lines than upon the outer earth. +These terrible convulsions of nature time and time again +wiped out the existing species--but for this fact some +monster of the Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon +our own world. We see here what might well have occurred +in our own history had conditions been what they have been here. + +"Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. +Here man has but reached a stage analogous to the Stone +Age of our own world's history, but for countless millions +of years these reptiles have been progressing. Possibly it +is the sixth sense which I am sure they possess that has +given them an advantage over the other and more frightfully +armed of their fellows; but this we may never know. +They look upon us as we look upon the beasts of our fields, +and I learn from their written records that other races +of Mahars feed upon men--they keep them in great droves, +as we keep cattle. They breed them most carefully, +and when they are quite fat, they kill and eat them." + +I shuddered. + +"What is there horrible about it, David?" the old man asked. +"They understand us no better than we understand +the lower animals of our own world. Why, I have come +across here very learned discussions of the question +as to whether gilaks, that is men, have any means +of communication. One writer claims that we do not even +reason--that our every act is mechanical, or instinctive. +The dominant race of Pellucidar, David, have not yet +learned that men converse among themselves, or reason. +Because we do not converse as they do it is beyond them +to imagine that we converse at all. It is thus that we +reason in relation to the brutes of our own world. +They know that the Sagoths have a spoken language, +but they cannot comprehend it, or how it manifests itself, +since they have no auditory apparatus. They believe +that the motions of the lips alone convey the meaning. +That the Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible +to them. + +"Yes, David," he concluded, "it would entail murder +to carry out your plan." + +"Very well then, Perry." I replied. "I shall become +a murderer." + +He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, +and for some reason which was not at the time clear to me +insisted upon a very careful description of the apartments +and corridors I had just explored. + +"I wonder, David," he said at length, "as you are determined +to carry out your wild scheme, if we could not accomplish +something of very real and lasting benefit for the human +race of Pellucidar at the same time. Listen, I have +learned much of a most surprising nature from these +archives of the Mahars. That you may not appreciate +my plan I shall briefly outline the history of the race. + +"Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, +little by little, assumed the mastery. For other ages +no noticeable change took place in the race of Mahars. +It continued to progress under the intelligent and +beneficent rule of the ladies. Science took vast strides. +This was especially true of the sciences which we know +as biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female +scientist announced the fact that she had discovered +a method whereby eggs might be fertilized by chemical +means after they were laid--all true reptiles, you know, +are hatched from eggs. + +"What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased +to exist--the race was no longer dependent upon them. +More ages elapsed until at the present time we find a race +consisting exclusively of females. But here is the point. +The secret of this chemical formula is kept by a single +race of Mahars. It is in the city of Phutra, and unless I +am greatly in error I judge from your description of the +vaults through which you passed today that it lies hidden +in the cellar of this building. + +"For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. +First, because upon it depends the very life of the race +of Mahars, and second, owing to the fact that when it +was public property as at first so many were experimenting +with it that the danger of over-population became very grave. + +"David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with +us this great secret what will we not have accomplished +for the human race within Pellucidar!" The very thought +of it fairly overpowered me. Why, we two would be the +means of placing the men of the inner world in their +rightful place among created things. Only the Sagoths +would then stand between them and absolute supremacy, +and I was not quite sure but that the Sagoths owed all +their power to the greater intelligence of the Mahars--I +could not believe that these gorilla-like beasts +were the mental superiors of the human race of Pellucidar. + +"Why, Perry," I exclaimed, "you and I may reclaim +a whole world! Together we can lead the races of men +out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of +advancement and civilization. At one step we may carry +them from the Age of Stone to the twentieth century. +It's marvelous--absolutely marvelous just to think about it." + +"David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us +here for just that purpose--it shall be my life work +to teach them His word--to lead them into the light +of His mercy while we are training their hearts and hands +in the ways of culture and civilization." + +"You are right, Perry," I said, "and while you are teaching +them to pray I'll be teaching them to fight, and between +us we'll make a race of men that will be an honor to us both." + +Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we +concluded our conversation, and now he wanted to know +what we were so excited about. Perry thought we had best +not tell him too much, and so I only explained that I +had a plan for escape. When I had outlined it to him, +he seemed about as horror-struck as Perry had been; +but for a different reason. The Hairy One only considered +the horrible fate that would be ours were we discovered; +but at last I prevailed upon him to accept my plan as +the only feasible one, and when I had assured him that I +would take all the responsibility for it were we captured, +he accorded a reluctant assent. + + + +VI + +THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + + +WITHIN PELLUCIDAR ONE TIME IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER. +There were no nights to mask our attempted escape. +All must be done in broad daylight--all but the work +I had to do in the apartment beneath the building. +So we determined to put our plan to an immediate test +lest the Mahars who made it possible should awake before +I reached them; but we were doomed to disappointment, +for no sooner had we reached the main floor of the building +on our way to the pits beneath, than we encountered hurrying +bands of slaves being hastened under strong Sagoth guard +out of the edifice to the avenue beyond. + +Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search +of other slaves, and the moment that we appeared we were +pounced upon and hustled into the line of marching humans. + +What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did +not know, but presently through the line of captives ran +the rumor that two escaped slaves had been recaptured--a +man and a woman--and that we were marching to witness +their punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth +of the detachment that had pursued and overtaken them. + +At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, +for I was sure that the two were of those who escaped +in the dark grotto with Hooja the Sly One, and that Dian +must be the woman. Ghak thought so too, as did Perry. + +"Is there naught that we may do to save her?" I asked Ghak. + +"Naught," he replied. + +Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing +unusual cruelty toward us, as though we, too, had been +implicated in the murder of their fellow. The occasion +was to serve as an object-lesson to all other slaves of +the danger and futility of attempted escape, and the fatal +consequences of taking the life of a superior being, +and so I imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making +the entire proceeding as uncomfortable and painful to +us as possible. + +They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the +hatchets at the least provocation, and at no provocation +at all. It was a most uncomfortable half-hour that we +spent before we were finally herded through a low entrance +into a huge building the center of which was given up +to a good-sized arena. Benches surrounded this open +space upon three sides, and along the fourth were heaped +huge bowlders which rose in receding tiers toward the roof. + +At first I couldn't make out the purpose of this mighty +pile of rock, unless it were intended as a rough and +picturesque background for the scenes which were enacted +in the arena before it, but presently, after the wooden +benches had been pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, +I discovered the purpose of the bowlders, for then +the Mahars began to file into the enclosure. + +They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon +the opposite side, where, spreading their bat-like wings, +they rose above the high wall of the pit, settling down +upon the bowlders above. These were the reserved seats, +the boxes of the elect. + +Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone +is to them as plush as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, +blinking their hideous eyes, and doubtless conversing with +one another in their sixth-sense- fourth-dimension language. + +For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed +from the others in no feature that was appreciable +to my earthly eyes, in fact all Mahars look alike to me: +but when she crossed the arena after the balance of her +female subjects had found their bowlders, she was preceded +by a score of huge Sagoths, the largest I ever had seen, +and on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, +while behind came another score of Sagoth guardsmen. + +At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side +with truly apelike agility, while behind them the haughty +queen rose upon her wings with her two frightful dragons +close beside her, and settled down upon the largest +bowlder of them all in the exact center of that side of +the amphitheater which is reserved for the dominant race. +Here she squatted, a most repulsive and uninteresting queen; +though doubtless quite as well assured of her beauty +and divine right to rule as the proudest monarch of the +outer world. + +And then the music started--music without sound! The Mahars +cannot hear, so the drums and fifes and horns of earthly +bands are unknown among them. The "band" consists of a +score or more Mahars. It filed out in the center of the +arena where the creatures upon the rocks might see it, +and there it performed for fifteen or twenty minutes. + +Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving +their heads in a regular succession of measured movements +resulting in a cadence which evidently pleased the eye +of the Mahar as the cadence of our own instrumental music +pleases our ears. Sometimes the band took measured steps +in unison to one side or the other, or backward and again +forward--it all seemed very silly and meaningless to me, +but at the end of the first piece the Mahars upon the +rocks showed the first indications of enthusiasm that I +had seen displayed by the dominant race of Pellucidar. +They beat their great wings up and down, and smote their rocky +perches with their mighty tails until the ground shook. +Then the band started another piece, and all was again +as silent as the grave. That was one great beauty about +Mahar music--if you didn't happen to like a piece that was +being played all you had to do was shut your eyes. + +When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing +and settled upon the rocks above and behind the queen. +Then the business of the day was on. A man and woman were +pushed into the arena by a couple of Sagoth guardsmen. +I leaned forward in my seat to scrutinize the female--hoping +against hope that she might prove to be another than Dian +the Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a while, +and the sight of the great mass of raven hair piled high +upon her head filled me with alarm. + +Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened +to admit a huge, shaggy, bull-like creature. + +"A Bos," whispered Perry, excitedly. "His kind roamed +the outer crust with the cave bear and the mammoth ages +and ages ago. We have been carried back a million years, +David, to the childhood of a planet--is it not wondrous?" + +But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, +and my heart stood still in dumb misery at the sight of her, +nor had I any eyes for the wonders of natural history. +But for Perry and Ghak I should have leaped to the floor +of the arena and shared whatever fate lay in store for this +priceless treasure of the Stone Age. + +With the advent of the Bos--they call the thing a thag +within Pellucidar--two spears were tossed into the arena +at the feet of the prisoners. It seemed to me that a bean +shooter would have been as effective against the mighty +monster as these pitiful weapons. + +As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing +the ground with the strength of many earthly bulls, +another door directly beneath us was opened, and from +it issued the most terrific roar that ever had fallen +upon my outraged ears. I could not at first see +the beast from which emanated this fearsome challenge, +but the sound had the effect of bringing the two victims +around with a sudden start, and then I saw the girl's +face--she was not Dian! I could have wept for relief. + +And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author +of that fearsome sound creeping stealthily into view. +It was a huge tiger--such as hunted the great Bos +through the jungles primeval when the world was young. +In contour and markings it was not unlike the noblest +of the Bengals of our own world, but as its dimensions +were exaggerated to colossal proportions so too were +its colorings exaggerated. Its vivid yellows fairly +screamed aloud; its whites were as eider down; its blacks +glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its coat long +and shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful +animal there is no gainsaying, but if its size and colors +are magnified here within Pellucidar, so is the ferocity +of its disposition. It is not the occasional member +of its species that is a man hunter--all are man hunters; +but they do not confine their foraging to man alone, +for there is no flesh or fish within Pellucidar that they +will not eat with relish in the constant efforts which they +make to furnish their huge carcasses with sufficient +sustenance to maintain their mighty thews. + +Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed +and advanced, and upon the other tarag, the frightful, +crept toward them with gaping mouth and dripping fangs. + +The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. +At the sound of the roaring of the tiger the bull's +bellowing became a veritable frenzy of rageful noise. +Never in my life had I heard such an infernal din as +the two brutes made, and to think it was all lost upon +the hideous reptiles for whom the show was staged! + +The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag +from the other. The two puny things standing between them +seemed already lost, but at the very moment that the beasts +were upon them the man grasped his companion by the arm +and together they leaped to one side, while the frenzied +creatures came together like locomotives in collision. + +There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful +ferocity transcends the power of imagination or description. +Time and again the colossal bull tossed the enormous tiger +high into the air, but each time that the huge cat touched +the ground he returned to the encounter with apparently +undiminished strength, and seemingly increased ire. + +For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with +keeping out of the way of the two creatures, but finally I +saw them separate and each creep stealthily toward one of +the combatants. The tiger was now upon the bull's broad back, +clinging to the huge neck with powerful fangs while its long, +strong talons ripped the heavy hide into shreds and ribbons. + +For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering +with pain and rage, its cloven hoofs widespread, +its tail lashing viciously from side to side, and then, +in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening about the +arena in frenzied attempt to unseat its rending rider. +It was with difficulty that the girl avoided the first mad +rush of the wounded animal. + +All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, +until in desperation it threw itself upon the ground, +rolling over and over. A little of this so disconcerted +the tiger, knocking its breath from it I imagine, +that it lost its hold and then, quick as a cat, the great +thag was up again and had buried those mighty horns +deep in the tarag's abdomen, pinning him to the floor +of the arena. + +The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and +ears were gone, and naught but a few strips of ragged, +bloody flesh remained upon the skull. Yet through all +the agony of that fearful punishment the thag still stood +motionless pinning down his adversary, and then the man +leaped in, seeing that the blind bull would be the least +formidable enemy, and ran his spear through the tarag's heart. + +As the animal's fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised +his gory, sightless head, and with a horrid roar ran +headlong across the arena. With great leaps and bounds +he came, straight toward the arena wall directly beneath +where we sat, and then accident carried him, in one +of his mighty springs, completely over the barrier into +the midst of the slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. +Swinging his bloody horns from side to side the beast cut +a wide swath before him straight upward toward our seats. +Before him slaves and gorilla-men fought in mad stampede +to escape the menace of the creature's death agonies, +for such only could that frightful charge have been. + +Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general +rush for the exits, many of which pierced the wall +of the amphitheater behind us. Perry, Ghak, and I +became separated in the chaos which reigned for a few +moments after the beast cleared the wall of the arena, +each intent upon saving his own hide. + +I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the +fear mad mob that were battling to escape. One would +have thought that an entire herd of thags was loose +behind them, rather than a single blinded, dying beast; +but such is the effect of panic upon a crowd. + + + +VII + +FREEDOM + + +ONCE OUT OF THE DIRECT PATH OF THE ANIMAL, fear of it +left me, but another emotion as quickly gripped me--hope +of escape that the demoralized condition of the guards +made possible for the instant. + +I thought of Perry, but for the hope that I might better +encompass his release if myself free I should have put +the thought of freedom from me at once. As it was I +hastened on toward the right searching for an exit toward +which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found it--a low, +narrow aperture leading into a dark corridor. + +Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into +the shadows of the tunnel, feeling my way along through +the gloom for some distance. The noises of the amphitheater +had grown fainter and fainter until now all was as silent +as the tomb about me. Faint light filtered from above +through occasional ventilating and lighting tubes, but it +was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes to cope with +the darkness, and so I was forced to move with extreme care, +feeling my way along step by step with a hand upon the +wall beside me. + +Presently the light increased and a moment later, +to my delight, I came upon a flight of steps leading upward, +at the top of which the brilliant light of the noonday +sun shone through an opening in the ground. + +Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel's end, +and peering out saw the broad plain of Phutra before me. +The numerous lofty, granite towers which mark the several +entrances to the subterranean city were all in front +of me--behind, the plain stretched level and unbroken +to the nearby foothills. I had come to the surface, +then, beyond the city, and my chances for escape seemed +much enhanced. + +My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting +to cross the plain, so deeply implanted are habits +of thought; but of a sudden I recollected the perpetual +noonday brilliance which envelopes Pellucidar, +and with a smile I stepped forth into the day-light. + +Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of +Phutra--the gorgeous flowering grass of the inner world, +each particular blade of which is tipped with a tiny, +five-pointed blossom--brilliant little stars of varying +colors that twinkle in the green foliage to add still +another charm to the weird, yet lovely, land-scape. + +But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant +hills in which I hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, +trampling the myriad beauties beneath my hurrying feet. +Perry says that the force of gravity is less upon the +surface of the inner world than upon that of the outer. +He explained it all to me once, but I was never particularly +brilliant in such matters and so most of it has escaped me. +As I recall it the difference is due in some part to the +counter-attraction of that portion of the earth's crust +directly opposite the spot upon the face of Pellucidar +at which one's calculations are being made. Be that as +it may, it always seemed to me that I moved with greater +speed and agility within Pellucidar than upon the outer +surface--there was a certain airy lightness of step that was +most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily detachment which +I can only compare with that occasionally experienced in dreams. + +And as I crossed Phutra's flower-bespangled plain that time +I seemed almost to fly, though how much of the sensation +was due to Perry's suggestion and how much to actuality +I am sure I do not know. The more I thought of Perry +the less pleasure I took in my new-found freedom. +There could be no liberty for me within Pellucidar unless +the old man shared it with me, and only the hope that I +might find some way to encompass his release kept me +from turning back to Phutra. + +Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, +but I hoped that some fortuitous circumstance might solve +the problem for me. It was quite evident however that +little less than a miracle could aid me, for what could +I accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed? +It was even doubtful that I could retrace my steps +to Phutra should I once pass beyond view of the plain, +and even were that possible, what aid could I bring +to Perry no matter how far I wandered? + +The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, +yet with a stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward +the foothills. Behind me no sign of pursuit developed, +before me I saw no living thing. It was as though I +moved through a dead and forgotten world. + +I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach +the limit of the plain, but at last I entered the foothills, +following a pretty little canyon upward toward +the mountains. Beside me frolicked a laughing brooklet, +hurrying upon its noisy way down to the silent sea. +In its quieter pools I discovered many small fish, of four- +or five-pound weight I should imagine. In appearance, +except as to size and color, they were not unlike the +whale of our own seas. As I watched them playing about +I discovered, not only that they suckled their young, +but that at intervals they rose to the surface to breathe +as well as to feed upon certain grasses and a strange, +scarlet lichen which grew upon the rocks just above the +water line. + +It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I +craved to capture one of these herbivorous cetaceans--that +is what Perry calls them--and make as good a meal as one can +on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had become rather used, +by this time, to the eating of food in its natural state, +though I still balked on the eyes and entrails, +much to the amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed +these delicacies. + +Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the +diminutive purple whales rose to nibble at the long +grasses which overhung the water, and then, like the beast +of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my victim, +appeasing my hunger while he yet wriggled to escape. + +Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands +and face continued my flight. Above the source of the brook +I encountered a rugged climb to the summit of a long ridge. +Beyond was a steep declivity to the shore of a placid, +inland sea, upon the quiet surface of which lay several +beautiful islands. + +The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast +was to be seen that might threaten my new-found liberty, +I slid over the edge of the bluff, and half sliding, +half falling, dropped into the delightful valley, +the very aspect of which seemed to offer a haven of peace +and security. + +The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly +strewn with strangely shaped, colored shells; some empty, +others still housing as varied a multitude of mollusks +as ever might have drawn out their sluggish lives along the +silent shores of the antediluvian seas of the outer crust. +As I walked I could not but compare myself with the first +man of that other world, so complete the solitude which +surrounded me, so primal and untouched the virgin wonders +and beauties of adolescent nature. I felt myself a second +Adam wending my lonely way through the childhood of a world, +searching for my Eve, and at the thought there rose +before my mind's eye the exquisite outlines of a perfect +face surmounted by a loose pile of wondrous, raven hair. + +As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it +was not until I had come quite upon it that I discovered +that which shattered all my beautiful dream of solitude +and safety and peace and primal overlordship. The thing +was a hollowed log drawn upon the sands, and in the bottom +of it lay a crude paddle. + +The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove +some new form of danger was still upon me when I heard +a rattling of loose stones from the direction of the bluff, +and turning my eyes in that direction I beheld the +author of the disturbance, a great copper-colored man, +running rapidly toward me. + +There was that in the haste with which he came which +seemed quite sufficiently menacing, so that I did +not need the added evidence of brandishing spear and +scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe position, +but whither to flee was indeed a momentous question. + +The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility +of escaping him upon the open beach. There was but a +single alternative--the rude skiff--and with a celerity +which equaled his, I pushed the thing into the sea and +as it floated gave a final shove and clambered in over the end. + +A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, +and an instant later his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed +my shoulder and buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. +Then I grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste urged +the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the surface of the sea. + +A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored +one had plunged in after me and was swimming rapidly +in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to close up +the distance between us in short order, for at best I +could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, +which nosed stubbornly in every direction but that which I +desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was +expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course. + +I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became +evident that my pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff +within the next half-dozen strokes. In a frenzy of despair, +I bent to the grandfather of all paddles in a hopeless +effort to escape, and still the copper giant behind me +gained and gained. + +His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, +sinuous body shoot from the depths below. The man saw +it too, and the look of terror that overspread his face +assured me that I need have no further concern as to him, +for the fear of certain death was in his look. + +And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a +hideous monster of that prehistoric deep--a mighty serpent +of the sea, with fanged jaws, and darting forked tongue, +with bulging eyes, and bony protuberances upon head +and snout that formed short, stout horns. + +As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met +those of the doomed man, and I could have sworn +that in his I saw an expression of hopeless appeal. +But whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden +compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brother-man, +and that he might have killed me with pleasure +had he caught me was forgotten in the extremity of his danger. + +Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose +to engage my pursuer, so now the skiff still drifted close +beside the two. The monster seemed to be but playing with his +victim before he closed his awful jaws upon him and dragged +him down to his dark den beneath the surface to devour him. +The huge, snakelike body coiled and uncoiled about its prey. +The hideous, gaping jaws snapped in the victim's face. +The forked tongue, lightning-like, ran in and out upon +the copper skin. + +Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his +stone hatchet against the bony armor that covered that +frightful carcass; but for all the damage he inflicted +he might as well have struck with his open palm. + +At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while +a fellowman was dragged down to a horrible death by that +repulsive reptile. Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay +the spear that had been cast after me by him whom I suddenly +desired to save. With a wrench I tore it loose, and standing +upright in the wobbly log drove it with all the strength +of my two arms straight into the gaping jaws of the hydrophidian. + +With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to +turn upon me, but the spear, imbedded in its throat, +prevented it from seizing me though it came near +to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me. + + + +VIII + +THE MAHAR TEMPLE + + +THE ABORIGINE, APPARENTLY UNINJURED, CLIMBED quickly into +the skiff, and seizing the spear with me helped to hold +off the infuriated creature. Blood from the wounded +reptile was now crimsoning the waters about us and soon +from the weakening struggles it became evident that I +had inflicted a death wound upon it. Presently its +efforts to reach us ceased entirely, and with a few +convulsive movements it turned upon its back quite dead. + +And then there came to me a sudden realization of the +predicament in which I had placed myself. I was entirely +within the power of the savage man whose skiff I had stolen. +Still clinging to the spear I looked into his face to find +him scrutinizing me intently, and there we stood for some +several minutes, each clinging tenaciously to the weapon +the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at each other. + +What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was +merely the question as to how soon the fellow would +recommence hostilities. + +Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was +unable to translate. I shook my head in an effort to +indicate my ignorance of his language, at the same time +addressing him in the bastard tongue that the Sagoths +use to converse with the human slaves of the Mahars. + +To my delight he understood and answered me in the same jargon. + +"What do you want of my spear?" he asked. + +"Only to keep you from running it through me," I replied. + +"I would not do that," he said, "for you have just saved +my life," and with that he released his hold upon it +and squatted down in the bottom of the skiff. + +"Who are you," he continued, "and from what country +do you come?" + +I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried +to explain how I came to Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it +was as impossible for him to grasp or believe the strange +tale I told him as I fear it is for you upon the outer +crust to believe in the existence of the inner world. +To him it seemed quite ridiculous to imagine that there +was another world far beneath his feet peopled by +beings similar to himself, and he laughed uproariously +the more he thought upon it. But it was ever thus. +That which has never come within the scope of our really +pitifully meager world-experience cannot be--our finite +minds cannot grasp that which may not exist in accordance +with the conditions which obtain about us upon the outside +of the insignificant grain of dust which wends its tiny +way among the bowlders of the universe--the speck of moist +dirt we so proudly call the World. + +So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he +was a Mezop, and that his name was Ja. + +"Who are the Mezops?" I asked. "Where do they live?" + +He looked at me in surprise. + +"I might indeed believe that you were from another world," +he said, "for who of Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The +Mezops live upon the islands of the seas. In so far as I +ever have heard no Mezop lives elsewhere, and no others +than Mezops dwell upon islands, but of course it may be +different in other far-distant lands. I do not know. +At any rate in this sea and those near by it is true that +only people of my race inhabit the islands. + +"We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, +often going to the mainland in search of the game +that is scarce upon all but the larger islands. And we +are warriors also," he added proudly. "Even the Sagoths +of the Mahars fear us. Once, when Pellucidar was young, +the Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves as they +do the other men of Pellucidar, it is handed down from +father to son among us that this is so; but we fought +so desperately and slew so many Sagoths, and those of us +that were captured killed so many Mahars in their own +cities that at last they learned that it were better +to leave us alone, and later came the time that the +Mahars became too indolent even to catch their own fish, +except for amusement, and then they needed us to supply +their wants, and so a truce was made between the races. +Now they give us certain things which we are unable +to produce in return for the fish that we catch, +and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace. + +"The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, +far from the prying eyes of their own Sagoths, that they +practice their religious rites in the temples they have +builded there with our assistance. If you live among +us you will doubtless see the manner of their worship, +which is strange indeed, and most unpleasant for the poor +slaves they bring to take part in it." + +As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him +more closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I should say +six feet six or seven inches, well developed and of a coppery +red not unlike that of our own North American Indian, +nor were his features dissimilar to theirs. He had +the aquiline nose found among many of the higher tribes, +the prominent cheek bones, and black hair and eyes, +but his mouth and lips were better molded. All in all, +Ja was an impressive and handsome creature, and he talked +well too, even in the miserable makeshift language we +were compelled to use. + +During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was +propelling the skiff with vigorous strokes toward a large +island that lay some half-mile from the mainland. +The skill with which he handled his crude and awkward +craft elicited my deepest admiration, since it had been +so short a time before that I had made such pitiful work +of it. + +As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out +and I followed him. Together we dragged the skiff +far up into the bushes that grew beyond the sand. + +"We must hide our canoes," explained Ja, "for the Mezops +of Luana are always at war with us and would steal them +if they found them," he nodded toward an island farther +out at sea, and at so great a distance that it seemed +but a blur hanging in the distant sky. The upward curve +of the surface of Pellucidar was constantly revealing the +impossible to the surprised eyes of the outer-earthly. To +see land and water curving upward in the distance until it +seemed to stand on edge where it melted into the distant sky, +and to feel that seas and mountains hung suspended directly +above one's head required such a complete reversal +of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to +stupefy one. + +No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged +into the jungle, presently emerging into a narrow but +well-defined trail which wound hither and thither much +after the manner of the highways of all primitive folk, +but there was one peculiarity about this Mezop trail +which I was later to find distinguished them from all +other trails that I ever have seen within or without the earth. + +It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end +suddenly in the midst of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja +would turn directly back in his tracks for a little distance, +spring into a tree, climb through it to the other side, +drop onto a fallen log, leap over a low bush and alight +once more upon a distinct trail which he would follow back +for a short distance only to turn directly about and retrace +his steps until after a mile or less this new pathway +ended as suddenly and mysteriously as the former section. +Then he would pass again across some media which would +reveal no spoor, to take up the broken thread of the +trail beyond. + +As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I +could not but admire the native shrewdness of the ancient +progenitor of the Mezops who hit upon this novel plan to +throw his enemies from his track and delay or thwart them +in their attempts to follow him to his deep-buried cities. + +To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow +and tortuous method of traveling through the jungle, +but were you of Pellucidar you would realize that time +is no factor where time does not exist. So labyrinthine +are the windings of these trails, so varied the connecting +links and the distances which one must retrace one's +steps from the paths' ends to find them that a Mezop +often reaches man's estate before he is familiar +even with those which lead from his own city to the sea. + +In fact three-fourths of the education of the young +male Mezop consists in familiarizing himself with these +jungle avenues, and the status of an adult is largely +determined by the number of trails which he can follow +upon his own island. The females never learn them, +since from birth to death they never leave the clearing +in which the village of their nativity is situated except +they be taken to mate by a male from another village, +or captured in war by the enemies of their tribe. + +After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been +upward of five miles we emerged suddenly into a large +clearing in the exact center of which stood as strange +an appearing village as one might well imagine. + +Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet +above the ground, and upon the tops of them spherical +habitations of woven twigs, mud covered, had been built. +Each ball-like house was surmounted by some manner +of carven image, which Ja told me indicated the identity +of the owner. + +Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three +feet wide, served to admit light and ventilation. +The entrances to the house were through small apertures +in the bases of the trees and thence upward by rude +ladders through the hollow trunks to the rooms above. +The houses varied in size from two to several rooms. +The largest that I entered was divided into two floors and +eight apartments. + +All about the village, between it and the jungle, +lay beautifully cultivated fields in which the Mezops raised +such cereals, fruits, and vegetables as they required. +Women and children were working in these gardens as we crossed +toward the village. At sight of Ja they saluted deferentially, +but to me they paid not the slightest attention. +Among them and about the outer verge of the cultivated area +were many warriors. These too saluted Ja, by touching +the points of their spears to the ground directly before them. + +Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the +village--the house with eight rooms--and taking me up +into it gave me food and drink. There I met his mate, +a comely girl with a nursing baby in her arms. Ja told +her of how I had saved his life, and she was thereafter +most kind and hospitable toward me, even permitting me +to hold and amuse the tiny bundle of humanity whom Ja +told me would one day rule the tribe, for Ja, it seemed, +was the chief of the community. + +We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja's +amusement, for it seemed that he seldom if ever did so, +and then the red man proposed that I accompany him to the +temple of the Mahars which lay not far from his village. +"We are not supposed to visit it," he said; "but the great +ones cannot hear and if we keep well out of sight they need +never know that we have been there. For my part I hate them +and always have, but the other chieftains of the island +think it best that we continue to maintain the amicable +relations which exist between the two races; otherwise I +should like nothing better than to lead my warriors amongst +the hideous creatures and exterminate them--Pellucidar +would be a better place to live were there none of them." + +I wholly concurred in Ja's belief, but it seemed that it +might be a difficult matter to exterminate the dominant race +of Pellucidar. Thus conversing we followed the intricate trail +toward the temple, which we came upon in a small clearing +surrounded by enormous trees similar to those which must +have flourished upon the outer crust during the carboniferous +age. + +Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape +of a rough oval with rounded roof in which were several +large openings. No doors or windows were visible in +the sides of the structure, nor was there need of any, +except one entrance for the slaves, since, as Ja explained, +the Mahars flew to and from their place of ceremonial, +entering and leaving the building by means of the apertures +in the roof. + +"But," added Ja, "there is an entrance near the base +of which even the Mahars know nothing. Come," and he +led me across the clearing and about the end to a pile +of loose rock which lay against the foot of the wall. +Here he removed a couple of large bowlders, revealing a +small opening which led straight within the building, +or so it seemed, though as I entered after Ja I discovered +myself in a narrow place of extreme darkness. + +"We are within the outer wall," said Ja. "It is hollow. +Follow me closely." + +The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began +to ascend a primitive ladder similar to that which leads +from the ground to the upper stories of his house. +We ascended for some forty feet when the interior of +the space between the walls commenced to grow lighter +and presently we came opposite an opening in the inner +wall which gave us an unobstructed view of the entire +interior of the temple. + +The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in +which numerous hideous Mahars swam lazily up and down. +Artificial islands of granite rock dotted this artificial sea, +and upon several of them I saw men and women like myself. + +"What are the human beings doing here?" I asked. + +"Wait and you shall see," replied Ja. "They are to take +a leading part in the ceremonies which will follow +the advent of the queen. You may be thankful that you +are not upon the same side of the wall as they." + +Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering +of wings above and a moment later a long procession +of the frightful reptiles of Pellucidar winged slowly +and majestically through the large central opening +in the roof and circled in stately manner about the temple. + +There were several Mahars first, and then at least +twenty awe-inspiring pterodactyls--thipdars, they are +called within Pellucidar. Behind these came the queen, +flanked by other thipdars as she had been when she +entered the amphitheater at Phutra. + +Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval +chamber, to settle finally upon the damp, cold bowlders +that fringe the outer edge of the pool. In the center +of one side the largest rock was reserved for the queen, +and here she took her place surrounded by her terrible guard. + +All lay quiet for several minutes after settling +to their places. One might have imagined them in +silent prayer. The poor slaves upon the diminutive +islands watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. +The men, for the most part, stood erect and stately +with folded arms, awaiting their doom; but the women and +children clung to one another, hiding behind the males. +They are a noble-looking race, these cave men of Pellucidar, +and if our progenitors were as they, the human race +of the outer crust has deteriorated rather than improved +with the march of the ages. All they lack is opportunity. +We have opportunity, and little else. + +Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, +looking about; then very slowly she crawled to the edge +of her throne and slid noiselessly into the water. +Up and down the long tank she swam, turning at the ends +as you have seen captive seals turn in their tiny tanks, +turning upon their backs and diving below the surface. + +Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she +remained at rest before the largest, which was directly +opposite her throne. Raising her hideous head from the +water she fixed her great, round eyes upon the slaves. +They were fat and sleek, for they had been brought from +a distant Mahar city where human beings are kept in droves, +and bred and fattened, as we breed and fatten beef cattle. + +The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. +Her victim tried to turn away, hiding her face in her +hands and kneeling behind a woman; but the reptile, +with unblinking eyes, stared on with such fixity that I +could have sworn her vision penetrated the woman, +and the girl's arms to reach at last the very center of +her brain. + +Slowly the reptile's head commenced to move to and fro, +but the eyes never ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, +and then the victim responded. She turned wide, +fear-haunted eyes toward the Mahar queen, slowly she rose +to her feet, and then as though dragged by some unseen power +she moved as one in a trance straight toward the reptile, +her glassy eyes fixed upon those of her captor. +To the water's edge she came, nor did she even pause, +but stepped into the shallows beside the little island. +On she moved toward the Mahar, who now slowly retreated as though +leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl's knees, +and still she advanced, chained by that clammy eye. +Now the water was at her waist; now her armpits. +Her fellows upon the island looked on in horror, +helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast +of their own. + +The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes +were exposed above the surface of the water, and the +girl had advanced until the end of that repulsive beak +was but an inch or two from her face, her horror-filled +eyes riveted upon those of the reptile. + +Now the water passed above the girl's mouth and nose--her +eyes and forehead all that showed--yet still she walked +on after the retreating Mahar. The queen's head slowly +disappeared beneath the surface and after it went the +eyes of her victim--only a slow ripple widened toward +the shores to mark where the two vanished. + +For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves +were motionless in terror. The Mahars watched the surface +of the water for the reappearance of their queen, +and presently at one end of the tank her head rose +slowly into view. She was backing toward the surface, +her eyes fixed before her as they had been when she +dragged the helpless girl to her doom. + +And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead +and eyes of the maiden come slowly out of the depths, +following the gaze of the reptile just as when she had +disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came the girl +until she stood in water that reached barely to her knees, +and though she had been beneath the surface sufficient time +to have drowned her thrice over there was no indication, +other than her dripping hair and glistening body, +that she had been submerged at all. + +Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths +and out again, until the uncanny weirdness of the thing +got on my nerves so that I could have leaped into the tank +to the child's rescue had I not taken a firm hold of myself. + +Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came +to the surface I was horrified to see that one of the girl's +arms was gone--gnawed completely off at the shoulder--but +the poor thing gave no indication of realizing pain, +only the horror in her set eyes seemed intensified. + +The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, +and then the breasts, and then a part of the face--it +was awful. The poor creatures on the islands awaiting +their fate tried to cover their eyes with their hands +to hide the fearful sight, but now I saw that they too +were under the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that +they could only crouch in terror with their eyes fixed +upon the terrible thing that was transpiring before them. + +Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, +and when she rose she came alone and swam sleepily +toward her bowlder. The moment she mounted it seemed +to be the signal for the other Mahars to enter the tank, +and then commenced, upon a larger scale, a repetition +of the uncanny performance through which the queen had led +her victim. + +Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars--they +being the weakest and most tender--and when they had satisfied +their appetite for human flesh, some of them devouring +two and three of the slaves, there were only a score +of full-grown men left, and I thought that for some reason +these were to be spared, but such was far from the case, +for as the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen's thipdars +darted into the air, circled the temple once and then, +hissing like steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining +slaves. + +There was no hypnotism here--just the plain, brutal ferocity +of the beast of prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat, +but at that it was less horrible than the uncanny method of +the Mahars. By the time the thipdars had disposed of the last +of the slaves the Mahars were all asleep upon their rocks, +and a moment later the great pterodactyls swung back +to their posts beside the queen, and themselves dropped +into slumber. + +"I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept," I said +to Ja. + +"They do many things in this temple which they do not do +elsewhere," +he replied. "The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat +human flesh, yet slaves are brought here by thousands and +almost always you will find Mahars on hand to consume them. +I imagine that they do not bring their Sagoths here, +because they are ashamed of the practice, which is supposed +to obtain only among the least advanced of their race; +but I would wager my canoe against a broken paddle that +there is no Mahar but eats human flesh whenever she can get it." + +"Why should they object to eating human flesh," I asked, +"if it is true that they look upon us as lower animals?" + +"It is not because they consider us their equals that they are +supposed to look with abhorrence upon those who eat our flesh," +replied Ja; "it is merely that we are warm-blooded animals. +They would not think of eating the meat of a thag, which we +consider such a delicacy, any more than I would think +of eating a snake. As a matter of fact it is difficult +to explain just why this sentiment should exist among them." + +"I wonder if they left a single victim," I remarked, +leaning far out of the opening in the rocky wall to +inspect the temple better. Directly below me the water +lapped the very side of the wall, there being a break +in the bowlders at this point as there was at several +other places about the side of the temple. + +My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite +which formed a part of the wall, and all my weight upon it +proved too much for it. It slipped and I lunged forward. +There was nothing to save myself and I plunged headforemost +into the water below. + +Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered +no injury from the fall, but as I was rising to the surface +my mind filled with the horrors of my position as I thought +of the terrible doom which awaited me the moment the eyes +of the reptiles fell upon the creature that had disturbed +their slumber. + +As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, +swimming rapidly in the direction of the islands that I +might prolong my life to the utmost. At last I was +forced to rise for air, and as I cast a terrified glance +in the direction of the Mahars and the thipdars I was +almost stunned to see that not a single one remained upon +the rocks where I had last seen them, nor as I searched +the temple with my eyes could I discern any within it. + +For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, +until I realized that the reptiles, being deaf, could not +have been disturbed by the noise my body made when it hit +the water, and that as there is no such thing as time +within Pellucidar there was no telling how long I had been +beneath the surface. It was a difficult thing to attempt +to figure out by earthly standards--this matter of elapsed +time--but when I set myself to it I began to realize +that I might have been submerged a second or a month +or not at all. You have no conception of the strange +contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all +methods of measuring time, as we know them upon earth, +are non-existent. + +I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had +saved me for the moment, when the memory of the hypnotic +powers of the Mahars filled me with apprehension lest +they be practicing their uncanny art upon me to the end +that I merely imagined that I was alone in the temple. +At the thought cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore, +and as I crawled from the water onto one of the tiny +islands I was trembling like a leaf--you cannot imagine +the awful horror which even the simple thought of the +repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar induces in the human mind, +and to feel that you are in their power--that they +are crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to drag you down +beneath the waters and devour you! It is frightful. + +But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion +that I was indeed alone within the temple. How long I +should be alone was the next question to assail me as I +swam frantically about once more in search of a means +to escape. + +Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left +after I tumbled into the tank, for I received no response +to my cries. Doubtless he had felt as certain of my doom +when he saw me topple from our hiding place as I had, +and lest he too should be discovered, had hastened from +the temple and back to his village. + +I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside +the doorways in the roof, for it did not seem reasonable +to believe that the thousands of slaves which were brought +here to feed the Mahars the human flesh they craved would +all be carried through the air, and so I continued my search +until at last it was rewarded by the discovery of several +loose granite blocks in the masonry at one end of the temple. + +A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough +of these stones to permit me to crawl through into +the clearing, and a moment later I had scurried across +the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond. + +Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses +beneath the giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped +from the grinning fangs of death out of the depths of my +own grave. Whatever dangers lay hidden in this island jungle, +there could be none so fearsome as those which I had +just escaped. I knew that I could meet death bravely +enough if it but came in the form of some familiar beast +or man--anything other than the hideous and uncanny Mahars. + + + +IX + +THE FACE OF DEATH + + +I MUST HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP FROM EXHAUSTION. When I awoke +I was very hungry, and after busying myself searching +for fruit for a while, I set off through the jungle to +find the beach. I knew that the island was not so large +but that I could easily find the sea if I did but move +in a straight line, but there came the difficulty as there +was no way in which I could direct my course and hold it, +the sun, of course, being always directly above my head, +and the trees so thickly set that I could see no distant +object which might serve to guide me in a straight line. + +As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I +ate four times and slept twice before I reached the sea, +but at last I did so, and my pleasure at the sight of it +was greatly enhanced by the chance discovery of a hidden +canoe among the bushes through which I had stumbled just +prior to coming upon the beach. + +I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull +that awkward craft down to the water and shove it far +out from shore. My experience with Ja had taught me that +if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick about +it and get far beyond the owner's reach as soon as possible. + +I must have come out upon the opposite side of the +island from that at which Ja and I had entered it, +for the mainland was nowhere in sight. For a long time I +paddled around the shore, though well out, before I saw +the mainland in the distance. At the sight of it I lost +no time in directing my course toward it, for I had long +since made up my mind to return to Phutra and give myself +up that I might be once more with Perry and Ghak the Hairy One. + +I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to +escape alone, especially in view of the fact that our +plans were already well formulated to make a break for +freedom together. Of course I realized that the chances +of the success of our proposed venture were slim indeed, +but I knew that I never could enjoy freedom without +Perry so long as the old man lived, and I had learned +that the probability that I might find him was less than slight. + +Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my +strength and wit against the savage and primordial world +in which I found myself. I could have lived in seclusion +within some rocky cave until I had found the means to +outfit myself with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, +and then set out in search of her whose image had now +become the constant companion of my waking hours, +and the central and beloved figure of my dreams. + +But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived +and it was my duty and wish to be again with him, that we +might share the dangers and vicissitudes of the strange +world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; the great, +shaggy man had found a place in the hearts of us both, +for he was indeed every inch a man and king. +Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, too, if judged too harshly +by the standards of effete twentieth- century civilization, +but withal noble, dignified, chivalrous, and loveable. + +Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I +had discovered Ja's canoe, and a short time later I +was scrambling up the steep bank to retrace my steps +from the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I +entered the canyon beyond the summit, for here I found +that several of them centered at the point where I +crossed the divide, and which one I had traversed +to reach the pass I could not for the life of me remember. + +It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down +that which seemed the easiest going, and in this I made +the same mistake that many of us do in selecting the path +along which we shall follow out the course of our lives, +and again learned that it is not always best to follow +the line of least resistance. + +By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice +I was convinced that I was upon the wrong trail, +for between Phutra and the inland sea I had not slept +at all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps +to the summit of the divide and explore another canyon +seemed the only solution of my problem, but a sudden +widening and levelness of the canyon just before me seemed +to suggest that it was about to open into a level country, +and with the lure of discovery strong upon me I decided +to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned back. + +The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, +and before me I saw a narrow plain leading down to an ocean. +At my right the side of the canyon continued to the +water's edge, the valley lying to my left, and the foot +of it running gradually into the sea, where it formed +a broad level beach. + +Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there +almost to the water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. +From the nature of the vegetation I was convinced that +the land between the ocean and the foothills was swampy, +though directly before me it seemed dry enough all the +way to the sandy strip along which the restless waters +advanced and retreated. + +Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, +for the scene was very beautiful. As I passed along +beside the deep and tangled vegetation of the swamp I +thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, +but though I stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, +and if anything lay hid there my eyes could not penetrate +the dense foliage to discern it. + +Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the +wide and lonely sea across whose forbidding bosom no +human being had yet ventured, to discover what strange +and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its invisible +islands held of riches, wonders, or adventure. +What savage faces, what fierce and formidable beasts were +this very instant watching the lapping of the waves upon +its farther shore! How far did it extend? Perry had told +me that the seas of Pellucidar were small in comparison +with those of the outer crust, but even so this great ocean +might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. +For countless ages it had rolled up and down its countless +miles of shore, and yet today it remained all unknown +beyond the tiny strip that was visible from its beaches. + +The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. +It was as though I had been carried back to the birth +time of our own outer world to look upon its lands and +seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was a +new world, all untouched. It called to me to explore it. +I was dreaming of the excitement and adventure which lay +before us could Perry and I but escape the Mahars, +when something, a slight noise I imagine, drew my attention +behind me. + +As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the +abstract took wing before the terrible embodiment of all +three in concrete form that I beheld advancing upon me. + +A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the +mighty jaws of an alligator. Its immense carcass must have +weighed tons, and yet it moved swiftly and silently toward me. +Upon one hand was the bluff that ran from the canyon to the sea, +on the other the fearsome swamp from which the creature +had sneaked upon me, behind lay the mighty untracked sea, +and before me in the center of the narrow way that led +to safety stood this huge mountain of terrible and menacing +flesh. + +A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me +that I was facing one of those long-extinct, prehistoric +creatures whose fossilized remains are found within +the outer crust as far back as the Triassic formation, +a gigantic labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, and, +with the exception of a loin cloth, as naked as I had come +into the world. I could imagine how my first ancestor +felt that distant, prehistoric morn that he encountered +for the first time the terrifying progenitor of the thing +that had me cornered now beside the restless, mysterious sea. + +Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been +within Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at that moment +that he had handed down to me with the various attributes +that I presumed I have inherited from him, the specific +application of the instinct of self-preservation which saved +him from the fate which loomed so close before me today. + +To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been +similar to jumping into a den of lions to escape one upon +the outside. The sea and swamp both were doubtless alive +with these mighty, carnivorous amphibians, and if not, +the individual that menaced me would pursue me into either +the sea or the swamp with equal facility. + +There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. +I thought of Perry--how he would wonder what had become of me. +I thought of my friends of the outer world, and of how they +all would go on living their lives in total ignorance +of the strange and terrible fate that had overtaken me, +or unguessing the weird surroundings which had witnessed +the last frightful agony of my extinction. And with these +thoughts came a realization of how unimportant to the life +and happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. +We may be snuffed out without an instant's warning, and for +a brief day our friends speak of us with subdued voices. +The following morning, while the first worm is busily +engaged in testing the construction of our coffin, +they are teeing up for the first hole to suffer more +acute sorrow over a sliced ball than they did over our, +to us, untimely demise. The labyrinthodon was coming +more slowly now. He seemed to realize that escape for me +was impossible, and I could have sworn that his huge, +fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of +my predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy +morsel which would so soon be pulp between those +formidable teeth? + +He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice +calling to me from the direction of the bluff at my left. +I looked and could have shouted in delight at the sight +that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving frantically +to me, and urging me to run for it to the cliff's base. + +I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had +marked me for his breakfast, but at least I should not +die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. It was cold +comfort I presume, but yet I derived some slight peace +of mind from the contemplation of it. + +To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep +and unscalable cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I +saw Ja, agile as a monkey, crawl down the precipitous +face of the rocks, clinging to small projections, and the +tough creepers that had found root-hold here and there. + +The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming +to double his portion of human flesh, so he was in no +haste to pursue me to the cliff and frighten away this +other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted along behind me. + +As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended +doing, but I doubted if the thing would prove successful. +He had come down to within twenty feet of the bottom, +and there, clinging with one hand to a small ledge, +and with his feet resting, precariously upon tiny bushes +that grew from the solid face of the rock, he lowered +the point of his long spear until it hung some six feet +above the ground. + +To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down +and precipitating both to the same doom from which the +copper-colored one was attempting to save me seemed +utterly impossible, and as I came near the spear I told +Ja so, and that I could not risk him to try to save myself. + +But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was +in no danger himself. + +"The danger is still yours," he called, "for unless you +move much more rapidly than you are now, the sithic +will be upon you and drag you back before ever you +are halfway up the spear--he can rear up and reach +you with ease anywhere below where I stand." + +Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I +grasped the spear and clambered up toward the red man +as rapidly as I could--being so far removed from my simian +ancestors as I am. I imagine the slow-witted sithic, +as Ja called him, suddenly realized our intentions and +that he was quite likely to lose all his meal instead +of having it doubled as he had hoped. + +When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss +that fairly shook the ground, and came charging after me +at a terrific rate. I had reached the top of the spear +by this time, or almost; another six inches would give +me a hold on Ja's hand, when I felt a sudden wrench from +below and glancing fearfully downward saw the mighty jaws +of the monster close on the sharp point of the weapon. + +I made a frantic effort to reach Ja's hand, the sithic +gave a tremendous tug that came near to jerking Ja +from his frail hold on the surface of the rock, +the spear slipped from his fingers, and still clinging +to it I plunged feet foremost toward my executioner. + +At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja's +hand the creature must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, +for when I came down, still clinging to the butt end +of the weapon, the point yet rested in his mouth and the +result was that the sharpened end transfixed his lower jaw. + +With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. +I fell upon his snout, lost my hold upon the spear, +rolled the length of his face and head, across his +short neck onto his broad back and from there to the ground. + +Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, +dashing madly for the path by which I had entered this +horrible valley. A glance over my shoulder showed me +the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear stuck through +his lower jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in this +occupation that I had gained the safety of the cliff top +before he was ready to take up the pursuit. When he did +not discover me in sight within the valley he dashed, +hissing into the rank vegetation of the swamp and that was +the last I saw of him. + + + +X + +PHUTRA AGAIN + + +I HASTENED TO THE CLIFF EDGE ABOVE JA AND helped him +to a secure footing. He would not listen to any thanks +for his attempt to save me, which had come so near miscarrying. + +"I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the +Mahar temple," he said, "for not even I could save you from +their clutches, and you may imagine my surprise when on +seeing a canoe dragged up upon the beach of the mainland +I discovered your own footprints in the sand beside it. + +"I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did +that you must be entirely unarmed and defenseless against +the many dangers which lurk upon the mainland both in the +form of savage beasts and reptiles, and men as well. +I had no difficulty in tracking you to this point. +It is well that I arrived when I did." + +"But why did you do it?" I asked, puzzled at this show +of friendship on the part of a man of another world +and a different race and color. + +"You saved my life," he replied; "from that moment it +became my duty to protect and befriend you. I would +have been no true Mezop had I evaded my plain duty; +but it was a pleasure in this instance for I like you. +I wish that you would come and live with me. You shall +become a member of my tribe. Among us there is the best +of hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to choose +a mate from, the most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. +Will you come?" + +I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, +and how my duty was to them first. Afterward I should +return and visit him--if I could ever find his island. + +"Oh, that is easy, my friend," he said. "You need merely +to come to the foot of the highest peak of the Mountains +of the Clouds. There you will find a river which flows +into the Lural Az. Directly opposite the mouth of the +river you will see three large islands far out, so far +that they are barely discernible, the one to the extreme +left as you face them from the mouth of the river is Anoroc, +where I rule the tribe of Anoroc." + +"But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?" I asked. +"Men say that they are visible from half Pellucidar," +he replied. + +"How large is Pellucidar?" I asked, wondering what sort +of theory these primitive men had concerning the form +and substance of their world. + +"The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell," +he answered, "but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, +we should fall back were we to travel far in any direction, +and all the waters of Pellucidar would run to one spot +and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite flat and extends +no man knows how far in all directions. At the edges, +so my ancestors have reported and handed down to me, +is a great wall that prevents the earth and waters from +escaping over into the burning sea whereon Pellucidar floats; +but I never have been so far from Anoroc as to have +seen this wall with my own eyes. However, it is quite +reasonable to believe that this is true, whereas there +is no reason at all in the foolish belief of the Mahars. +According to them Pellucidarians who live upon the opposite +side walk always with their heads pointed downward!" and Ja +laughed uproariously at the very thought. + +It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner +world had not advanced far in learning, and the thought +that the ugly Mahars had so outstripped them was a +very pathetic one indeed. I wondered how many ages it +would take to lift these people out of their ignorance +even were it given to Perry and me to attempt it. +Possibly we would be killed for our pains as were those +men of the outer world who dared challenge the dense +ignorance and superstitions of the earth's younger days. +But it was worth the effort if the opportunity ever +presented itself. + +And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity--that +I might make a small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, +and thus note the effect of my teaching upon a Pellucidarian. + +"Ja," I said, "what would you say were I to tell you +that in so far as the Mahars' theory of the shape +of Pellucidar is concerned it is correct?" + +"I would say," he replied, "that either you are a fool, +or took me for one." + +"But, Ja," I insisted, "if their theory is incorrect +how do you account for the fact that I was able to pass +through the earth from the outer crust to Pellucidar. +If your theory is correct all is a sea of flame beneath us, +where in no peoples could exist, and yet I come from a +great world that is covered with human beings, and beasts, +and birds, and fishes in mighty oceans." + +"You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk +always with your head pointed downward?" he scoffed. +"And were I to believe that, my friend, I should indeed +be mad." + +I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, +and by the means of the dropped fruit to illustrate how +impossible it would be for a body to fall off the earth +under any circumstances. He listened so intently that I +thought I had made an impression, and started the train +of thought that would lead him to a partial understanding +of the truth. But I was mistaken. + +"Your own illustration," he said finally, "proves the +falsity of your theory." He dropped a fruit from his hand +to the ground. "See," he said, "without support even this +tiny fruit falls until it strikes something that stops it. +If Pellucidar were not supported upon the flaming sea it too +would fall as the fruit falls--you have proven it yourself!" +He had me, that time--you could see it in his eye. + +It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, +for when I contemplated the necessity explanation of our +solar system and the universe I realized how futile it would +be to attempt to picture to Ja or any other Pellucidarian +the sun, the moon, the planets, and the countless stars. +Those born within the inner world could no more conceive +of such things than can we of the outer crust reduce +to factors appreciable to our finite minds such terms +as space and eternity. + +"Well, Ja," I laughed, "whether we be walking with our feet +up or down, here we are, and the question of greatest +importance is not so much where we came from as where we +are going now. For my part I wish that you could guide +me to Phutra where I may give myself up to the Mahars +once more that my friends and I may work out the plan +of escape which the Sagoths interrupted when they +gathered us together and drove us to the arena to witness +the punishment of the slaves who killed the guardsman. +I wish now that I had not left the arena for by this +time my friends and I might have made good our escape, +whereas this delay may mean the wrecking of all our plans, +which depended for their consummation upon the continued +sleep of the three Mahars who lay in the pit beneath +the building in which we were confined." + +"You would return to captivity?" cried Ja. + +"My friends are there," I replied, "the only friends I +have in Pellucidar, except yourself. What else may I +do under the circumstances?" + +He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his +head sorrowfully. + +"It is what a brave man and a good friend should do," +he said; "yet it seems most foolish, for the Mahars will +most certainly condemn you to death for running away, +and so you will be accomplishing nothing for your friends +by returning. Never in all my life have I heard of a +prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free will. +There are but few who escape them, though some do, +and these would rather die than be recaptured." + +"I see no other way, Ja," I said, "though I can assure +you that I would rather go to Sheol after Perry +than to Phutra. However, Perry is much too pious +to make the probability at all great that I should +ever be called upon to rescue him from the former locality." + +Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best +I could, he said, "You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming +sea upon which Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried +in the ground go there. Piece by piece they are carried +down to Molop Az by the little demons who dwell there. +We know this because when graves are opened we find that +the bodies have been partially or entirely borne off. +That is why we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees +where the birds may find them and bear them bit by bit +to the Dead World above the Land of Awful Shadow. +If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground that it +may go to Molop Az." + +As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down +which I had come to the great ocean and the sithic. +Ja did his best to dissuade me from returning to Phutra, +but when he saw that I was determined to do so, +he consented to guide me to a point from which I could see +the plain where lay the city. To my surprise the distance +was but short from the beach where I had again met Ja. +It was evident that I had spent much time following the +windings of a tortuous canon, while just beyond the ridge +lay the city of Phutra near to which I must have come +several times. + +As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers +dotting the flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final +effort to persuade me to abandon my mad purpose and +return with him to Anoroc, but I was firm in my resolve, +and at last he bid me good-bye, assured in his own mind +that he was looking upon me for the last time. + +I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him +very much indeed. With his hidden city upon the island +of Anoroc as a base, and his savage warriors as escort +Perry and I could have accomplished much in the line +of exploration, and I hoped that were we successful +in our effort to escape we might return to Anoroc later. + +There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished +first--at least it was the great thing to me--the finding +of Dian the Beautiful. I wanted to make amends for the +affront I had put upon her in my ignorance, and I wanted +to--well, I wanted to see her again, and to be with her. + +Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field +of flowers, and then across the rolling land toward the +shadowless columns that guard the ways to buried Phutra. +At a quarter-mile from the nearest entrance I was +discovered by the Sagoth guard, and in an instant four +of the gorilla-men were dashing toward me. + +Though they brandished their long spears and yelled +like wild Comanches I paid not the slightest attention +to them, walking quietly toward them as though unaware +of their existence. My manner had the effect upon them +that I had hoped, and as we came quite near together they +ceased their savage shouting. It was evident that they +had expected me to turn and flee at sight of them, +thus presenting that which they most enjoyed, a moving +human target at which to cast their spears. + +"What do you here?" shouted one, and then as he recognized me, +"Ho! It is the slave who claims to be from another world--he +who escaped when the thag ran amuck within the amphitheater. +But why do you return, having once made good your escape?" + +"I did not 'escape'," I replied. "I but ran away to avoid +the thag, as did others, and coming into a long passage +I became confused and lost my way in the foothills +beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my way back." + +"And you come of your free will back to Phutra!" +exclaimed one of the guardsmen. + +"Where else might I go?" I asked. "I am a stranger +within Pellucidar and know no other where than Phutra. +Why should I not desire to be in Phutra? Am I not well fed +and well treated? Am I not happy? What better lot could +man desire?" + +The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one +on them, and so being stupid brutes they took me to their +masters whom they felt would be better fitted to solve +the riddle of my return, for riddle they still considered it. + +I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose +of throwing them off the scent of my purposed attempt +at escape. If they thought that I was so satisfied +with my lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily return +when I had once had so excellent an opportunity to escape, +they would never for an instant imagine that I could +be occupied in arranging another escape immediately +upon my return to the city. + +So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy +rock within the large room that was the thing's office. +With cold, reptilian eyes the creature seemed to bore through +the thin veneer of my deceit and read my inmost thoughts. +It heeded the story which the Sagoths told of my return +to Phutra, watching the gorilla-men's lips and fingers +during the recital. Then it questioned me through one of +the Sagoths. + +"You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, +because you think yourself better off here than elsewhere--do +you not know that you may be the next chosen to give up +your life in the interests of the wonderful scientific +investigations that our learned ones are continually +occupied with?" + +I hadn't heard of anything of that nature, but I thought +best not to admit it. + +"I could be in no more danger here," I said, "than naked +and unarmed in the savage jungles or upon the lonely +plains of Pellucidar. I was fortunate, I think, to return +to Phutra at all. As it was I barely escaped death within +the jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am sure that I am safer +in the hands of intelligent creatures such as rule Phutra. +At least such would be the case in my own world, where human +beings like myself rule supreme. There the higher races +of man extend protection and hospitality to the stranger +within their gates, and being a stranger here I naturally +assumed that a like courtesy would be accorded me." + +The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I +ceased speaking and the Sagoth had translated my words +to his master. The creature seemed deep in thought. +Presently he communicated some message to the Sagoth. +The latter turned, and motioning me to follow him, left the +presence of the reptile. Behind and on either side of me +marched the balance of the guard. + +"What are they going to do with me?" I asked the fellow +at my right. + +"You are to appear before the learned ones who will +question you regarding this strange world from which you +say you come." + +After a moment's silence he turned to me again. + +"Do you happen to know," he asked, "what the Mahars +do to slaves who lie to them?" + +"No," I replied, "nor does it interest me, as I have +no intention of lying to the Mahars." + +"Then be careful that you don't repeat the impossible +tale you told Sol-to-to just now--another world, indeed, +where human beings rule!" he concluded in fine scorn. + +"But it is the truth," I insisted. "From where else then +did I come? I am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half +an eye could see that." + +"It is your misfortune then," he remarked dryly, "that you +may not be judged by one with but half an eye." + +"What will they do with me," I asked, "if they do not +have a mind to believe me?" + +"You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits +to be used in research work by the learned ones," +he replied. + +"And what will they do with me there?" I persisted. + +"No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits +with them, but as the latter never return, their knowledge +does them but little good. It is said that the learned +ones cut up their subjects while they are yet alive, +thus learning many useful things. However I should not +imagine that it would prove very useful to him who was +being cut up; but of course this is all but conjecture. +The chances are that ere long you will know much +more about it than I," and he grinned as he spoke. +The Sagoths have a well-developed sense of humor. + +"And suppose it is the arena," I continued; "what then?" + +"You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time +that you escaped?" he said. + +"Yes. " + +"Your end in the arena would be similar to what was +intended for them," he explained, "though of course +the same kinds of animals might not be employed." + +"It is sure death in either event?" I asked. + +"What becomes of those who go below with the learned +ones I do not know, nor does any other," he replied; +"but those who go to the arena may come out alive and thus +regain their liberty, as did the two whom you saw." + +"They gained their liberty? And how?" + +"It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who +remain alive within the arena after the beasts depart +or are killed. Thus it has happened that several mighty +warriors from far distant lands, whom we have captured +on our slave raids, have battled the brutes turned in upon +them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom. +In the instance which you witnessed the beasts killed +each other, but the result was the same--the man and woman +were liberated, furnished with weapons, and started +on their homeward journey. Upon the left shoulder +of each a mark was burned--the mark of the Mahars--which +will forever protect these two from slaving parties." + +"There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent +to the arena, and none at all if the learned ones drag +me to the pits?" + +"You are quite right," he replied; "but do not felicitate +yourself too quickly should you be sent to the arena, +for there is scarce one in a thousand who comes out alive." + +To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which I +had been confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. +At the doorway I was turned over to the guards there. + +"He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly," +said he who had brought me back," so have him in readiness." + +The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing +that I had returned of my own volition to Phutra evidently +felt that it would be safe to give me liberty within +the building as had been the custom before I had escaped, +and so I was told to return to whatever duty had been +mine formerly. + +My first act was to hunt up Perry; whom I found poring +as usual over the great tomes that he was supposed to be +merely dusting and rearranging upon new shelves. + +As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly +to me, only to resume his work as though I had never +been away at all. I was both astonished and hurt at +his indifference. And to think that I was risking death +to return to him purely from a sense of duty and affection! + +"Why, Perry!" I exclaimed, "haven't you a word for me +after my long absence?" + +"Long absence!" he repeated in evident astonishment. +"What do you mean?" + +"Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you +have not missed me since that time we were separated +by the charging thag within the arena?" + +"'That time'," he repeated. "Why man, I have but just +returned from the arena! You reached here almost +as soon as I. Had you been much later I should indeed +have been worried, and as it is I had intended +asking you about how you escaped the beast as soon +as I had completed the translation of this most +interesting passage." + +"Perry, you ARE mad," I exclaimed. "Why, the Lord only knows +how long I have been away. I have been to other lands, +discovered a new race of humans within Pellucidar, +seen the Mahars at their worship in their hidden temple, +and barely escaped with my life from them and from a +great labyrinthodon that I met afterward, following my +long and tedious wanderings across an unknown world. +I must have been away for months, Perry, and now you barely +look up from your work when I return and insist that we +have been separated but a moment. Is that any way to treat +a friend? I'm surprised at you, Perry, and if I'd thought +for a moment that you cared no more for me than this I +should not have returned to chance death at the hands +of the Mahars for your sake." + +The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. +There was a puzzled expression upon his wrinkled face, +and a look of hurt sorrow in his eyes. + +"David, my boy," he said, "how could you for a moment +doubt my love for you? There is something strange here +that I cannot understand. I know that I am not mad, +and I am equally sure that you are not; but how in the +world are we to account for the strange hallucinations +that each of us seems to harbor relative to the passage +of time since last we saw each other. You are positive +that months have gone by, while to me it seems equally +certain that not more than an hour ago I sat beside you +in the amphitheater. Can it be that both of us are +right and at the same time both are wrong? First tell me +what time is, and then maybe I can solve our problem. +Do you catch my meaning?" + +I didn't and said so. + +"Yes," continued the old man, "we are both right. To me, +bent over my book here, there has been no lapse of time. +I have done little or nothing to waste my energies +and so have required neither food nor sleep, but you, +on the contrary, have walked and fought and wasted strength +and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by nutriment +and food, and so, having eaten and slept many times +since last you saw me you naturally measure the lapse +of time largely by these acts. As a matter of fact, +David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction that there +is no such thing as time--surely there can be no time here +within Pellucidar, where there are no means for measuring +or recording time. Why, the Mahars themselves take +no account of such a thing as time. I find here in all +their literary works but a single tense, the present. +There seems to be neither past nor future with them. +Of course it is impossible for our outer-earthly minds +to grasp such a condition, but our recent experiences seem +to demonstrate its existence." + +It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry +seemed to enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it, +and after listening with interest to my account of the +adventures through which I had passed he returned once more +to the subject, which he was enlarging upon with considerable +fluency when he was interrupted by the entrance of a Sagoth. + +"Come!" commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. +"The investigators would speak with you." + +"Good-bye, Perry!" I said, clasping the old man's hand. +"There may be nothing but the present and no such thing +as time, but I feel that I am about to take a trip +into the hereafter from which I shall never return. +If you and Ghak should manage to escape I want you to +promise me that you will find Dian the Beautiful and tell +her that with my last words I asked her forgiveness +for the unintentional affront I put upon her, and that my +one wish was to be spared long enough to right the wrong +that I had done her." + +Tears came to Perry's eyes. + +"I cannot believe but that you will return, David," he said. +"It would be awful to think of living out the balance of my +life without you among these hateful and repulsive creatures. +If you are taken away I shall never escape, for I feel +that I am as well off here as I should be anywhere within +this buried world. Good-bye, my boy, good-bye!" and then +his old voice faltered and broke, and as he hid his face +in his hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly +by the shoulder and hustled me from the chamber. + + + +XI + +FOUR DEAD MAHARS + + +A MOMENT LATER I WAS STANDING BEFORE A DOZEN +Mahars--the social investigators of Phutra. They asked +me many questions, through a Sagoth interpreter. +I answered them all truthfully. They seemed particularly +interested in my account of the outer earth and the strange +vehicle which had brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. +I thought that I had convinced them, and after they had +sat in silence for a long time following my examination, +I expected to be ordered returned to my quarters. + +During this apparent silence they were debating through +the medium of strange, unspoken language the merits of +my tale. At last the head of the tribunal communicated +the result of their conference to the officer in charge +of the Sagoth guard. + +"Come," he said to me, "you are sentenced to the +experimental pits for having dared to insult the +intelligence of the mighty ones with the ridiculous +tale you have had the temerity to unfold to them." + +"Do you mean that they do not believe me?" I asked, +totally astonished. + +"Believe you!" he laughed. "Do you mean to say that you +expected any one to believe so impossible a lie?" + +It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my +guard down through the dark corridors and runways toward +my awful doom. At a low level we came upon a number +of lighted chambers in which we saw many Mahars engaged +in various occupations. To one of these chambers my guard +escorted me, and before leaving they chained me to a +side wall. There were other humans similarly chained. +Upon a long table lay a victim even as I was ushered +into the room. Several Mahars stood about the poor +creature holding him down so that he could not move. +Another, grasping a sharp knife with her three-toed +fore foot, was laying open the victim's chest and abdomen. +No anesthetic had been administered and the shrieks +and groans of the tortured man were terrible to hear. +This, indeed, was vivisection with a vengeance. +Cold sweat broke out upon me as I realized that soon my turn +would come. And to think that where there was no such +thing as time I might easily imagine that my suffering +was enduring for months before death finally released me! + +The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me +as I had been brought into the room. So deeply immersed +were they in their work that I am sure they did +not even know that the Sagoths had entered with me. +The door was close by. Would that I could reach it! +But those heavy chains precluded any such possibility. +I looked about for some means of escape from my bonds. +Upon the floor between me and the Mahars lay a tiny +surgical instrument which one of them must have dropped. +It looked not unlike a button-hook, but was much smaller, +and its point was sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood +days had I picked locks with a buttonhook. Could I but +reach that little bit of polished steel I might yet effect +at least a temporary escape. + +Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by +reaching one hand as far out as I could my fingers +still fell an inch short of the coveted instrument. +It was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber of my being +as I would, I could not quite make it. + +At last I turned about and extended one foot toward +the object. My heart came to my throat! I could just +touch the thing! But suppose that in my effort to drag it +toward me I should accidentally shove it still farther +away and thus entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke +out upon me from every pore. Slowly and cautiously I +made the effort. My toes dropped upon the cold metal. +Gradually I worked it toward me until I felt that it was +within reach of my hand and a moment later I had turned +about and the precious thing was in my grasp. + +Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held +my chain. It was pitifully simple. A child might have +picked it, and a moment later I was free. The Mahars +were now evidently completing their work at the table. +One already turned away and was examining other victims, +evidently with the intention of selecting the next subject. + +Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the +creature walking toward us I might have escaped that moment. +Slowly the thing approached me, when its attention was +attracted by a huge slave chained a few yards to my right. +Here the reptile stopped and commenced to go over the poor +devil carefully, and as it did so its back turned toward me +for an instant, and in that instant I gave two mighty leaps +that carried me out of the chamber into the corridor beyond, +down which I raced with all the speed I could command. + +Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. +My only thought was to place as much distance as possible +between me and that frightful chamber of torture. + +Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later +realizing the danger of running into some new predicament, +were I not careful, I moved still more slowly and cautiously. +After a time I came to a passage that seemed in some +mysterious way familiar to me, and presently, chancing to +glance within a chamber which led from the corridor I saw +three Mahars curled up in slumber upon a bed of skins. +I could have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was +the same corridor and the same Mahars that I had intended +to have lead so important a role in our escape from Phutra. +Providence had indeed been kind to me, for the reptiles +still slept. + +My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper +levels in search of Perry and Ghak, but there was nothing +else to be done, and so I hastened upward. When I came +to the frequented portions of the building, I found a large +burden of skins in a corner and these I lifted to my head, +carrying them in such a way that ends and corners fell +down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. +Thus disguised I found Perry and Ghak together in the +chamber where we had been wont to eat and sleep. + +Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of +course they had known nothing of the fate that had been +meted out to me by my judges. It was decided that no time +should now be lost before attempting to put our plan of +escape to the test, as I could not hope to remain hidden +from the Sagoths long, nor could I forever carry that bale +of skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion. +However it seemed likely that it would carry me once +more safely through the crowded passages and chambers +of the upper levels, and so I set out with Perry and +Ghak--the stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking me. + +Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath +the main floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak +halted to await me. The buildings are cut out of the solid +limestone formation. There is nothing at all remarkable about +their architecture. The rooms are sometimes rectangular, +sometimes circular, and again oval in shape. The corridors +which connect them are narrow and not always straight. +The chambers are lighted by diffused sunlight reflected +through tubes similar to those by which the avenues +are lighted. The lower the tiers of chambers, the darker. +Most of the corridors are entirely unlighted. The Mahars +can see quite well in semidarkness. + +Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, +Sagoths, and slaves; but no attention was paid to us as we +had become a part of the domestic life of the building. +There was but a single entrance leading from the place +into the avenue and this was well guarded by Sagoths--this +doorway alone were we forbidden to pass. It is true +that we were not supposed to enter the deeper corridors +and apartments except on special occasions when we were +instructed to do so; but as we were considered a lower +order without intelligence there was little reason +to fear that we could accomplish any harm by so doing, +and so we were not hindered as we entered the corridor +which led below. + +Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, +and the arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. +As many slaves bore skin-wrapped burdens to and fro my load +attracted no comment. Where I left Ghak and Perry there +were no other creatures in sight, and so I withdrew one sword +from the package, and leaving the balance of the weapons +with Perry, started on alone toward the lower levels. + +Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept +I entered silently on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures +were without the sense of hearing. With a quick thrust +through the heart I disposed of the first but my second +thrust was not so fortunate, so that before I could kill +the next of my victims it had hurled itself against the third, +who sprang quickly up, facing me with wide-distended jaws. +But fighting is not the occupation which the race +of Mahars loves, and when the thing saw that I already +had dispatched two of its companions, and that my sword +was red with their blood, it made a dash to escape me. +But I was too quick for it, and so, half hopping, +half flying, it scurried down another corridor with me +close upon its heels. + +Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all +probability my instant death. This thought lent wings +to my feet; but even at my best I could do no more than +hold my own with the leaping thing before me. + +Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right +of the corridor, and an instant later as I rushed +in I found myself facing two of the Mahars. The one +who had been there when we entered had been occupied +with a number of metal vessels, into which had been put +powders and liquids as I judged from the array of flasks +standing about upon the bench where it had been working. +In an instant I realized what I had stumbled upon. +It was the very room for the finding of which Perry had +given me minute directions. It was the buried chamber +in which was hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. +And on the bench beside the flasks lay the skin-bound book +which held the only copy of the thing I was to have sought, +after dispatching the three Mahars in their sleep. + +There was no exit from the room other than the doorway +in which I now stood facing the two frightful reptiles. +Cornered, I knew that they would fight like demons, +and they were well equipped to fight if fight they must. +Together they launched themselves upon me, and though I ran +one of them through the heart on the instant, the other +fastened its gleaming fangs about my sword arm above +the elbow, and then with her sharp talons commenced to rake +me about the body, evidently intent upon disemboweling me. +I saw that it was useless to hope that I might release +my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which seemed +to be severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered +was intense, but it only served to spur me to greater +efforts to overcome my antagonist. + +Back and forth across the floor we struggled--the Mahar +dealing me terrific, cutting blows with her fore feet, +while I attempted to protect my body with my left hand, +at the same time watching for an opportunity to transfer +my blade from my now useless sword hand to its rapidly +weakening mate. At last I was successful, and with what +seemed to me my last ounce of strength I ran the blade +through the ugly body of my foe. + +Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from +pain and loss of blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant +pride that I stepped across its convulsively stiffening +corpse to snatch up the most potent secret of a world. +A single glance assured me it was the very thing that +Perry had described to me. + +And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the +human race of Pellucidar--did there flash through my +mind the thought that countless generations of my own +kind yet unborn would have reason to worship me for the +thing that I had accomplished for them? I did not. +I thought of a beautiful oval face, gazing out of +limpid eyes, through a waving mass of jet-black hair. +I thought of red, red lips, God-made for kissing. +And of a sudden, apropos of nothing, standing there +alone in the secret chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, +I realized that I loved Dian the Beautiful. + + + +XII + +PURSUIT + + +FOR AN INSTANT I STOOD THERE THINKING OF HER, and then, +with a sigh, I tucked the book in the thong that supported +my loin cloth, and turned to leave the apartment. +At the bottom of the corridor which leads aloft from +the lower chambers I whistled in accordance with the +prearranged signal which was to announce to Perry and Ghak +that I had been successful. A moment later they stood +beside me, and to my surprise I saw that Hooja the Sly +One accompanied them. + +"He joined us," explained Perry, "and would not be denied. +The fellow is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than +be thwarted of our chance now I told him that I would +bring him to you, and let you decide whether he might +accompany us." + +I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. +I was sure that if he thought it would profit him he would +betray us; but I saw no way out of it now, and the fact +that I had killed four Mahars instead of only the three I +had expected to, made it possible to include the fellow +in our scheme of escape. + +"Very well," I said, "you may come with us, Hooja; but at +the first intimation of treachery I shall run my sword +through you. Do you understand?" + +He said that he did. + +Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, +and so succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves +that there seemed an excellent chance for us to pass +unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an easy thing to fasten +the hides together where we had split them along the belly +to remove them from their carcasses, but by remaining +out until the others had all been sewed in with my help, +and then leaving an aperture in the breast of Perry's +skin through which he could pass his hands to sew me up, +we were enabled to accomplish our design to really much +better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the +heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks, +and by the same means were enabled to move them about in +a life-like manner. We had our greatest difficulty with +the webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, +so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. +Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats into which our +heads were thrust permitted us to see well enough to guide +our progress. + +Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. +Ghak headed the strange procession, then came Perry, +followed by Hooja, while I brought up the rear, +after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my sword +that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise into +his vitals were he to show any indication of faltering. + +As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were +entering the busy corridors of the main level, my heart +came up into my mouth. It is with no sense of shame that I +admit that I was frightened--never before in my life, +nor since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing +fear and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible +to sweat blood, I sweat it then. + +Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to +the Mahars, when they are not using their wings, we crept +through throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. +After what seemed an eternity we reached the outer door +which leads into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths +loitered near the opening. They glanced at Ghak as he +padded between them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. +Now it was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of freezing +terror I realized that the warm blood from my wounded arm +was trickling down through the dead foot of the Mahar skin +I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement, +for I saw a Sagoth call a companion's attention to it. + +The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding +foot spoke to me in the sign language which these two +races employ as a means of communication. Even had I +known what he was saying I could not have replied +with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen +a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look. +It seemed my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in +my tracks I moved my sword so that it made the dead head +appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the gorilla-man. For +a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow +with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started +slowly on. For a moment all hung in the balance, +but before I touched him the guard stepped to one side, +and I passed on out into the avenue. + +On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe +for the very numbers of our enemies that surrounded us +on all sides. Fortunately, there was a great concourse +of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake which lies a mile +or more from the city. They go there to indulge their +amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and enjoying +the cool depths of the water. It is a fresh-water lake, +shallow, and free from the larger reptiles which make the use +of the great seas of Pellucidar impossible for any but their +own kind. + +In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out +onto the plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the +stream that was traveling toward the lake, but finally, +at the bottom of a little gully he halted, and there we +remained until all had passed and we were alone. Then, +still in our disguises, we set off directly away from Phutra. + +The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast +making our horrible prisons unbearable, so that after +passing a low divide, and entering a sheltering forest, +we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had brought +us thus far in safety. + +I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter +and galling flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until +we dropped in our tracks. How we were beset by strange +and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel fangs +of lions and tigers the size of which would dwarf into +pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world. + +On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much +distance between ourselves and Phutra as possible. +Ghak was leading us to his own land--the land of Sari. +No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we were sure +that somewhere behind us relentless Sagoths were dogging +our tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt down +their quarry until they had captured it or themselves been +turned back by a superior force. + +Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe +which was quite strong enough in their mountain fastness +to beat off any number of Sagoths. + +At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, +have been years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment +which buttressed the foothills of Sari. At almost +the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever quite as much +behind as before, announced that he could see a body +of men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake. +It was the long-expected pursuit. + +I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them. + +"We may," he replied; "but you will find that the +Sagoths can move with incredible swiftness, and as they +are almost tireless they are doubtless much fresher +than we. Then--" he paused, glancing at Perry. + +I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. +For much of the period of our flight either Ghak or I had +half supported him on the march. With such a handicap, +less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily +overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights +which confronted us. + +"You and Hooja go on ahead," I said. "Perry and I will make +it if we are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, +and there is no reason why all should be lost because +of that. It can't be helped--we have simply to face it." + +"I will not desert a companion," was Ghak's simple reply. +I hadn't known that this great, hairy, primeval man had +any such nobility of character stowed away inside him. +I had always liked him, but now to my liking was added honor +and respect. Yes, and love. + +But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he +could reach his people he might be able to bring out +a sufficient force to drive off the Sagoths and rescue +Perry and myself. + +No, he wouldn't leave us, and that was all there was to it, +but he suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn +the Sarians of the king's danger. It didn't require much +urging to start Hooja--the naked idea was enough to send +him leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we +now had reached. + +Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak's life and mine +and the old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him, +although I knew that he was suffering a perfect anguish +of terror at the thought of falling into the hands of +the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in part, +by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying him. +While the act cut down Ghak's speed he still could travel +faster thus than when half supporting the stumbling +old man. + + + +XIII + +THE SLY ONE + + +THE SAGOTHS WERE GAINING ON US RAPIDLY, FOR once they +had sighted us they had greatly increased their speed. +On and on we stumbled up the narrow canyon that Ghak had +chosen to approach the heights of Sari. On either side +rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, parti-colored rock, +while beneath our feet a thick mountain grass formed a soft +and noiseless carpet. Since we had entered the canyon we +had had no glimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing +to hope that they had lost our trail and that we would +reach the now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to scale them +before we should be overtaken. + +Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might +betoken the success of Hooja's mission. By now he +should have reached the outposts of the Sarians, and we +should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmen +as they swarmed to arms in answer to their king's appeal +for succor. In another moment the frowning cliffs ahead +should be black with primeval warriors. But nothing +of the kind happened--as a matter of fact the Sly One +had betrayed us. At the moment that we expected to see +Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at Hooja's back, +the craven traitor was sneaking around the outskirts +of the nearest Sarian village, that he might come up +from the other side when it was too late to save us, +claiming that he had become lost among the mountains. + +Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow +I had struck in Dian's protection, and his malevolent spirit +was equal to sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon +me. + +As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing +Sarians appeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, +and presently as the sound of rapidly approaching pursuit +fell upon our ears, he called to me over his shoulder +that we were lost. + +A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of +the Sagoths at the far end of a considerable stretch +of canyon through which we had just passed, and then +a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view; +but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind +us was evidence that the gorilla-man had sighted us. + +Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the +right another branch ran on at a lesser deviation from +the general direction, so that appeared more like the main +canyon than the lefthand branch. The Sagoths were now +not over two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I saw +that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape other than +by a ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, +and as I reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance. + +Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove +into sight. Ghak and Perry had disappeared around a bend +in the left-hand canyon, and as the Sagoth's savage +yell announced that he had seen me I turned and fled +up the right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, +and the entire party of man-hunters raced headlong after +me up one canyon while Ghak bore Perry to safety up the other. + +Running has never been my particular athletic forte, +and now when my very life depended upon fleetness of foot +I cannot say that I ran any better than on the occasions +when my pitiful base running had called down upon my head +the rooter's raucous and reproachful cries of "Ice Wagon," +and "Call a cab." + +The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was +one in particular, fleeter than his fellows, who was +perilously close. The canyon had become a rocky slit, +rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed a pass +between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could +not even guess--possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of feet +into the corresponding valley upon the other side. +Could it be that I had plunged into a cul-de-sac? + +Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths +to the top of the canyon I had determined to risk all +in an attempt to check them temporarily, and to this +end had unslung my rudely made bow and plucked an arrow +from the skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. +As I fitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped +and wheeled toward the gorilla-man. + +In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, +but since our escape from Phutra I had kept the party +supplied with small game by means of my arrows, and so, +through necessity, had developed a fair degree of accuracy. +During our flight from Phutra I had restrung my bow with a piece +of heavy gut taken from a huge tiger which Ghak and I had +worried and finally dispatched with arrows, spear, and sword. +The hard wood of the bow was extremely tough and this, +with the strength and elasticity of my new string, +gave me unwonted confidence in my weapon. + +Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then--never +were my nerves and muscles under better control. +I sighted as carefully and deliberately as though at +a straw target. The Sagoth had never before seen a bow +and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over his dull +intellect that the thing I held toward him was some sort +of engine of destruction, for he too came to a halt, +simultaneously swinging his hatchet for a throw. +It is one of the many methods in which they employ +this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they achieve, +even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is little +short of miraculous. + +My shaft was drawn back its full length--my eye had centered +its sharp point upon the left breast of my adversary; +and then he launched his hatchet and I released my arrow. +At the instant that our missiles flew I leaped to one side, +but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his attack +with a spear thrust. I felt the swish of the hatchet +at it grazed my head, and at the same instant my shaft +pierced the Sagoth's savage heart, and with a single groan +he lunged almost at my feet--stone dead. Close behind +him were two more--fifty yards perhaps--but the distance +gave me time to snatch up the dead guardsman's shield, +for the close call his hatchet had just given me had borne +in upon me the urgent need I had for one. Those which I +had purloined at Phutra we had not been able to bring along +because their size precluded our concealing them within +the skins of the Mahars which had brought us safely from +the city. + +With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly +with another arrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, +and then as his fellow's hatchet sped toward me I caught +it upon the shield, and fitted another shaft for him; +but he did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned and +retreated toward the main body of gorilla-men. Evidently he +had seen enough of me for the moment. + +Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths +apparently overanxious to press their pursuit so closely +as before. Unmolested I reached the top of the canyon +where I found a sheer drop of two or three hundred feet +to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the left a narrow +ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff. +Along this I advanced, and at a sudden turning, +a few yards beyond the canyon's end, the path widened, +and at my left I saw the opening to a large cave. +Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight +about another projecting buttress of the mountain. + +Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single +foeman could advance upon me at a time, nor could he know +that I was awaiting him until he came full upon me around +the corner of the turn. About me lay scattered stones +crumbled from the cliff above. They were of various +sizes and shapes, but enough were of handy dimensions +for use as ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. +Gathering a number of stones into a little pile beside +the mouth of the cave I waited the advance of the Sagoths. + +As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the +first faint sound that should announce the approach +of my enemies, a slight noise from within the cave's +black depths attracted my attention. It might have +been produced by the moving of the great body of some +huge beast rising from the rock floor of its lair. +At almost the same instant I thought that I caught the +scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond the turn. +For the next few seconds my attention was considerably divided. + +And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two +flaming eyes glaring into mine. They were on a level +that was over two feet above my head. It is true that the +beast who owned them might be standing upon a ledge within +the cave, or that it might be rearing up upon its hind legs; +but I had seen enough of the monsters of Pellucidar to know +that I might be facing some new and frightful Titan whose +dimensions and ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen before. + +Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance +of the cave, and now, deep and forbidding, it uttered a low +and ominous growl. I waited no longer to dispute possession +of the ledge with the thing which owned that voice. +The noise had not been loud--I doubt if the Sagoths heard +it at all--but the suggestion of latent possibilities +behind it was such that I knew it would only emanate +from a gigantic and ferocious beast. + +As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth +of the cave, where I no longer could see those fearful +flaming eyes, but an instant later I caught sight of the +fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warily advanced beyond +the cliff's turn on the far side of the cave's mouth. +As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge in pursuit, +and after him came as many of his companions as could +crowd upon each other's heels. At the same time the beast +emerged from the cave, so that he and the Sagoths came +face to face upon that narrow ledge. + +The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal +bulk fully eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip +of its nose to the end of its stubby tail it was fully twelve +feet in length. As it sighted the Sagoths it emitted a most +frightful roar, and with open mouth charged full upon them. +With a cry of terror the foremost gorilla-man turned to escape, +but behind him he ran full upon his on-rushing companions. + +The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. +The Sagoth nearest the cave bear, finding his escape +blocked, turned and leaped deliberately to an awful +death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feet below. +Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered in the +next--there was a sickening sound of crushing bones, +and the mangled corpse was dropped over the cliff's edge. +Nor did the mighty beast even pause in his steady advance +along the ledge. + +Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice +to escape him, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still +pursuing the demoralized remnant of the man hunters. +For a long time I could hear the horrid roaring of the brute +intermingled with the screams and shrieks of his victims, +until finally the awful sounds dwindled and disappeared +in the distance. + +Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his +tribesmen and returned with a party to rescue me, +that the ryth, as it is called, pursued the Sagoths until +it had exterminated the entire band. Ghak was, of course, +positive that I had fallen prey to the terrible creature, +which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of beasts. + +Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I +might fall prey either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I +continued on along the ledge, believing that by following +around the mountain I could reach the land of Sari from +another direction. But I evidently became confused by the +twisting and turning of the canyons and gullies, for I did +not come to the land of Sari then, nor for a long time +thereafter. + + + +XIV + +THE GARDEN OF EDEN + + +WITH NO HEAVENLY GUIDE, IT IS LITTLE WONDER that I became +confused +and lost in the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. +What, in reality, I did was to pass entirely through them +and come out above the valley upon the farther side. +I know that I wandered for a long time, until tired and +hungry I came upon a small cave in the face of the limestone +formation which had taken the place of the granite farther back. + +The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous +side of a lofty cliff. The way to it was such that I +knew no extremely formidable beast could frequent it, +nor was it large enough to make a comfortable habitat +for any but the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet it +was with the utmost caution that I crawled within its +dark interior. + +Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a +narrow cleft in the rock above which let the sunlight +filter in in sufficient quantities partially to dispel +the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave was +entirely empty, nor were there any signs of its having been +recently occupied. The opening was comparatively small, +so that after considerable effort I was able to lug +up a bowlder from the valley below which entirely blocked it. + +Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses +and on this trip was fortunate enough to knock over +an orthopi, the diminutive horse of Pellucidar, a little +animal about the size of a fox terrier, which abounds +in all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food +and bedding I returned to my lair, where after a meal +of raw meat, to which I had now become quite accustomed, +I dragged the bowlder before the entrance and curled +myself upon a bed of grasses--a naked, primeval, cave man, +as savagely primitive as my prehistoric progenitors. + +I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside +crawled out upon the little rocky shelf which was my +front porch. Before me spread a small but beautiful valley, +through the center of which a clear and sparkling river +wound its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters +of which were just visible between the two mountain ranges +which embraced this little paradise. The sides of the +opposite hills were green with verdure, for a great forest +clothed them to the foot of the red and yellow and copper +green of the towering crags which formed their summit. +The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, +while here and there patches of wild flowers made great +splashes of vivid color against the prevailing green. + +Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters +of palmlike trees--three or four together as a rule. +Beneath these stood antelope, while others grazed in the open, +or wandered gracefully to a near-by ford to drink. +There were several species of this beautiful animal, +the most magnificent somewhat resembling the giant eland +of Africa, except that their spiral horns form a complete +curve backward over their ears and then forward again +beneath them, ending in sharp and formidable points +some two feet before the face and above the eyes. +In size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, +yet they are very agile and fast. The broad yellow bands +that stripe the dark roan of their coats made me take +them for zebra when I first saw them. All in all they +are handsome animals, and added the finishing touch +to the strange and lovely landscape that spread before my +new home. + +I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, +and with it as a base make a systematic exploration +of the surrounding country in search of the land +of Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcass +of the orthopi I had killed before my last sleep. +Then I hid the Great Secret in a deep niche at the back +of my cave, rolled the bowlder before my front door, +and with bow, arrows, sword, and shield scrambled down +into the peaceful valley. + +The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, +the little orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and +galloping to safest distances. All the animals stopped +feeding as I approached, and after moving to what they +considered a safe distance stood contemplating me with +serious eyes and up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bull +antelopes of the striped species lowered his head and +bellowed angrily--even taking a few steps in my direction, +so that I thought he meant to charge; but after I had passed, +he resumed feeding as though nothing had disturbed him. + +Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, +and across the river saw a great sadok, the enormous +double-horned progenitor of the modern rhinoceros. +At the valley's end the cliffs upon the left ran +out into the sea, so that to pass around them as I +desired to do it was necessary to scale them in search +of a ledge along which I might continue my journey. +Some fifty feet from the base I came upon a projection +which formed a natural path along the face of the cliff, +and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff's end. + +Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top +of the cliffs--the stratum which formed it evidently having +been forced up at this steep angle when the mountains +behind it were born. As I climbed carefully up the ascent +my attention suddenly was attracted aloft by the sound +of strange hissing, and what resembled the flapping of wings. + +And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision +the most frightful thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. +It was a giant dragon such as is pictured in the legends +and fairy tales of earth folk. Its huge body must have +measured forty feet in length, while the batlike wings +that supported it in midair had a spread of fully thirty. +Its gaping jaws were armed with long, sharp teeth, +and its claw equipped with horrible talons. + +The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention +was issuing from its throat, and seemed to be directed +at something beyond and below me which I could not see. +The ledge upon which I stood terminated abruptly a few +paces farther on, and as I reached the end I saw the cause +of the reptile's agitation. + +Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault +at this point, so that beyond the spot where I stood +the strata had slipped down a matter of twenty feet. +The result was that the continuation of my ledge lay twenty +feet below me, where it ended as abruptly as did the end +upon which I stood. + +And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable +break in the ledge, stood the object of the creature's +attack--a girl cowering upon the narrow platform, +her face buried in her arms, as though to shut out the +sight of the frightful death which hovered just above her. + +The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart +in upon its prey. There was no time to be lost, +scarce an instant in which to weigh the possible +chances that I had against the awfully armed creature; +but the sight of that frightened girl below me called +out to all that was best in me, and the instinct for +protection of the other sex, which nearly must have +equaled the instinct of self-preservation in primeval man, +drew me to the girl's side like an irresistible magnet. + +Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from +the end of the ledge upon which I stood, for the tiny +shelf twenty feet below. At the same instant the dragon +darted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent upon the +scene must have startled him for he veered to one side, +and then rose above us once more. + +The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl +that the end had come, for she thought I was the dragon; +but finally when no cruel fangs closed upon her she +raised her eyes in astonishment. As they fell upon me +the expression that came into them would be difficult +to describe; but her feelings could scarcely have been +one whit more complicated than my own--for the wide eyes +that looked into mine were those of Dian the Beautiful. + +"Dian!" I cried. "Dian! Thank God that I came in time." + +"You?" she whispered, and then she hid her face again; +nor could I tell whether she were glad or angry that I +had come. + +Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly +that I had no time to unsling my bow. All that I could +do was to snatch up a rock, and hurl it at the thing's +hideous face. Again my aim was true, and with a hiss +of pain and rage the reptile wheeled once more and soared away. + +Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready +at the next attack, and as I did so I looked down at +the girl, so that I surprised her in a surreptitious +glance which she was stealing at me; but immediately, +she again covered her face with her hands. + +"Look at me, Dian," I pleaded. "Are you not glad to see me?" + +She looked straight into my eyes. + +"I hate you," she said, and then, as I was about to beg +for a fair hearing she pointed over my shoulder. +"The thipdar comes," she said, and I turned again to meet +the reptile. + +So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel +bloodhound of the Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl +of the outer world. But this time I met it with a weapon it +never had faced before. I had selected my longest arrow, +and with all my strength had bent the bow until the very +tip of the shaft rested upon the thumb of my left hand, +and then as the great creature darted toward us I let +drive straight for that tough breast. + +Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, +the mighty creature fell turning and twisting into the +sea below, my arrow buried completely in its carcass. +I turned toward the girl. She was looking past me. +It was evident that she had seen the thipdar die. + +"Dian," I said, "won't you tell me that you are not sorry +that I have found you?" + +"I hate you," was her only reply; but I imagined +that there was less vehemence in it than before--yet +it might have been but my imagination. + +"Why do you hate me, Dian?" I asked, but she did not +answer me. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked, "and what has happened +to you since Hooja freed you from the Sagoths?" + +At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, +but finally she thought better of it. + +"I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One," +she said. "After I escaped from the Sagoths I made my way +alone back to my own land; but on account of Jubal I did +not dare enter the villages or let any of my friends know +that I had returned for fear that Jubal might find out. +By watching for a long time I found that my brother +had not yet returned, and so I continued to live in a +cave beside a valley which my race seldom frequents, +awaiting the time that he should come back and free me +from Jubal. + +"But at last one of Jubal's hunters saw me as I was creeping +toward my father's cave to see if my brother had yet +returned and he gave the alarm and Jubal set out after me. +He has been pursuing me across many lands. He cannot +be far behind me now. When he comes he will kill you +and carry me back to his cave. He is a terrible man. +I have gone as far as I can go, and there is no escape," +and she looked hopelessly up at the continuation of the ledge +twenty feet above us. + +"But he shall not have me," she suddenly cried, +with great vehemence. "The sea is there"--she pointed over +the edge of the cliff--"and the sea shall have me rather than +Jubal." + +"But I have you now Dian," I cried; "nor shall Jubal, +nor any other have you, for you are mine," and I seized +her hand, nor did I lift it above her head and let it fall +in token of release. + +She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight +into my eyes with level gaze. + +"I do not believe you," she said, "for if you meant it +you would have done this when the others were present +to witness it--then I should truly have been your mate; +now there is no one to see you do it, for you know that +without witnesses your act does not bind you to me," +and she withdrew her hand from mine and turned away. + +I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she +simply couldn't forget the humiliation that I had put +upon her on that other occasion. + +"If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to +prove it," she said, "if Jubal does not catch and kill you. +I am in your power, and the treatment you accord me +will be the best proof of your intentions toward me. +I am not your mate, and again I tell you that I hate you, +and that I should be glad if I never saw you again." + +Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. +In fact I found candor and directness to be quite +a marked characteristic of the cave men of Pellucidar. +Finally I suggested that we make some attempt to gain +my cave, where we might escape the searching Jubal, +for I am free to admit that I had no considerable desire +to meet the formidable and ferocious creature, of whose +mighty prowess Dian had told me when I first met her. +He it was who, armed with a puny knife, had met and killed +a cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was Jubal who +could cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass +of the sadok at fifty paces. It was he who had crushed +the skull of a charging dyryth with a single blow of his +war club. No, I was not pining to meet the Ugly One-and it +was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for him; +but the matter was taken out of my hands very quickly, +as is often the way, and I did meet Jubal the Ugly One face +to face. + +This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along +the ledge the way she had come, searching for a path +that would lead us to the top of the cliff, for I knew +that we could then cross over to the edge of my own +little valley, where I felt certain we should find a means +of ingress from the cliff top. As we proceeded along +the ledge I gave Dian minute directions for finding my +cave against the chance of something happening to me. +I knew that she would be quite safely hidden away +from pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, +and the valley would afford her ample means of sustenance. + +Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. +My heart was sad and heavy, and I wanted to make her feel +badly by suggesting that something terrible might happen +to me--that I might, in fact, be killed. But it didn't +work worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive. +Dian simply shrugged those magnificent shoulders of hers, +and murmured something to the effect that one was not rid of +trouble so easily as that. + +For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. +And to think that I had twice protected her from +attack--the last time risking my life to save hers. +It was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Age +could be so ungrateful--so heartless; but maybe her heart +partook of the qualities of her epoch. + +Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened +and extended by the action of the water draining through it +from the plateau above. It gave us a rather rough climb +to the summit, but finally we stood upon the level mesa +which stretched back for several miles to the mountain range. +Behind us lay the broad inland sea, curving upward in the +horizonless distance to merge into the blue of the sky, +so that for all the world it looked as though the sea +lapped back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond +the distant mountains at our backs--the weird and uncanny +aspect of the seascapes of Pellucidar balk description. + +At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country +was open and clear to the plateau's farther verge. +It was in this direction that our way led, and we had +turned to resume our journey when Dian touched my arm. +I turned to her, thinking that she was about to make +peace overtures; but I was mistaken. + +"Jubal," she said, and nodded toward the forest. + +I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, +came a perfect whale of a man. He must have been seven +feet tall, and proportioned accordingly. He still was +too far off to distinguish his features. + +"Run," I said to Dian. "I can engage him until you get +a good start. Maybe I can hold him until you have gotten +entirely away," and then, without a backward glance, +I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had hoped that Dian +would have a kind word to say to me before she went, +for she must have known that I was going to my death +for her sake; but she never even so much as bid me +good-bye, and it was with a heavy heart that I strode +through the flower-bespangled grass to my doom. + +When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish +his features I understood how it was that he had earned +the sobriquet of Ugly One. Apparently some fearful +beast had ripped away one entire side of his face. +The eye was gone, the nose, and all the flesh, so that +his jaws and all his teeth were exposed and grinning +through the horrible scar. + +Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others +of his handsome race, and it may be that the terrible +result of this encounter had tended to sour an already +strong and brutal character. However this may be it +is quite certain that he was not a pretty sight, and now +that his features, or what remained of them, were distorted +in rage at the sight of Dian with another male, he was +indeed most terrible to see--and much more terrible to meet. + +He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he +raised his mighty spear, while I halted and fitting +an arrow to my bow took as steady aim as I could. +I was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess that +the sight of this awful man had wrought upon my nerves +to such an extent that my knees were anything but steady. +What chance had I against this mighty warrior for whom +even the fiercest cave bear had no terrors! Could I +hope to best one who slaughtered the sadok and dyryth +singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself, +my fear was more for Dian than for my own fate. + +And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped +spear, and I raised my shield to break the force of its +terrific velocity. The impact hurled me to my knees, +but the shield had deflected the missile and I was unscathed. +Jubal was rushing upon me now with the only remaining +weapon that he carried--a murderous-looking knife. +He was too close for a careful bowshot, but I let drive +at him as he came, without taking aim. My arrow pierced +the fleshy part of his thigh, inflicting a painful +but not disabling wound. And then he was upon me. + +My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath +his raised arm, and when he wheeled to come at me again he +found a sword's point in his face. And a moment later he +felt an inch or two of it in the muscles of his knife arm, +so that thereafter he went more warily. + +It was a duel of strategy now--the great, hairy man maneuvering +to get inside my guard where he could bring those giant +thews to play, while my wits were directed to the task +of keeping him at arm's length. Thrice he rushed me, +and thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield. +Each time my sword found his body--once penetrating +to his lung. He was covered with blood by this time, +and the internal hemorrhage induced paroxysms of coughing +that brought the red stream through the hideous mouth +and nose, covering his face and breast with bloody froth. +He was a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead. + +As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, +to be perfectly candid, I had not expected to survive +the first rush of that monstrous engine of ungoverned +rage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from utter +contempt of me, began to change to a feeling of respect, +and then in his primitive mind there evidently loomed +the thought that perhaps at last he had met his master, +and was facing his end. + +At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can +account for his next act, which was in the nature of a last +resort--a sort of forlorn hope, which could only have been +born of the belief that if he did not kill me quickly +I should kill him. It happened on the occasion of his +fourth charge, when, instead of striking at me with his knife, +he dropped that weapon, and seizing my sword blade in both +his hands wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily as +from a babe. + +Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just +an instant glaring into my face with such a horrid leer +of malignant triumph as to almost unnerve me--then he +sprang for me with his bare hands. But it was Jubal's +day to learn new methods of warfare. For the first time +he had seen a bow and arrows, never before that duel +had he beheld a sword, and now he learned what a man +who knows may do with his bare fists. + +As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again +beneath his outstretched arm, and as I came up planted +as clean a blow upon his jaw as ever you have seen. +Down went that great mountain of flesh sprawling upon +the ground. He was so surprised and dazed that he lay there +for several seconds before he made any attempt to rise, +and I stood over him with another dose ready when he +should gain his knees. + +Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; +but he didn't stay up--I let him have a left fair on the +point of the jaw that sent him tumbling over on his back. +By this time I think Jubal had gone mad with hate, for no sane +man would have come back for more as many times as he did. +Time after time I bowled him over as fast as he could +stagger up, until toward the last he lay longer on the +ground between blows, and each time came up weaker than before. + +He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, +and presently a terrific blow over the heart sent him +reeling heavily to the ground, where he lay very still, +and somehow I knew at once that Jubal the Ugly One would +never get up again. But even as I looked upon that massive +body lying there so grim and terrible in death, I could +not believe that I, single-handed, had bested this slayer +of fearful beasts--this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age. + +Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on +the dead body of my foeman, and as I thought of the battle +I had just fought and won a great idea was born in my +brain--the outcome of this and the suggestion that Perry +had made within the city of Phutra. If skill and science +could render a comparative pygmy the master of this +mighty brute, what could not the brute's fellows accomplish +with the same skill and science. Why all Pellucidar would +be at their feet--and I would be their king and Dian their queen. + +Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite +within the possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even +were I king. She was quite the most superior person I +ever had met--with the most convincing way of letting you +know that she was superior. Well, I could go to the cave, +and tell her that I had killed Jubal, and then she +might feel more kindly toward me, since I had freed her +of her tormentor. I hoped that she had found the cave +easily--it would be terrible had I lost her again, and I +turned to gather up my shield and bow to hurry after her, +when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten paces +behind me. + +"Girl!" I cried, "what are you doing here? I thought +that you had gone to the cave, as I told you to do." + +Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took +all the majesty out of me, and left me feeling more +like the palace janitor--if palaces have janitors. + +"As you told me to do!" she cried, stamping her little foot. +"I do as I please. I am the daughter of a king, +and furthermore, I hate you." + +I was dumbfounded--this was my thanks for saving +her from Jubal! I turned and looked at the corpse. +"May be that I saved you from a worse fate, old man," +I said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she never +seemed to notice it at all. + +"Let us go to my cave," I said, "I am tired and hungry." + +She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. +I was too angry, and she evidently didn't care to converse +with the lower orders. I was mad all the way through, +as I had certainly felt that at least a word of thanks should +have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own standards, +I must have done a very wonderful thing to have killed +the redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand encounter. + +We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went +down into the valley and bowled over a small antelope, +which I dragged up the steep ascent to the ledge before +the door. Here we ate in silence. Occasionally I glanced +at her, thinking that the sight of her tearing at raw +flesh with her hands and teeth like some wild animal +would cause a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; +but to my surprise I found that she ate quite as daintily +as the most civilized woman of my acquaintance, and finally +I found myself gazing in foolish rapture at the beauties +of her strong, white teeth. Such is love. + +After our repast we went down to the river together +and bathed our hands and faces, and then after drinking +our fill went back to the cave. Without a word I crawled +into the farthest corner and, curling up, was soon asleep. + +When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out +across the valley. As I came out she moved to one side to let +me pass, but she had no word for me. I wanted to hate her, +but I couldn't. Every time I looked at her something came +up in my throat, so that I nearly choked. I had never been +in love before, but I did not need any aid in diagnosing +my case--I certainly had it and had it bad. God, how I +loved that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl! + +After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended +returning to her tribe now that Jubal was dead, but she +shook her head sadly, and said that she did not dare, +for there was still Jubal's brother to be considered--his +oldest brother. + +"What has he to do with it?" I asked. "Does he too want you, +or has the option on you become a family heirloom, +to be passed on down from generation to generation?" + +She was not quite sure as to what I meant. + +"It is probable," she said, "that they all will want revenge +for the death of Jubal--there are seven of them--seven +terrible men. Someone may have to kill them all, +if I am to return to my people." + +It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much +too large for me--about seven sizes, in fact. + +"Had Jubal any cousins?" I asked. It was just as well +to know the worst at once. + +"Yes," replied Dian, "but they don't count--they all have mates. +Jubal's brothers have no mates because Jubal could get +none for himself. He was so ugly that women ran away +from him--some have even thrown themselves from the cliffs +of Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the Ugly One." + +"But what had that to do with his brothers?" I asked. + +"I forget that you are not of Pellucidar," said Dian, +with a look of pity mixed with contempt, and the contempt +seemed to be laid on a little thicker than the circumstance +warranted--as though to make quite certain that I shouldn't +overlook it. "You see," she continued, "a younger brother +may not take a mate until all his older brothers have +done so, unless the older brother waives his prerogative, +which Jubal would not do, knowing that as long as he +kept them single they would be all the keener in aiding +him to secure a mate." + +Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I +began to entertain hopes that she might be warming up +toward me a bit, although upon what slender thread +I hung my hopes I soon discovered. + +"As you dare not return to Amoz," I ventured, "what is +to become of you since you cannot be happy here with me, +hating me as you do?" + +"I shall have to put up with you," she replied coldly, +"until you see fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace, +then I shall get along very well alone." + +I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed +incredible that even a prehistoric woman could +be so cold and heartless and ungrateful. Then I arose. + +"I shall leave you NOW," I said haughtily, "I have had quite +enough of your ingratitude and your insults," and then I +turned and strode majestically down toward the valley. +I had taken a hundred steps in absolute silence, and then +Dian spoke. + +"I hate you!" she shouted, and her voice broke--in rage, +I thought. + +I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn't gone too far +when I began to realize that I couldn't leave her alone +there without protection, to hunt her own food amid +the dangers of that savage world. She might hate me, +and revile me, and heap indignity after indignity upon me, +as she already had, until I should have hated her; +but the pitiful fact remained that I loved her, and I +couldn't leave her there alone. + +The more I thought about it the madder I got, +so that by the time I reached the valley I was furious, +and the result of it was that I turned right around +and went up that cliff again as fast as I had come down. +I saw that Dian had left the ledge and gone within the cave, +but I bolted right in after her. She was lying upon her +face on the pile of grasses I had gathered for her bed. +When she heard me enter she sprang to her feet like +a tigress. + +"I hate you!" she cried. + +Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into +the semidarkness of the cave I could not see her features, +and I was rather glad, for I disliked to think of the hate +that I should have read there. + +I never said a word to her at first. I just strode +across the cave and grasped her by the wrists, and when +she struggled, I put my arm around her so as to pinion her +hands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, but I took +my free hand and pushed her head back--I imagine that I +had suddenly turned brute, that I had gone back a thousand +million years, and was again a veritable cave man taking +my mate by force--and then I kissed that beautiful mouth +again and again. + +"Dian," I cried, shaking her roughly, "I love you. +Can't you understand that I love you? That I love you +better than all else in this world or my own? That I am +going to have you? That love like mine cannot be denied?" + +I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, +and as my eyes became accustomed to the light I saw +that she was smiling--a very contented, happy smile. +I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, +she was trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened my +grip upon them so that she could do so. Slowly they came +up and stole about my neck, and then she drew my lips down +to hers once more and held them there for a long time. +At last she spoke. + +"Why didn't you do this at first, David? I have been +waiting so long." + +"What!" I cried. "You said that you hated me!" + +"Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I +loved you before I knew that you loved me?" she asked. + +"But I have told you right along that I love you," I said. +"Love speaks in acts," she replied. "You could have made +your mouth say what you wished it to say, but just now +when you came and took me in your arms your heart spoke +to mine in the language that a woman's heart understands. +What a silly man you are, David?" + +"Then you haven't hated me at all, Dian?" I asked. + +"I have loved you always," she whispered, "from the +first moment that I saw you, although I did not know +it until that time you struck down Hooja the Sly One, +and then spurned me." + +"But I didn't spurn you, dear," I cried. "I didn't know +your ways--I doubt if I do now. It seems incredible +that you could have reviled me so, and yet have cared +for me all the time." + +"You might have known," she said, "when I did not run away +from you that it was not hate which chained me to you. +While you were battling with Jubal, I could have run +to the edge of the forest, and when I learned the outcome +of the combat it would have been a simple thing to have +eluded you and returned to my own people." + +"But Jubal's brothers--and cousins--" I reminded her, +"how about them?" + +She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder. + +"I had to tell you SOMETHING, David," she whispered. +"I must needs have SOME excuse for remaining near you." + +"You little sinner!" I exclaimed. "And you have caused +me all this anguish for nothing!" + +"I have suffered even more," she answered simply, "for I +thought that you did not love me, and I was helpless. +I couldn't come to you and demand that my love be returned, +as you have just come to me. Just now when you went away +hope went with you. I was wretched, terrified, miserable, +and my heart was breaking. I wept, and I have not done +that before since my mother died," and now I saw that there +was the moisture of tears about her eyes. It was near +to making me cry myself when I thought of all that poor +child had been through. Motherless and unprotected; +hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideous +brute of a man; exposed to the attacks of the countless +fearsome denizens of its mountains, its plains, and its +jungles--it was a miracle that she had survived it all. + +To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears +must have endured that the human race of the outer +crust might survive. It made me very proud to think +that I had won the love of such a woman. Of course +she couldn't read or write; there was nothing cultured +or refined about her as you judge culture and refinement; +but she was the essence of all that is best in woman, +for she was good, and brave, and noble, and virtuous. +And she was all these things in spite of the fact +that their observance entailed suffering and danger +and possible death. + +How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal +in the first place! She would have been his lawful mate. +She would have been queen in her own land--and it meant +just as much to the cave woman to be a queen in the Stone +Age as it does to the woman of today to be a queen now; +it's all comparative glory any way you look at it, +and if there were only half-naked savages on the outer +crust today, you'd find that it would be considerable glory +to be the wife a Dahomey chief. + +I couldn't help but compare Dian's action with that +of a splendid young woman I had known in New York--I +mean splendid to look at and to talk to. She had been +head over heels in love with a chum of mine--a clean, +manly chap--but she had married a broken-down, disreputable +old debauchee because he was a count in some dinky +little European principality that was not even accorded +a distinctive color by Rand McNally. + +Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian. + +After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious +to see Perry, and to know that all was right with him. +I had told Dian about our plan of emancipating the human +race of Pellucidar, and she was fairly wild over it. +She said that if Dacor, her brother, would only return he +could easily be king of Amoz, and that then he and Ghak +could form an alliance. That would give us a flying start, +for the Sarians and the Amozites were both very powerful tribes. +Once they had been armed with swords, and bows and arrows, +and trained in their use we were confident that they +could overcome any tribe that seemed disinclined to join +the great army of federated states with which we were +planning to march upon the Mahars. + +I explained the various destructive engines of war +which Perry and I could construct after a little +experimentation--gunpowder, rifles, cannon, and the like, +and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms about my neck, +and tell me what a wonderful thing I was. She was beginning +to think that I was omnipotent although I really hadn't +done anything but talk--but that is the way with women +when they love. Perry used to say that if a fellow was +one-tenth as remarkable as his wife or mother thought him, +he would have the world by the tail with a down-hill drag. + +The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest +of poisonous vipers before we reached the valley. +A little fellow stung me on the ankle, and Dian made me +come back to the cave. She said that I mustn't exercise, +or it might prove fatal--if it had been a full-grown +snake that struck me she said, I wouldn't have moved +a single pace from the nest--I'd have died in my tracks, +so virulent is the poison. As it was I must have been laid +up for quite a while, though Dian's poultices of herbs +and leaves finally reduced the swelling and drew out +the poison. + +The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave +me an idea which added a thousand-fold to the value +of my arrows as missiles of offense and defense. +As soon as I was able to be about again, I sought out +some adult vipers of the species which had stung me, +and having killed them, I extracted their virus, +smearing it upon the tips of several arrows. Later I +shot a hyaenodon with one of these, and though my arrow +inflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beast +crumpled in death almost immediately after he was hit. + +We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, +and it was with feelings of sincere regret that we bade +good-bye to our beautiful Garden of Eden, in the comparative +peace and harmony of which we had lived the happiest moments +of our lives. How long we had been there I did not know, +for as I have told you, time had ceased to exist for me +beneath that eternal noonday sun--it may have been an hour, +or a month of earthly time; I do not know. + + + +XV + +BACK TO EARTH + + +WE CROSSED THE RIVER AND PASSED THROUGH THE mountains beyond, +and finally we came out upon a great level plain which +stretched away as far as the eye could reach. I cannot tell +you in what direction it stretched even if you would care +to know, for all the while that I was within Pellucidar +I never discovered any but local methods of indicating +direction--there is no north, no south, no east, no west. +UP is about the only direction which is well defined, +and that, of course, is DOWN to you of the outer crust. +Since the sun neither rises nor sets there is no method +of indicating direction beyond visible objects such as +high mountains, forests, lakes, and seas. + +The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank +the Darel Az upon the shore nearest the Mountains +of the Clouds is about as near to any direction as any +Pellucidarian can come. If you happen not to have heard +of the Darel Az, or the white cliffs, or the Mountains +of the Clouds you feel that there is something lacking, +and long for the good old understandable northeast +and southwest of the outer world. + +We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered +two enormous animals approaching us from a great distance. +So far were they that we could not distinguish what manner +of beasts they might be, but as they came closer, I saw that +they were enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a hundred feet long, +with tiny heads perched at the top of very long necks. +Their heads must have been quite forty feet from the ground. +The beasts moved very slowly--that is their action was +slow--but their strides covered such a great distance +that in reality they traveled considerably faster than +a man walks. + +As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back +of each sat a human being. Then Dian knew what they were, +though she never before had seen one. + +"They are lidis from the land of the Thorians," she cried. +"Thoria lies at the outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. +The Thorians alone of all the races of Pellucidar ride +the lidi, for nowhere else than beside the dark country +are they found." + +"What is the Land of Awful Shadow?" I asked. + +"It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World," +replied Dian; "the Dead World which hangs forever between +the sun and Pellucidar above the Land of Awful Shadow. +It is the Dead World which makes the great shadow upon this +portion of Pellucidar." + +I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I +sure that I do yet, for I have never been to that part +of Pellucidar from which the Dead World is visible; +but Perry says that it is the moon of Pellucidar--a tiny +planet within a planet--and that it revolves around +the earth's axis coincidently with the earth, and thus +is always above the same spot within Pellucidar. + +I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told +him about this Dead World, for he seemed to think that it +explained the hitherto inexplicable phenomena of nutation +and the precession of the equinoxes. + +When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us +we saw that one was a man and the other a woman. +The former had held up his two hands, palms toward us, +in sign of peace, and I had answered him in kind, +when he suddenly gave a cry of astonishment and pleasure, +and slipping from his enormous mount ran forward toward Dian, +throwing his arms about her. + +In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for +an instant; since Dian quickly drew the man toward me, +telling him that I was David, her mate. + +"And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David," +she said to me. + +It appeared that the woman was Dacor's mate. He had +found none to his liking among the Sari, nor farther on +until he had come to the land of the Thoria, and there +he had found and fought for this very lovely Thorian +maiden whom he was bringing back to his own people. + +When they had heard our story and our plans they decided +to accompany us to Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come +to an agreement relative to an alliance, as Dacor was +quite as enthusiastic about the proposed annihilation +of the Mahars and Sagoths as either Dian or I. + +After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, +we came to the first of the Sarian villages which consists +of between one and two hundred artificial caves cut into +the face of a great cliff. Here to our immense delight, +we found both Perry and Ghak. The old man was quite +overcome at sight of me for he had long since given me +up as dead. + +When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn't quite know +what to say, but he afterward remarked that with the pick +of two worlds I could not have done better. + +Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, +and it was at a council of the head men of the various +tribes of the Sari that the eventual form of government +was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, the various +kingdoms were to remain virtually independent, +but there was to be one great overlord, or emperor. +It was decided that I should be the first of the dynasty +of the emperors of Pellucidar. + +We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, +and poison pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which +provided the virus, and it was they who mined the iron ore, +and fashioned the swords under Perry's direction. +Rapidly the fever spread from one tribe to another until +representatives from nations so far distant that the +Sarians had never even heard of them came in to take +the oath of allegiance which we required, and to learn +the art of making the new weapons and using them. + +We sent our young men out as instructors to every +nation of the federation, and the movement had reached +colossal proportions before the Mahars discovered it. +The first intimation they had was when three of their great +slave caravans were annihilated in rapid succession. +They could not comprehend that the lower orders had suddenly +developed a power which rendered them really formidable. + +In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our +Sarians took a number of Sagoth prisoners, and among +them were two who had been members of the guards within +the building where we had been confined at Phutra. +They told us that the Mahars were frantic with rage +when they discovered what had taken place in the cellars +of the buildings. The Sagoths knew that something very +terrible had befallen their masters, but the Mahars had been +most careful to see that no inkling of the true nature +of their vital affliction reached beyond their own race. +How long it would take for the race to become extinct +it was impossible even to guess; but that this must +eventually happen seemed inevitable. + +The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture +of any one of us alive, and at the same time had threatened +to inflict the direst punishment upon whomever should +harm us. The Sagoths could not understand these seemingly +paradoxical instructions, though their purpose was quite +evident to me. The Mahars wanted the Great Secret, +and they knew that we alone could deliver it to them. + +Perry's experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the +fashioning of rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we +had hoped--there was a whole lot about these two arts which +Perry didn't know. We were both assured that the solution +of these problems would advance the cause of civilization +within Pellucidar thousands of years at a single stroke. +Then there were various other arts and sciences which we +wished to introduce, but our combined knowledge of them +did not embrace the mechanical details which alone +could render them of commercial, or practical value. + +"David," said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to +produce gunpowder that would even burn, "one of us must return +to the outer world and bring back the information we lack. +Here we have all the labor and materials for reproducing +anything that ever has been produced above--what we lack +is knowledge. Let us go back and get that knowledge +in the shape of books--then this world will indeed be at our +feet." + +And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, +which still lay upon the edge of the forest at the point where +we had first penetrated to the surface of the inner world. +Dian would not listen to any arrangement for my going +which did not include her, and I was not sorry that she +wished to accompany me, for I wanted her to see my world, +and I wanted my world to see her. + +With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, +which Perry soon had hoisted into position with its nose +pointed back toward the outer crust. He went over all +the machinery carefully. He replenished the air tanks, +and manufactured oil for the engine. At last everything +was ready, and we were about to set out when our pickets, +a long, thin line of which had surrounded our camp at +all times, reported that a great body of what appeared +to be Sagoths and Mahars were approaching from the direction +of Phutra. + +Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious +to witness the first clash between two fair-sized armies +of the opposing races of Pellucidar. I realized that this +was to mark the historic beginning of a mighty struggle +for possession of a world, and as the first emperor +of Pellucidar I felt that it was not alone my duty, +but my right, to be in the thick of that momentous struggle. + +As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many +Mahars with the Sagoth troops--an indication of the vast +importance which the dominant race placed upon the outcome +of this campaign, for it was not customary with them to take +active part in the sorties which their creatures made for +slaves--the only form of warfare which they waged upon the +lower orders. + +Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to +view the prospector. I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians +on the right of our battle line. Dacor took the left, +while I commanded the center. Behind us I stationed +a sufficient reserve under one of Ghak's head men. +The Sagoths advanced steadily with menacing spears, +and I let them come until they were within easy bowshot +before I gave the word to fire. + +At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front +ranks of the gorilla-men crumpled to the ground; but those +behind charged over the prostrate forms of their comrades +in a wild, mad rush to be upon us with their spears. +A second volley stopped them for an instant, and then +my reserve sprang through the openings in the firing line +to engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy spears +of the Sagoths were no match for the swords of the Sarian +and Amozite, who turned the spear thrusts aside with their +shields and leaped to close quarters with their lighter, +handier weapons. + +Ghak took his archers along the enemy's flank, and while +the swordsmen engaged them in front, he poured volley after +volley into their unprotected left. The Mahars did little +real fighting, and were more in the way than otherwise, +though occasionally one of them would fasten its powerful +jaw upon the arm or leg of a Sarian. + +The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor +and I led our men in upon the Sagoth's right with naked +swords they were already so demoralized that they turned +and fled before us. We pursued them for some time, +taking many prisoners and recovering nearly a hundred slaves, +among whom was Hooja the Sly One. + +He told me that he had been captured while on his way +to his own land; but that his life had been spared +in hope that through him the Mahars would learn the +whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak and I were +inclined to think that the Sly One had been guiding +this expedition to the land of Sari, where he thought +that the book might be found in Perry's possession; +but we had no proof of this and so we took him in and +treated him as one of us, although none liked him. +And how he rewarded my generosity you will presently learn. + +There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, +and so fearful were our own people of them that they +would not approach them unless completely covered +from the sight of the reptiles by a piece of skin. +Even Dian shared the popular superstition regarding +the evil effects of exposure to the eyes of angry Mahars, +and though I laughed at her fears I was willing enough +to humor them if it would relieve her apprehension +in any degree, and so she sat apart from the prospector, +near which the Mahars had been chained, while Perry and I +again inspected every portion of the mechanism. + +At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called +to one of the men without to fetch Dian. It happened that +Hooja stood quite close to the doorway of the prospector, +so that it was he who, without my knowledge, went to +bring her; but how he succeeded in accomplishing the +fiendish thing he did, I cannot guess, unless there were +others in the plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, +since all my people were loyal to me and would have made +short work of Hooja had he suggested the heartless scheme, +even had he had time to acquaint another with it. +It was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it +was the result of sudden impulse, aided by a number of, +to Hooja, fortuitous circumstances occurring at precisely +the right moment. + +All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian +to the prospector, still wrapped from head to toe +in the skin of an enormous cave lion which covered her +since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into camp. +He deposited his burden in the seat beside me. I was all +ready to get under way. The good-byes had been said. +Perry had grasped my hand in the last, long farewell. +I closed and barred the outer and inner doors, +took my seat again at the driving mechanism, and pulled +the starting lever. + +As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our +first trial of the iron monster, there was a frightful +roaring beneath us--the giant frame trembled and vibrated-- +there was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up +through the hollow space between the inner and outer jackets +to be deposited in our wake. Once more the thing was off. + +But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown +from my seat by the sudden lurching of the prospector. +At first I did not realize what had happened, but presently +it dawned upon me that just before entering the crust the +towering body had fallen through its supporting scaffolding, +and that instead of entering the ground vertically we were +plunging into it at a different angle. Where it would bring +us out upon the upper crust I could not even conjecture. +And then I turned to note the effect of this strange +experience upon Dian. She still sat shrouded in the great skin. + +"Come, come," I cried, laughing, "come out of your shell. +No Mahar eyes can reach you here," and I leaned over and +snatched the lion skin from her. And then I shrank back +upon my seat in utter horror. + +The thing beneath the skin was not Dian--it was a +hideous Mahar. Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja +had played upon me, and the purpose of it. Rid of me, +forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would be at his mercy. +Frantically I tore at the steering wheel in an effort +to turn the prospector back toward Pellucidar; but, as on +that other occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair. + +It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony +of that journey. It varied but little from the former one +which had brought us from the outer to the inner world. +Because of the angle at which we had entered the ground +the trip required nearly a day longer, and brought me out +here upon the sand of the Sahara instead of in the United +States as I had hoped. + +For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. +I dared not leave the prospector for fear I should never +be able to find it again--the shifting sands of the desert +would soon cover it, and then my only hope of returning +to my Dian and her Pellucidar would be gone forever. + +That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, +for how may I know upon what part of Pellucidar my return +journey may terminate--and how, without a north or south +or an east or a west may I hope ever to find my way across +that vast world to the tiny spot where my lost love lies +grieving for me? + + +That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the +goat-skin tent upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. +The next day he took me out to see the prospector--it +was precisely as he had described it. So huge was it +that it could have been brought to this inaccessible part +of the world by no means of transportation that existed +there--it could only have come in the way that David +Innes said it came--up through the crust of the earth +from the inner world of Pellucidar. + +I spent a week with him, and then, abandoned my +lion hunt, returned directly to the coast and hurried +to London where I purchased a great quantity of stuff +which he wished to take back to Pellucidar with him. +There were books, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, cameras, +chemicals, telephones, telegraph instruments, wire, +tool and more books--books upon every subject under +the sun. He said he wanted a library with which they +could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth century +in the Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything +I got it for him. + +I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied +them to the end of the railroad; but from here I +was recalled to America upon important business. +However, I was able to employ a very trustworthy man +to take charge of the caravan--the same guide, in fact, +who had accompanied me on the previous trip into the +Sahara--and after writing a long letter to Innes in which +I gave him my American address, I saw the expedition head south. + +Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five +hundred miles of double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. +I had it packed on a special reel at his suggestion, as it +was his idea that he could fasten one end here before he +left and by paying it out through the end of the prospector +lay a telegraph line between the outer and inner worlds. +In my letter I told him to be sure to mark the terminus +of the line very plainly with a high cairn, in case I +was not able to reach him before he set out, so that I +might easily find and communicate with him should he +be so fortunate as to reach Pellucidar. + +I received several letters from him after I returned +to America--in fact he took advantage of every +northward-passing caravan to drop me word of some sort. +His last letter was written the day before he intended +to depart. Here it is. + + +MY DEAR FRIEND: + +Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. +That is if the Arabs don't get me. They have been very nasty +of late. I don't know the cause, but on two occasions they +have threatened my life. One, more friendly than the rest, +told me today that they intended attacking me tonight. +It would be unfortunate should anything of that sort happen +now that I am so nearly ready to depart. + +However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the +hour approaches, the slenderer my chances for success appear. + +Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north +for me, so good-bye, and God bless you for your kindness +to me. + +The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand +to the south--he thinks it is the party coming to murder me, +and he doesn't want to be found with me. So goodbye again. + +Yours, + +DAVID INNES. + + +A year later found me at the end of the railroad +once more, headed for the spot where I had left Innes. +My first disappointment was when I discovered that my +old guide had died within a few weeks of my return, +nor could I find any member of my former party who could +lead me to the same spot. + +For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing +countless desert sheiks in the hope that at last I might find +one who had heard of Innes and his wonderful iron mole. +Constantly my eyes scanned the blinding waste of sand +for the ricky cairn beneath which I was to find the wires +leading to Pellucidar--but always was I unsuccessful. + +And always do these awful questions harass me when I +think of David Innes and his strange adventures. + +Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve +of his departure? Or, did he again turn the nose of his +iron monster toward the inner world? Did he reach it, +or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of the great crust? +And if he did come again to Pellucidar was it to break +through into the bottom of one of her great island seas, +or among some savage race far, far from the land of his +heart's desire? + +Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the +broad Sahara, at the end of two tiny wires, hidden beneath +a lost cairn? I wonder. + + +[End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of At the Earth's Core] + diff --git a/old/old/ecore10.zip b/old/old/ecore10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b95fef --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore10.zip diff --git a/old/old/ecore11.txt b/old/old/ecore11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5042a28 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5692 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of At the Earth's Core +by Edgar Rice Burroughs +(#1 in the At the Earth's Core Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Nor could you wonder had you witnessed a recent +experience of mine when, in the armor of blissful and stupendous +ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of it to a Fellow of the Royal +Geological Society on the occasion of my last trip to London. + +You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no less +a heinous crime than the purloining of the Crown Jewels from the +Tower, or putting poison in the coffee of His Majesty the King. + +The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I was half +through!--it is all that saved him from exploding--and my dreams +of an Honorary Fellowship, gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of +Fame faded into the thin, cold air of his arctic atmosphere. + +But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the learned +Fellow of the Royal Geological Society, had you and he heard it +from the lips of the man who told it to me. Had you seen, as I +did, the fire of truth in those gray eyes; had you felt the ring +of sincerity in that quiet voice; had you realized the pathos of it +all--you, too, would believe. You would not have needed the final +ocular proof that I had--the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature +which he had brought back with him from the inner world. + +I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the +rim of the great Sahara Desert. He was standing before a goat-skin +tent amidst a clump of date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by +was an Arab douar of some eight or ten tents. + +I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted +of a dozen children of the desert--I was the only "white" man. As +we approached the little clump of verdure I saw the man come from +his tent and with hand-shaded eyes peer intently at us. At sight +of me he advanced rapidly to meet us. + +"A white man!" he cried. "May the good Lord be praised! I have +been watching you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS time +there would be a white man. Tell me the date. What year is it?" + +And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck +full in the face, so that he was compelled to grasp my stirrup +leather for support. + +"It cannot be!" he cried after a moment. "It cannot be! Tell me +that you are mistaken, or that you are but joking." + +"I am telling you the truth, my friend," I replied. "Why should +I deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a matter as the +date?" + +For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head. + +"Ten years!" he murmured, at last. "Ten years, and I thought that +at the most it could be scarce more than one!" That night he told +me his story--the story that I give you here as nearly in his own +words as I can recall them. + + + +I + +TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES + + +I WAS BORN IN CONNECTICUT ABOUT THIRTY YEARS ago. My name is David +Innes. My father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen +he died. All his property was to be mine when I had attained my +majority--provided that I had devoted the two years intervening in +close application to the great business I was to inherit. + +I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent--not because +of the inheritance, but because I loved and honored my father. For +six months I toiled in the mines and in the counting-rooms, for I +wished to know every minute detail of the business. + +Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow +who had devoted the better part of a long life to the perfection +of a mechanical subterranean prospector. As relaxation he studied +paleontology. I looked over his plans, listened to his arguments, +inspected his working model--and then, convinced, I advanced the +funds necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. + +I shall not go into the details of its construction--it lies out +there in the desert now--about two miles from here. Tomorrow you +may care to ride out and see it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder +a hundred feet long, and jointed so that it may turn and twist +through solid rock if need be. At one end is a mighty revolving +drill operated by an engine which Perry said generated more power +to the cubic inch than any other engine did to the cubic foot. I +remember that he used to claim that that invention alone would +make us fabulously wealthy--we were going to make the whole thing +public after the successful issue of our first secret trial--but +Perry never returned from that trial trip, and I only after ten +years. + +I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous +occasion upon which we were to test the practicality of that +wondrous invention. It was near midnight when we repaired to the +lofty tower in which Perry had constructed his "iron mole" as he +was wont to call the thing. The great nose rested upon the bare +earth of the floor. We passed through the doors into the outer +jacket, secured them, and then passing on into the cabin, which +contained the controlling mechanism within the inner tube, switched +on the electric lights. + +Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the +life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air +to replace that which we consumed in breathing; to his instruments +for recording temperatures, speed, distance, and for examining the +materials through which we were to pass. + +He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which +transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose +of his strange craft. + +Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon +transverse bars that we would be upright whether the craft were +ploughing her way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running +horizontally along some great seam of coal, or rising vertically +toward the surface again. + +At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For +a moment we were silent, and then the old man's hand grasped the +starting lever. There was a frightful roaring beneath us--the +giant frame trembled and vibrated--there was a rush of sound as the +loose earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner +and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. We were off! + +The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full +minute neither of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial +desperation of the drowning man to the handrails of our swinging +seats. Then Perry glanced at the thermometer. + +"Gad!" he cried, "it cannot be possible--quick! What does the +distance meter read?" + +That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as I +turned to take a reading from the former I could see Perry muttering. + +"Ten degrees rise--it cannot be possible!" and then I saw him tug +frantically upon the steering wheel. + +As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated +Perry's evident excitement, and my heart sank within me. But when I +spoke I hid the fear which haunted me. "It will be seven hundred +feet, Perry," I said, "by the time you can turn her into the +horizontal." + +"You'd better lend me a hand then, my boy," he replied, "for I cannot +budge her out of the vertical alone. God give that our combined +strength may be equal to the task, for else we are lost." + +I wormed my way to the old man's side with never a doubt but that +the great wheel would yield on the instant to the power of my young +and vigorous muscles. Nor was my belief mere vanity, for always +had my physique been the envy and despair of my fellows. And for +that very reason it had waxed even greater than nature had intended, +since my natural pride in my great strength had led me to care for +and develop my body and my muscles by every means within my power. +What with boxing, football, and baseball, I had been in training +since childhood. + +And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of the +huge iron rim; but though I threw every ounce of my strength into +it, my best effort was as unavailing as Perry's had been--the +thing would not budge--the grim, insensate, horrible thing that +was holding us upon the straight road to death! + +At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word +returned to my seat. There was no need for words--at least none +that I could imagine, unless Perry desired to pray. And I was +quite sure that he would, for he never left an opportunity neglected +where he might sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when he arose in +the morning, he prayed before he ate, he prayed when he had finished +eating, and before he went to bed at night he prayed again. In +between he often found excuses to pray even when the provocation +seemed far-fetched to my worldly eyes--now that he was about to die +I felt positive that I should witness a perfect orgy of prayer--if +one may allude with such a simile to so solemn an act. + +But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring him in +the face Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. From his +lips there flowed--not prayer--but a clear and limpid stream of +undiluted profanity, and it was all directed at that quietly stubborn +piece of unyielding mechanism. + +"I should think, Perry," I chided, "that a man of your professed +religiousness would rather be at his prayers than cursing in the +presence of imminent death." + +"Death!" he cried. "Death is it that appalls you? That is nothing +by comparison with the loss the world must suffer. Why, David +within this iron cylinder we have demonstrated possibilities that +science has scarce dreamed. We have harnessed a new principle, and +with it animated a piece of steel with the power of ten thousand +men. That two lives will be snuffed out is nothing to the world +calamity that entombs in the bowels of the earth the discoveries +that I have made and proved in the successful construction of the +thing that is now carrying us farther and farther toward the eternal +central fires." + +I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more concerned with +our own immediate future than with any problematic loss which the +world might be about to suffer. The world was at least ignorant +of its bereavement, while to me it was a real and terrible actuality. + +"What can we do?" I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath the mask +of a low and level voice. + +"We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere tanks +are empty," replied Perry, "or we may continue on with the slight +hope that we may later sufficiently deflect the prospector from +the vertical to carry us along the arc of a great circle which must +eventually return us to the surface. If we succeed in so doing +before we reach the higher internal temperature we may even yet +survive. There would seem to me to be about one chance in several +million that we shall succeed--otherwise we shall die more quickly +but no more surely than as though we sat supinely waiting for the +torture of a slow and horrible death." + +I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. While +we were talking the mighty iron mole had bored its way over a mile +into the rock of the earth's crust. + +"Let us continue on, then," I replied. "It should soon be over at +this rate. You never intimated that the speed of this thing would +be so high, Perry. Didn't you know it?" + +"No," he answered. "I could not figure the speed exactly, for I +had no instrument for measuring the mighty power of my generator. +I reasoned, however, that we should make about five hundred yards +an hour." + +"And we are making seven miles an hour," I concluded for him, +as I sat with my eyes upon the distance meter. "How thick is the +Earth's crust, Perry?" I asked. + +"There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there +are geologists," was his answer. "One estimates it thirty miles, +because the internal heat, increasing at the rate of about one +degree to each sixty to seventy feet depth, would be sufficient to +fuse the most refractory substances at that distance beneath the +surface. Another finds that the phenomena of precession and nutation +require that the earth, if not entirely solid, must at least have +a shell not less than eight hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. +So there you are. You may take your choice." + +"And if it should prove solid?" I asked. + +"It will be all the same to us in the end, David," replied Perry. +"At the best our fuel will suffice to carry us but three or four +days, while our atmosphere cannot last to exceed three. Neither, +then, is sufficient to bear us in the safety through eight thousand +miles of rock to the antipodes." + +"If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a final +stop between six and seven hundred miles beneath the earth's surface; +but during the last hundred and fifty miles of our journey we shall +be corpses. Am I correct?" I asked. + +"Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?" + +"I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce believe +that either of us realizes the real terrors of our position. I feel +that I should be reduced to panic; but yet I am not. I imagine that +the shock has been so great as to partially stun our sensibilities." + +Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising with less +rapidity. It was now but 140 degrees, although we had penetrated +to a depth of nearly four miles. I told Perry, and he smiled. + +"We have shattered one theory at least," was his only comment, and +then he returned to his self-assumed occupation of fluently cursing +the steering wheel. I once heard a pirate swear, but his best +efforts would have seemed like those of a tyro alongside of Perry's +masterful and scientific imprecations. + +Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well have +essayed to swing the earth itself. At my suggestion Perry stopped +the generator, and as we came to rest I again threw all my strength +into a supreme effort to move the thing even a hair's breadth--but +the results were as barren as when we had been traveling at top +speed. + +I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. Perry +pulled it toward him, and once again we were plunging downward +toward eternity at the rate of seven miles an hour. I sat with my +eyes glued to the thermometer and the distance meter. The mercury +was rising very slowly now, though even at 145 degrees it was almost +unbearable within the narrow confines of our metal prison. + +About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this unfortunate +journey, we had bored to a depth of eighty-four miles, at which +point the mercury registered 153 degrees F. + +Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager food +he sustained his optimism I could not conjecture. From cursing he +had turned to singing--I felt that the strain had at last affected +his mind. For several hours we had not spoken except as he asked +me for the readings of the instruments from time to time, and +I announced them. My thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I +recalled numerous acts of my past life which I should have been +glad to have had a few more years to live down. There was the +affair in the Latin Commons at Andover when Calhoun and I had put +gunpowder in the stove--and nearly killed one of the masters. And +then--but what was the use, I was about to die and atone for all +these things and several more. Already the heat was sufficient +to give me a foretaste of the hereafter. A few more degrees and +I felt that I should lose consciousness. + +"What are the readings now, David?" Perry's voice broke in upon my +somber reflections. + +"Ninety miles and 153 degrees," I replied. + +"Gad, but we've knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory into a cocked +hat!" he cried gleefully. + +"Precious lot of good it will do us," I growled back. + +"But my boy," he continued, "doesn't that temperature reading mean +anything to you? Why it hasn't gone up in six miles. Think of +it, son!" + +"Yes, I'm thinking of it," I answered; "but what difference will +it make when our air supply is exhausted whether the temperature +is 153 degrees or 153,000? We'll be just as dead, and no one +will know the difference, anyhow." But I must admit that for some +unaccountable reason the stationary temperature did renew my waning +hope. What I hoped for I could not have explained, nor did I try. +The very fact, as Perry took pains to explain, of the blasting of +several very exact and learned scientific hypotheses made it apparent +that we could not know what lay before us within the bowels of +the earth, and so we might continue to hope for the best, at least +until we were dead--when hope would no longer be essential to +our happiness. It was very good, and logical reasoning, and so I +embraced it. + +At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 DEGREES! +When I announced it Perry reached over and hugged me. + +From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to drop +until it became as uncomfortably cold as it had been unbearably hot +before. At the depth of two hundred and forty miles our nostrils +were assailed by almost overpowering ammonia fumes, and the +temperature had dropped to TEN BELOW ZERO! We suffered nearly two +hours of this intense and bitter cold, until at about two hundred +and forty-five miles from the surface of the earth we entered a +stratum of solid ice, when the mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees. +During the next three hours we passed through ten miles of ice, +eventually emerging into another series of ammonia-impregnated +strata, where the mercury again fell to ten degrees below zero. + +Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at last we +were nearing the molten interior of the earth. At four hundred +miles the temperature had reached 153 degrees. Feverishly I watched +the thermometer. Slowly it rose. Perry had ceased singing and +was at last praying. + +Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually +increasing heat seemed to our distorted imaginations much greater +than it really was. For another hour I saw that pitiless column +of mercury rise and rise until at four hundred and ten miles it +stood at 153 degrees. Now it was that we began to hang upon those +readings in almost breathless anxiety. + +One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum temperature +above the ice stratum. Would it stop at this point again, or would +it continue its merciless climb? We knew that there was no hope, +and yet with the persistence of life itself we continued to hope +against practical certainty. + +Already the air tanks were at low ebb--there was barely enough of +the precious gases to sustain us for another twelve hours. But +would we be alive to know or care? It seemed incredible. + +At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading. + +"Perry!" I shouted. "Perry, man! She's going down! She's going +down! She's 152 degrees again." + +"Gad!" he cried. "What can it mean? Can the earth be cold at the +center?" + +"I do not know, Perry," I answered; "but thank God, if I am to die +it shall not be by fire--that is all that I have feared. I can +face the thought of any death but that." + +Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had seven +miles from the surface of the earth, and then of a sudden the +realization broke upon us that death was very near. Perry was the +first to discover it. I saw him fussing with the valves that regulate +the air supply. And at the same time I experienced difficulty in +breathing. My head felt dizzy--my limbs heavy. + +I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and sat +erect again. Then he turned toward me. + +"Good-bye, David," he said. "I guess this is the end," and then +he smiled and closed his eyes. + +"Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you," I answered, smiling back +at him. But I fought off that awful lethargy. I was very young--I +did not want to die. + +For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death that +surrounded me upon all sides. At first I found that by climbing +high into the framework above me I could find more of the precious +life-giving elements, and for a while these sustained me. It must +have been an hour after Perry had succumbed that I at last came +to the realization that I could no longer carry on this unequal +struggle against the inevitable. + +With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned mechanically +toward the distance meter. It stood at exactly five hundred miles +from the earth's surface--and then of a sudden the huge thing that +bore us came to a stop. The rattle of hurtling rock through the +hollow jacket ceased. The wild racing of the giant drill betokened +that it was running loose in AIR--and then another truth flashed +upon me. The point of the prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it +dawned on me that since passing through the ice strata it had been +above. We had turned in the ice and sped upward toward the earth's +crust. Thank God! We were safe! + +I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were to have +been taken during the passage of the prospector through the earth, +and my fondest hopes were realized--a flood of fresh air was pouring +into the iron cabin. The reaction left me in a state of collapse, +and I lost consciousness. + + + +II + +A STRANGE WORLD + + +I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT, for as I lunged +forward from the crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell +with a crash to the floor of the cabin, the shock brought me to +myself. + +My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought +that upon the very threshold of salvation he might be dead. Tearing +open his shirt I placed my ear to his breast. I could have cried +with relief--his heart was beating quite regularly. + +At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly +across his forehead and face several times. In a moment I was +rewarded by the raising of his lids. For a time he lay wide-eyed +and quite uncomprehending. Then his scattered wits slowly +foregathered, and he sat up sniffing the air with an expression of +wonderment upon his face. + +"Why, David," he cried at last, "it's air, as sure as I live. +Why--why what does it mean? Where in the world are we? What has +happened?" + +"It means that we're back at the surface all right, Perry," I cried; +"but where, I don't know. I haven't opened her up yet. Been too +busy reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a close squeak!" + +"You say we're back at the surface, David? How can that be? How +long have I been unconscious?" + +"Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don't you recall the +sudden whirling of our seats? After that the drill was above you +instead of below. We didn't notice it at the time; but I recall +it now." + +"You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, David? +That is not possible. The prospector cannot turn unless its nose +is deflected from the outside--by some external force or resistance--the +steering wheel within would have moved in response. The steering +wheel has not budged, David, since we started. You know that." + +I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in pure air, +and copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin. + +"We couldn't have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know as well +as you," I replied; "but the fact remains that we did, for here we +are this minute at the surface of the earth again, and I am going +out to see just where." + +"Better wait till morning, David--it must be midnight now." + +I glanced at the chronometer. + +"Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, so it +must be midnight. Nevertheless I am going to have a look at the +blessed sky that I had given up all hope of ever seeing again," +and so saying I lifted the bars from the inner door, and swung it +open. There was quite a quantity of loose material in the jacket, +and this I had to remove with a shovel to get at the opposite door +in the outer shell. + +In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock to the +floor of the cabin to expose the door beyond. Perry was directly +behind me as I threw it open. The upper half was above the surface +of the ground. With an expression of surprise I turned and looked +at Perry--it was broad daylight without! + +"Something seems to have gone wrong either with our calculations +or the chronometer," I said. Perry shook his head--there was a +strange expression in his eyes. + +"Let's have a look beyond that door, David," he cried. + +Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a +landscape at once weird and beautiful. Before us a low and level +shore stretched down to a silent sea. As far as the eye could reach +the surface of the water was dotted with countless tiny isles--some +of towering, barren, granitic rock--others resplendent in gorgeous +trappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred with the magnificent +splendor of vivid blooms. + +Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent +ferns intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical +forest. Huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, +dense under-brush overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and +branches. Upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid +coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands, but +within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. + +And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays out of a +cloudless sky. + +"Where on earth can we be?" I asked, turning to Perry. + +For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with bowed +head, buried in deep thought. But at last he spoke. + +"David," he said, "I am not so sure that we are ON earth." + +"What do you mean Perry?" I cried. "Do you think that we are dead, +and this is heaven?" He smiled, and turning, pointing to the nose +of the prospector protruding from the ground at our backs. + +"But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed come to +the country beyond the Styx. The prospector renders that theory +untenable--it, certainly, could never have gone to heaven. However +I am willing to concede that we actually may be in another world +from that which we have always known. If we are not ON earth, +there is every reason to believe that we may be IN it." + +"We may have quartered through the earth's crust and come out upon +some tropical island of the West Indies," I suggested. Again Perry +shook his head. + +"Let us wait and see, David," he replied, "and in the meantime +suppose we do a bit of exploring up and down the coast--we may find +a native who can enlighten us." + +As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly across +the water. Evidently he was wrestling with a mighty problem. + +"David," he said abruptly, "do you perceive anything unusual about +the horizon?" + +As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the strangeness of +the landscape that had haunted me from the first with an illusive +suggestion of the bizarre and unnatural--THERE WAS NO HORIZON! +As far as the eye could reach out the sea continued and upon its +bosom floated tiny islands, those in the distance reduced to mere +specks; but ever beyond them was the sea, until the impression became +quite real that one was LOOKING UP at the most distant point that +the eyes could fathom--the distance was lost in the distance. That +was all--there was no clear-cut horizontal line marking the dip of +the globe below the line of vision. + +"A great light is commencing to break on me," continued Perry, +taking out his watch. "I believe that I have partially solved the +riddle. It is now two o'clock. When we emerged from the prospector +the sun was directly above us. Where is it now?" + +I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the center +of the heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely noticed it before. +Fully thrice the size of the sun I had known throughout my life, +and apparently so near that the sight of it carried the conviction +that one might almost reach up and touch it. + +"My God, Perry, where are we?" I exclaimed. "This thing is beginning +to get on my nerves." + +"I think that I may state quite positively, David," he commenced, +"that we are--" but he got no further. From behind us in the vicinity +of the prospector there came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring +roar that ever had fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned +to discover the author of that fearsome noise. + +Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the sight +that met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it. Emerging +from the forest was a colossal beast which closely resembled a +bear. It was fully as large as the largest elephant and with great +forepaws armed with huge claws. Its nose, or snout, depended nearly +a foot below its lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary +trunk. The giant body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair. + +Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling trot. +I turned to Perry to suggest that it might be wise to seek other +surroundings--the idea had evidently occurred to Perry previously, +for he was already a hundred paces away, and with each second his +prodigious bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed what +latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed. + +I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest which +ran out toward the sea not far from where we had been standing, +and as the mighty creature, the sight of which had galvanized him +into such remarkable action, was forging steadily toward me. I +set off after Perry, though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It +was evident that the massive beast pursuing us was not built for +speed, so all that I considered necessary was to gain the trees +sufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safety of +some great branch before it came up. + +Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at Perry's +frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety of the lower branches +of the trees he now had reached. The stems were bare for a distance +of some fifteen feet--at least on those trees which Perry attempted +to ascend, for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger of +the forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. A dozen +times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back +to the ground once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified +glance over his shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously +emitting terror-stricken shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim +forest. + +At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of one's +wrist, and when I reached the trees he was racing madly up it, hand +over hand. He had almost reached the lowest branch of the tree +from which the creeper depended when the thing parted beneath his +weight and he fell sprawling at my feet. + +The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was already +too close to us for comfort. Seizing Perry by the shoulder I dragged +him to his feet, and rushing to a smaller tree--one that he could +easily encircle with his arms and legs--I boosted him as far up +as I could, and then left him to his fate, for a glance over my +shoulder revealed the awful beast almost upon me. + +It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its +enormous bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with the +agility of my young muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of +its way and run completely behind it before its slow wits could +direct it in pursuit. + +The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged +in the branches of a tree a few paces from that in which Perry had +at last found a haven. + +Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, +and so did Perry. He was praying--raising his voice in thanksgiving +at our deliverance--and had just completed a sort of paeon of +gratitude that the thing couldn't climb a tree when without warning +it reared up beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and +reached those fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon which +he crouched. + +The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry's scream of +fright, and he came near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws +beneath him, so precipitate was his impetuous haste to vacate the +dangerous limb. It was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him +gain a higher branch in safety. + +And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror. +Grasping the tree's stem with his powerful paws he dragged down +with all the great weight of his huge bulk and all the irresistible +force of those mighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began +to bend toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward as +the tree leaned more and more from the perpendicular. Perry clung +chattering in a panic of terror. Higher and higher into the bending +and swaying tree he clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree +top inclining toward the ground. + +I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. +The use that he was putting them to was precisely that for which +nature had intended them. The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, +and to feed that mighty carcass entire trees must be stripped of +their foliage. The reason for its attacking us might easily be +accounted for on the supposition of an ugly disposition such as +that which the fierce and stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. +But these were later reflections. At the moment I was too frantic +with apprehension on Perry's behalf to consider aught other than +a means to save him from the death that loomed so close. + +Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open, +I dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only on distracting the +thing's attention from Perry long enough to enable the old man to +gain the safety of a larger tree. There were many close by which +not even the terrific strength of that titanic monster could bend. + +As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the tangled +mass that matted the jungle-like floor of the forest and, leaping +unnoticed behind the shaggy back, dealt the brute a terrific blow. +My plan worked like magic. From the previous slowness of the beast +I had been led to look for no such marvelous agility as he now +displayed. Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all +fours and at the same time swung his great, wicked tail with a +force that would have broken every bone in my body had it struck +me; but, fortunately, I had turned to flee at the very instant that +I felt my blow land upon the towering back. + +As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running along +the edge of the forest rather than making for the open beach. In a +moment I was knee-deep in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing +behind me was gaining rapidly as I floundered and fell in my efforts +to extricate myself. + +A fallen log gave me an instant's advantage, for climbing upon it +I leaped to another a few paces farther on, and in this way was able +to keep clear of the mush that carpeted the surrounding ground. But +the zigzag course that this necessitated was placing such a heavy +handicap upon me that my pursuer was steadily gaining upon me. + +Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, piercing +barks--much the sound that a pack of wolves raises when in full +cry. Involuntarily I glanced backward to discover the origin of +this new and menacing note with the result that I missed my footing +and went sprawling once more upon my face in the deep muck. + +My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I must feel +the weight of one of his terrible paws before I could rise, but to +my surprise the blow did not fall upon me. The howling and snapping +and barking of the new element which had been infused into the +melee now seemed centered quite close behind me, and as I raised +myself upon my hands and glanced around I saw what it was that had +distracted the DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called, +from my trail. + +It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like creatures--wild +dogs they seemed--that rushed growling and snapping in upon it +from all sides, so that they sank their white fangs into the slow +brute and were away again before it could reach them with its huge +paws or sweeping tail. + +But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. Chattering +and gibbering through the lower branches of the trees came a company +of manlike creatures evidently urging on the dog pack. They were +to all appearances strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of +Africa. Their skins were very black, and their features much like +those of the more pronounced Negroid type except that the head +receded more rapidly above the eyes, leaving little or no forehead. +Their arms were rather longer and their legs shorter in proportion +to the torso than in man, and later I noticed that their great +toes protruded at right angles from their feet--because of their +arboreal habits, I presume. Behind them trailed long, slender +tails which they used in climbing quite as much as they did either +their hands or feet. + +I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that the +wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay. At sight of me several +of the savage creatures left off worrying the great brute to come +slinking with bared fangs toward me, and as I turned to run toward +the trees again to seek safety among the lower branches, I saw +a number of the man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage of +the nearest tree. + +Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, +but at least there was a doubt as to the reception these grotesque +parodies on humanity would accord me, while there was none as to +the fate which awaited me beneath the grinning fangs of my fierce +pursuers. + +And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath that +which held the man-things and take refuge in another farther on; +but the wolf-dogs were very close behind me--so close that I had +despaired of escaping them, when one of the creatures in the tree +above swung down headforemost, his tail looped about a great limb, +and grasping me beneath my armpits swung me in safety up among his +fellows. + +There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement and +curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair, and my flesh. They +turned me about to see if I had a tail, and when they discovered +that I was not so equipped they fell into roars of laughter. Their +teeth were very large and white and even, except for the upper +canines which were a trifle longer than the others--protruding just +a bit when the mouth was closed. + +When they had examined me for a few moments one of them discovered +that my clothing was not a part of me, with the result that garment +by garment they tore it from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter. +Apelike, they essayed to don the apparel themselves, but their +ingenuity was not sufficient to the task and so they gave it up. + +In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a glimpse +of Perry, but nowhere about could I see him, although the clump of +trees in which he had first taken refuge was in full view. I was +much exercised by fear that something had befallen him, and though +I called his name aloud several times there was no response. + +Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures threw it to +the ground, and catching me, one on either side, by an arm, started +off at a most terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have I +experienced such a journey before or since--even now I oftentimes +awake from a deep sleep haunted by the horrid remembrance of that +awful experience. + +From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, +while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as I glimpsed the +depths beneath, into which a single misstep on the part of either +of my bearers would hurl me. As they bore me along, my mind was +occupied with a thousand bewildering thoughts. What had become of +Perry? Would I ever see him again? What were the intentions of +these half-human things into whose hands I had fallen? Were they +inhabitants of the same world into which I had been born? No! It +could not be. But yet where else? I had not left that earth--of +that I was sure. Still neither could I reconcile the things which +I had seen to a belief that I was still in the world of my birth. +With a sigh I gave it up. + + + +III + +A CHANGE OF MASTERS + + +WE MUST HAVE TRAVELED SEVERAL MILES THROUGH the dark and dismal +wood when we came suddenly upon a dense village built high among +the branches of the trees. As we approached it my escort broke +into wild shouting which was immediately answered from within, and +a moment later a swarm of creatures of the same strange race as +those who had captured me poured out to meet us. Again I was the +center of a wildly chattering horde. I was pulled this way and +that. Pinched, pounded, and thumped until I was black and blue, +yet I do not think that their treatment was dictated by either +cruelty or malice--I was a curiosity, a freak, a new plaything, +and their childish minds required the added evidence of all their +senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. + +Presently they dragged me within the village, which consisted of +several hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves supported upon +the branches of the trees. + +Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, were dead +branches and the trunks of small trees which connected the huts +upon one tree to those within adjoining trees; the whole network +of huts and pathways forming an almost solid flooring a good fifty +feet above the ground. + +I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges +between the trees, but later when I saw the motley aggregation of +half-savage beasts which they kept within their village I realized +the necessity for the pathways. There were a number of the same +vicious wolf-dogs which we had left worrying the dyryth, and many +goatlike animals whose distended udders explained the reasons for +their presence. + +My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; +then two of the creatures squatted down before the entrance--to +prevent my escape, doubtless. Though where I should have escaped +to I certainly had not the remotest conception. I had no more than +entered the dark shadows of the interior than there fell upon my +ears the tones of a familiar voice, in prayer. + +"Perry!" I cried. "Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you are safe." + +"David! Can it be possible that you escaped?" And the old man +stumbled toward me and threw his arms about me. + +He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been seized +by a number of the ape-creatures and borne through the tree tops +to their village. His captors had been as inquisitive as to his +strange clothing as had mine, with the same result. As we looked +at each other we could not help but laugh. + +"With a tail, David," remarked Perry, "you would make a very handsome +ape." + +"Maybe we can borrow a couple," I rejoined. "They seem to be quite +the thing this season. I wonder what the creatures intend doing +with us, Perry. They don't seem really savage. What do you +suppose they can be? You were about to tell me where we are when +that great hairy frigate bore down upon us--have you really any +idea at all?" + +"Yes, David," he replied, "I know precisely where we are. We have +made a magnificent discovery, my boy! We have proved that the +earth is hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust to the +inner world." + +"Perry, you are mad!" + +"Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our prospector +bore us through the crust beneath our outer world. At that point +it reached the center of gravity of the five-hundred-mile-thick +crust. Up to that point we had been descending--direction is, +of course, merely relative. Then at the moment that our seats +revolved--the thing that made you believe that we had turned about +and were speeding upward--we passed the center of gravity and, +though we did not alter the direction of our progress, yet we were +in reality moving upward--toward the surface of the inner world. +Does not the strange fauna and flora which we have seen convince you +that you are not in the world of your birth? And the horizon--could +it present the strange aspects which we both noted unless we were +indeed standing upon the inside surface of a sphere?" + +"But the sun, Perry!" I urged. "How in the world can the sun shine +through five hundred miles of solid crust?" + +"It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It +is another sun--an entirely different sun--that casts its eternal +noonday effulgence upon the face of the inner world. Look at it +now, David--if you can see it from the doorway of this hut--and +you will see that it is still in the exact center of the heavens. +We have been here for many hours--yet it is still noon. + +"And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a nebulous +mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. At length a thin +crust of solid matter formed upon its outer surface--a sort of +shell; but within it was partially molten matter and highly expanded +gases. As it continued to cool, what happened? Centrifugal +force hurled the particles of the nebulous center toward the crust +as rapidly as they approached a solid state. You have seen the +same principle practically applied in the modern cream separator. +Presently there was only a small super-heated core of gaseous matter +remaining within a huge vacant interior left by the contraction of +the cooling gases. The equal attraction of the solid crust from +all directions maintained this luminous core in the exact center of +the hollow globe. What remains of it is the sun you saw today--a +relatively tiny thing at the exact center of the earth. Equally +to every part of this inner world it diffuses its perpetual noonday +light and torrid heat. + +"This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal +life long ages after life appeared upon the outer crust, but that +the same agencies were at work here is evident from the similar +forms of both animal and vegetable creation which we have already +seen. Take the great beast which attacked us, for example. +Unquestionably a counterpart of the Megatherium of the post-Pliocene +period of the outer crust, whose fossilized skeleton has been found +in South America." + +"But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?" I urged. "Surely +they have no counterpart in the earth's history." + +"Who can tell?" he rejoined. "They may constitute the link between ape +and man, all traces of which have been swallowed by the countless +convulsions which have racked the outer crust, or they may be merely +the result of evolution along slightly different lines--either is +quite possible." + +Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of several +of our captors before the entrance of the hut. Two of them entered +and dragged us forth. The perilous pathways and the surrounding +trees were filled with the black ape-men, their females, and their +young. There was not an ornament, a weapon, or a garment among +the lot. + +"Quite low in the scale of creation," commented Perry. + +"Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though," I replied. +"Now what do you suppose they intend doing with us?" + +We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip to +the village we were seized by a couple of the powerful creatures +and whirled away through the tree tops, while about us and in our +wake raced a chattering, jabbering, grinning horde of sleek, black +ape-things. + +Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased beating +as we plunged toward instant death among the tangled deadwood beneath. +But on both occasions those lithe, powerful tails reached out and +found sustaining branches, nor did either of the creatures loosen +their grasp upon me. In fact, it seemed that the incidents were +of no greater moment to them than would be the stubbing of one's +toe at a street crossing in the outer world--they but laughed +uproariously and sped on with me. + +For some time they continued through the forest--how long I could +not guess for I was learning, what was later borne very forcefully +to my mind, that time ceases to be a factor the moment means for +measuring it cease to exist. Our watches were gone, and we were +living beneath a stationary sun. Already I was puzzled to compute +the period of time which had elapsed since we broke through the crust +of the inner world. It might be hours, or it might be days--who +in the world could tell where it was always noon! By the sun, no +time had elapsed--but my judgment told me that we must have been +several hours in this strange world. + +Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a level plain. +A short distance before us rose a few low, rocky hills. Toward +these our captors urged us, and after a short time led us through +a narrow pass into a tiny, circular valley. Here they got down +to work, and we were soon convinced that if we were not to die to +make a Roman holiday, we were to die for some other purpose. The +attitude of our captors altered immediately as they entered the +natural arena within the rocky hills. Their laughter ceased. Grim +ferocity marked their bestial faces--bared fangs menaced us. + +We were placed in the center of the amphitheater--the thousand +creatures forming a great ring about us. Then a wolf-dog was +brought--hyaenadon Perry called it--and turned loose with us inside +the circle. The thing's body was as large as that of a full-grown +mastiff, its legs were short and powerful, and its jaws broad +and strong. Dark, shaggy hair covered its back and sides, while +its breast and belly were quite white. As it slunk toward us it +presented a most formidable aspect with its upcurled lips baring +its mighty fangs. + +Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a small +stone. At my movement the beast veered off a bit and commenced +circling us. Evidently it had been a target for stones before. +The ape-things were dancing up and down urging the brute on with +savage cries, until at last, seeing that I did not throw, he charged +us. + +At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball teams. +My speed and control must both have been above the ordinary, for I +made such a record during my senior year at college that overtures +were made to me in behalf of one of the great major-league teams; +but in the tightest pitch that ever had confronted me in the past +I had never been in such need for control as now. + +As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles under +absolute command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling toward +me at terrific speed. And then I let go, with every ounce of my +weight and muscle and science in back of that throw. The stone +caught the hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, and sent him +bowling over upon his back. + +At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from +the circle of spectators, so that for a moment I thought that the +upsetting of their champion was the cause; but in this I soon saw +that I was mistaken. As I looked, the ape-things broke in all +directions toward the surrounding hills, and then I distinguished +the real cause of their perturbation. Behind them, streaming +through the pass which leads into the valley, came a swarm of +hairy men--gorilla-like creatures armed with spears and hatchets, +and bearing long, oval shields. Like demons they set upon the +ape-things, and before them the hyaenodon, which had now regained +its senses and its feet, fled howling with fright. Past us swept +the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy ones accord us +more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its +former occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to +have authority among them directed that we be brought with them. + +When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great plain we +saw a caravan of men and women--human beings like ourselves--and +for the first time hope and relief filled my heart, until I could +have cried out in the exuberance of my happiness. It is true that +they were a half-naked, wild-appearing aggregation; but they at +least were fashioned along the same lines as ourselves--there was +nothing grotesque or horrible about them as about the other creatures +in this strange, weird world. + +But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we discovered +that the poor wretches were chained neck to neck in a long line, +and that the gorilla-men were their guards. With little ceremony +Perry and I were chained at the end of the line, and without further +ado the interrupted march was resumed. + +Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now the +tiresome monotony of the long march across the sun-baked plain +brought on all the agonies consequent to a long-denied sleep. On +and on we stumbled beneath that hateful noonday sun. If we fell +we were prodded with a sharp point. Our companions in chains did +not stumble. They strode along proudly erect. Occasionally they +would exchange words with one another in a monosyllabic language. +They were a noble-appearing race with well-formed heads and perfect +physiques. The men were heavily bearded, tall and muscular; the +women, smaller and more gracefully molded, with great masses of +raven hair caught into loose knots upon their heads. The features +of both sexes were well proportioned--there was not a face among +them that would have been called even plain if judged by earthly +standards. They wore no ornaments; but this I later learned was +due to the fact that their captors had stripped them of everything +of value. As garmenture the women possessed a single robe of +some light-colored, spotted hide, rather similar in appearance to +a leopard's skin. This they wore either supported entirely about +the waist by a leathern thong, so that it hung partially below the +knee on one side, or possibly looped gracefully across one shoulder. +Their feet were shod with skin sandals. The men wore loin cloths of +the hide of some shaggy beast, long ends of which depended before +and behind nearly to the ground. In some instances these ends were +finished with the strong talons of the beast from which the hides +had been taken. + +Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like men, +were rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so they were +indeed mighty creatures. Their arms and legs were proportioned +more in conformity with human standards, but their entire bodies +were covered with shaggy, brown hair, and their faces were quite as +brutal as those of the few stuffed specimens of the gorilla which +I had seen in the museums at home. + +Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head +above and back of the ears. In this respect they were not one +whit less human than we. They were clothed in a sort of tunic of +light cloth which reached to the knees. Beneath this they wore +only a loin cloth of the same material, while their feet were shod +with thick hide of some mammoth creature of this inner world. + +Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metal--silver +predominating--and on their tunics were sewn the heads of tiny +reptiles in odd and rather artistic designs. They talked among +themselves as they marched along on either side of us, but in a +language which I perceived differed from that employed by our fellow +prisoners. When they addressed the latter they used what appeared +to be a third language, and which I later learned is a mongrel +tongue rather analogous to the Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie. + +How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of us +were asleep much of the time for hours before a halt was called--then +we dropped in our tracks. I say "for hours," but how may one +measure time where time does not exist! When our march commenced +the sun stood at zenith. When we halted our shadows still pointed +toward nadir. Whether an instant or an eternity of earthly time +elapsed who may say. That march may have occupied nine years and +eleven months of the ten years that I spent in the inner world, +or it may have been accomplished in the fraction of a second--I +cannot tell. But this I do know that since you have told me that +ten years have elapsed since I departed from this earth I have lost +all respect for time--I am commencing to doubt that such a thing +exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man. + + + +IV + +DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL + + +WHEN OUR GUARDS AROUSED US FROM SLEEP WE were much refreshed. They +gave us food. Strips of dried meat it was, but it put new life and +strength into us, so that now we too marched with high-held heads, +and took noble strides. At least I did, for I was young and proud; +but poor Perry hated walking. On earth I had often seen him call +a cab to travel a square--he was paying for it now, and his old +legs wobbled so that I put my arm about him and half carried him +through the balance of those frightful marches. + +The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the +level plain through mighty mountains of virgin granite. The tropical +verdure of the lowlands was replaced by hardier vegetation, but +even here the effects of constant heat and light were apparent in +the immensity of the trees and the profusion of foliage and blooms. +Crystal streams roared through their rocky channels, fed by the +perpetual snows which we could see far above us. Above the snowcapped +heights hung masses of heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, +which evidently served the double purpose of replenishing the +melting snows and protecting them from the direct rays of the sun. + +By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard language +in which our guards addressed us, as well as making good headway +in the rather charming tongue of our co-captives. Directly ahead +of me in the chain gang was a young woman. Three feet of chain +linked us together in a forced companionship which I, at least, +soon rejoiced in. For I found her a willing teacher, and from +her I learned the language of her tribe, and much of the life and +customs of the inner world--at least that part of it with which +she was familiar. + +She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she +belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs above +the Darel Az, or shallow sea. + +"How came you here?" I asked her. + +"I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she answered, as +though that was explanation quite sufficient. + +"Who is Jubal the Ugly One?" I asked. "And why did you run away +from him?" + +She looked at me in surprise. + +"Why DOES a woman run away from a man?" she answered my question +with another. + +"They do not, where I come from," I replied. "Sometimes they run +after them." + +But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the +fact that I was of another world. She was quite as positive that +creation was originated solely to produce her own kind and the +world she lived in as are many of the outer world. + +"But Jubal," I insisted. "Tell me about him, and why you ran away +to be chained by the neck and scourged across the face of a world." + +"Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father's house. It +was the head of a mighty tandor. It remained there and no greater +trophy was placed beside it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One +would come and take me as his mate. None other so powerful wished +me, or they would have slain a mightier beast and thus have won me +from Jubal. My father is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a +sadok tossed him, and never again had he the full use of his right +arm. My brother, Dacor the Strong One, had gone to the land of +Sari to steal a mate for himself. Thus there was none, father, +brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal the Ugly One, and I ran +away and hid among the hills that skirt the land of Amoz. And +there these Sagoths found me and made me captive." + +"What will they do with you?" I asked. "Where are they taking us?" + +Again she looked her incredulity. + +"I can almost believe that you are of another world," she said, +"for otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable. Do you really +mean that you do not know that the Sagoths are the creatures of +the Mahars--the mighty Mahars who think they own Pellucidar and all +that walks or grows upon its surface, or creeps or burrows beneath, +or swims within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its air? Next +you will be telling me that you never before heard of the Mahars!" + +I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there was +no alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a clean +breast of my pitiful ignorance as to the mighty Mahars. She was +shocked. But she did her very best to enlighten me, though much +that she said was as Greek would have been to her. She described +the Mahars largely by comparisons. In this way they were like unto +thipdars, in that to the hairless lidi. + +About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had +wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground; +could swim under water for great distances, and were very, very +wise. The Sagoths were their weapons of offense and defense, and +the races like herself were their hands and feet--they were the +slaves and servants who did all the manual labor. The Mahars were +the heads--the brains--of the inner world. I longed to see this +wondrous race of supermen. + +Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we +occasionally did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he +would join in the conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who +was chained just ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was +Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the conversation occasionally. +Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It +didn't take half an eye to see that he had developed a bad case; but +the girl appeared totally oblivious to his thinly veiled advances. +Did I say thinly veiled? There is a race of men in New Zealand, +or Australia, I have forgotten which, who indicate their preference +for the lady of their affections by banging her over the head with +a bludgeon. By comparison with this method Hooja's lovemaking might +be called thinly veiled. At first it caused me to blush violently +although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in other +less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, and Hamburg. + +But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she +considered herself as entirely above and apart from her present +surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with Perry, and +with the taciturn Ghak because we were respectful; but she couldn't +even see Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, and that made him +furious. He tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up +ahead of him in the slave gang, but the fellow only poked him with +his spear and told him that he had selected the girl for his own +property--that he would buy her from the Mahars as soon as they +reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, was the city of our destination. + +After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt +sea, upon whose bosom swam countless horrid things. Seal-like +creatures there were with long necks stretching ten and more feet +above their enormous bodies and whose snake heads were split with +gaping mouths bristling with countless fangs. There were huge +tortoises too, paddling about among these other reptiles, which +Perry said were Plesiosaurs of the Lias. I didn't question his +veracity--they might have been most anything. + +Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that +the other, and more fearsome reptiles, which occasionally rose from +the deep to do battle with them, were azdyryths, or sea-dyryths--Perry +called them Ichthyosaurs. They resembled a whale with the head of +an alligator. + +I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at school--about +all that remained was an impression of horror that the illustrations +of restored prehistoric monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined +belief that any man with a pig's shank and a vivid imagination +could "restore" most any sort of paleolithic monster he saw fit, +and take rank as a first class paleontologist. But when I saw these +sleek, shiny carcasses shimmering in the sunlight as they emerged +from the ocean, shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters +roll from their sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided +hither and thither, now upon the surface, now half submerged; as I +saw them meet, open-mouthed, hissing and snorting, in their titanic +and interminable warring I realized how futile is man's poor, weak +imagination by comparison with Nature's incredible genius. + +And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so himself. + +"David," he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside +that awful sea. "David, I used to teach geology, and I thought +that I believed what I taught; but now I see that I did not believe +it--that it is impossible for man to believe such things as these +unless he sees them with his own eyes. We take things for granted, +perhaps, because we are told them over and over again, and have no +way of disproving them--like religions, for example; but we don't +believe them, we only think we do. If you ever get back to the +outer world you will find that the geologists and paleontologists +will be the first to set you down a liar, for they know that no +such creatures as they restore ever existed. It is all right to +IMAGINE them as existing in an equally imaginary epoch--but now? +poof!" + +At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack +chain to permit him to worm himself back quite close to Dian. We +were all standing, and as he edged near the girl she turned her +back upon him in such a truly earthly feminine manner that I could +scarce repress a smile; but it was a short-lived smile for on the +instant the Sly One's hand fell upon the girl's bare arm, jerking +her roughly toward him. + +I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics +which prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need the +appealing look which the girl shot to me from her magnificent eyes +to influence my subsequent act. What the Sly One's intention was +I paused not to inquire; but instead, before he could lay hold of +her with his other hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw +that felled him in his tracks. + +A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and +the Sagoths who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I later +learned, because I had championed the girl, but for the neat and, +to them, astounding method by which I had bested Hooja. + +And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering +eyes, and then she dropped her head, her face half averted, and a +delicate flush suffused her cheek. For a moment she stood thus in +silence, and then her head went high, and she turned her back upon +me as she had upon Hooja. Some of the prisoners laughed, and I +saw the face of Ghak the Hairy One go very black as he looked at +me searchingly. And what I could see of Dian's cheek went suddenly +from red to white. + +Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that +in some way I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could not prevail +upon her to talk with me that I might learn wherein I had erred--in +fact I might quite as well have been addressing a sphinx for all +the attention I got. At last my own foolish pride stepped in and +prevented my making any further attempts, and thus a companionship +that without my realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me was +cut off. Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja +did not renew his advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture +near me. + +Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became a +perfect nightmare of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed became +the realization that the girl's friendship had meant so much to me, +the more I came to miss it; and the more impregnable the barrier +of silly pride. But I was very young and would not ask Ghak for +the explanation which I was sure he could give, and that might have +made everything all right again. + +On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice +me--when her eyes wandered in my direction she looked either over +my head or directly through me. At last I became desperate, and +determined to swallow my self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me +how I had offended, and how I might make reparation. I made up my +mind that I should do this at the next halt. We were approaching +another range of mountains at the time, and when we reached them, +instead of winding across them through some high-flung pass we +entered a mighty natural tunnel--a series of labyrinthine grottoes, +dark as Erebus. + +The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we +had seen no artificial light or sign of fire since we had entered +Pellucidar. In a land of perpetual noon there is no need of light +above ground, yet I marveled that they had no means of lighting +their way through these dark, subterranean passages. So we crept +along at a snail's pace, with much stumbling and falling--the +guards keeping up a singsong chant ahead of us, interspersed with +certain high notes which I found always indicated rough places and +turns. + +Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian +until I could see from the expression of her face how she was +receiving my apologies. At last a faint glow ahead forewarned us +of the end of the tunnel, for which I for one was devoutly thankful. +Then at a sudden turn we emerged into the full light of the noonday +sun. + +But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a +real catastrophe--Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen other +prisoners. The guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage +was terrible to behold. Their awesome, bestial faces were contorted +in the most diabolical expressions, as they accused each other of +responsibility for the loss. Finally they fell upon us, beating +us with their spear shafts, and hatchets. They had already killed +two near the head of the line, and were like to have finished the +balance of us when their leader finally put a stop to the brutal +slaughter. Never in all my life had I witnessed a more horrible +exhibition of bestial rage--I thanked God that Dian had not been +one of those left to endure it. + +Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each +alternate one had been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja was gone. +Ghak remained. What could it mean? How had it been accomplished? +The commander of the guards was investigating. Soon he discovered +that the rude locks which had held the neckbands in place had been +deftly picked. + +"Hooja the Sly One," murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. +"He has taken the girl that you would not have," he continued, +glancing at me. + +"That I would not have!" I cried. "What do you mean?" + +He looked at me closely for a moment. + +"I have doubted your story that you are from another world," he +said at last, "but yet upon no other grounds could your ignorance +of the ways of Pellucidar be explained. Do you really mean that +you do not know that you offended the Beautiful One, and how?" + +"I do not know, Ghak," I replied. + +"Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes +between another man and the woman the other man would have, the +woman belongs to the victor. Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. +You should have claimed her or released her. Had you taken her +hand, it would have indicated your desire to make her your mate, +and had you raised her hand above her head and then dropped it, +it would have meant that you did not wish her for a mate and that +you released her from all obligation to you. By doing neither you +have put upon her the greatest affront that a man may put upon a +woman. Now she is your slave. No man will take her as mate, or +may take her honorably, until he shall have overcome you in combat, +and men do not choose slave women as their mates--at least not the +men of Pellucidar." + +"I did not know, Ghak," I cried. "I did not know. Not for all +Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, or look, +or act of mine. I do not want her as my slave. I do not want her +as my--" but here I stopped. The vision of that sweet and innocent +face floated before me amidst the soft mists of imagination, and +where I had on the second believed that I clung only to the memory +of a gentle friendship I had lost, yet now it seemed that it would +have been disloyalty to her to have said that I did not want Dian +the Beautiful as my mate. I had not thought of her except as a +welcome friend in a strange, cruel world. Even now I did not think +that I loved her. + +I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than +in my words, for presently he laid his hand upon my shoulder. + +"Man of another world," he said, "I believe you. Lips may lie, +but when the heart speaks through the eyes it tells only the truth. +Your heart has spoken to me. I know now that you meant no affront +to Dian the Beautiful. She is not of my tribe; but her mother is +my sister. She does not know it--her mother was stolen by Dian's +father who came with many others of the tribe of Amoz to battle +with us for our women--the most beautiful women of Pellucidar. +Then was her father king of Amoz, and her mother was daughter of +the king of Sari--to whose power I, his son, have succeeded. Dian +is the daughter of kings, though her father is no longer king since +the sadok tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One wrested his kingship +from him. Because of her lineage the wrong you did her was greatly +magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never forgive +you." + +I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the +girl from the bondage and ignominy I had unwittingly placed upon +her. + +"If ever you find her, yes," he answered. "Merely to raise her hand +above her head and drop it in the presence of others is sufficient +to release her; but how may you ever find her, you who are doomed +to a life of slavery yourself in the buried city of Phutra?" + +"Is there no escape?" I asked. + +"Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him," replied +Ghak. "But there are no more dark places on the way to Phutra, +and once there it is not so easy--the Mahars are very wise. Even +if one escaped from Phutra there are the thipdars--they would find +you, and then--" the Hairy One shuddered. "No, you will never +escape the Mahars." + +It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought about +it; but he only shrugged his shoulders and continued a longwinded +prayer he had been at for some time. He was wont to say that the +only redeeming feature of our captivity was the ample time it gave +him for the improvisation of prayers--it was becoming an obsession +with him. The Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of +declaiming throughout entire marches. One of them asked him what +he was saying--to whom he was talking. The question gave me an +idea, so I answered quickly before Perry could say anything. + +"Do not interrupt him," I said. "He is a very holy man in the world +from which we come. He is speaking to spirits which you cannot +see--do not interrupt him or they will spring out of the air upon +you and rend you limb from limb--like that," and I jumped toward +the great brute with a loud "Boo!" that sent him stumbling backward. + +I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital +out of Perry's harmless mania I wanted to make it while the making +was prime. It worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with +marked respect during the balance of the journey, and then passed +the word along to their masters, the Mahars. + +Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The +entrance to it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, which +guarded a flight of steps leading to the buried city. Sagoths +were on guard here as well as at a hundred or more other towers +scattered about over a large plain. + + + +V + +SLAVES + + +AS WE DESCENDED THE BROAD STAIRCASE WHICH led to the main avenue of +Phutra I caught my first sight of the dominant race of the inner +world. Involuntarily I shrank back as one of the creatures approached +to inspect us. A more hideous thing it would be impossible to +imagine. The all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar are great reptiles, +some six or eight feet in length, with long narrow heads and great +round eyes. Their beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white +fangs, and the backs of their huge, lizard bodies are serrated +into bony ridges from their necks to the end of their long tails. +Their feet are equipped with three webbed toes, while from the fore +feet membranous wings, which are attached to their bodies just in +front of the hind legs, protrude at an angle of 45 degrees toward +the rear, ending in sharp points several feet above their bodies. + +I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. The old +man was gazing at the horrid creature with wide astonished eyes. +When it passed on, he turned to me. + +"A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David," he said, "but, +gad, how enormous! The largest remains we ever have discovered have +never indicated a size greater than that attained by an ordinary +crow." + +As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw many +thousand of the creatures coming and going upon their daily duties. +They paid but little attention to us. Phutra is laid out underground +with a regularity that indicates remarkable engineering skill. It +is hewn from solid limestone strata. The streets are broad and +of a uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals tubes pierce the +roof of this underground city, and by means of lenses and reflectors +transmit the sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would +otherwise be Cimmerian darkness. In like manner air is introduced. + +Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, +where one of the Sagoths who had formed our guard explained to a +Maharan official the circumstances surrounding our capture. The +method of communication between these two was remarkable in that +no spoken words were exchanged. They employed a species of sign +language. As I was to learn later, the Mahars have no ears, not +any spoken language. Among themselves they communicate by means +of what Perry says must be a sixth sense which is cognizant of a +fourth dimension. + +I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain it +to me upon numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, but he said +no, that it was not telepathy since they could only communicate when +in each others' presence, nor could they talk with the Sagoths or +the other inhabitants of Pellucidar by the same method they used +to converse with one another. + +"What they do," said Perry, "is to project their thoughts into the +fourth dimension, when they become appreciable to the sixth sense +of their listener. Do I make myself quite clear?" + +"You do not, Perry," I replied. He shook his head in despair, +and returned to his work. They had set us to carrying a great +accumulation of Maharan literature from one apartment to another, +and there arranging it upon shelves. I suggested to Perry that we +were in the public library of Phutra, but later, as he commenced +to discover the key to their written language, he assured me that +we were handling the ancient archives of the race. + +During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian the +Beautiful. I was, of course, glad that she had escaped the Mahars, +and the fate that had been suggested by the Sagoth who had threatened +to purchase her upon our arrival at Phutra. I often wondered if +the little party of fugitives had been overtaken by the guards who +had returned to search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but +that I should have been more contented to know that Dian was here +in Phutra, than to think of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. +Ghak, Perry, and I often talked together of possible escape, but +the Sarian was so steeped in his lifelong belief that no one could +escape from the Mahars except by a miracle, that he was not much +aid to us--his attitude was of one who waits for the miracle to +come to him. + +At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps of +iron which we discovered among some rubbish in the cells where we +slept, for we were permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action +within the limits of the building to which we had been assigned. +So great were the number of slaves who waited upon the inhabitants +of Phutra that none of us was apt to be overburdened with work, +nor were our masters unkind to us. + +We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and +then Perry conceived the idea of making bows and arrows--weapons +apparently unknown within Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these +I found it easier to steal from the walls of the outer guardroom +of the building. + +We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving +Phutra when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture the escaped +prisoners returned with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian +and two others had eluded them. It so happened that Hooja was +confined in the same building with us. He told Ghak that he had not +seen Dian or the others after releasing them within the dark grotto. +What had become of them he had not the faintest conception--they +might be wandering yet, lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if +not dead from starvation. + +I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at +this time, I imagine, came the first realization that my affection +for the girl might be prompted by more than friendship. During +my waking hours she was constantly the subject of my thoughts, and +when I slept her dear face haunted my dreams. More than ever was +I determined to escape the Mahars. + +"Perry," I confided to the old man, "if I have to search every +inch of this diminutive world I am going to find Dian the Beautiful +and right the wrong I unintentionally did her." That was the excuse +I made for Perry's benefit. + +"Diminutive world!" he scoffed. "You don't know what you are +talking about, my boy," and then he showed me a map of Pellucidar +which he had recently discovered among the manuscript he was +arranging. + +"Look," he cried, pointing to it, "this is evidently water, and +all this land. Do you notice the general configuration of the two +areas? Where the oceans are upon the outer crust, is land here. +These relatively small areas of ocean follow the general lines of +the continents of the outer world. + +"We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; +then the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 miles, and the +superficial area 165,480,000 square miles. Three-fourths of this +is land. Think of it! A land area of 124,110,000 square miles! +Our own world contains but 53,000,000 square miles of land, the +balance of its surface being covered by water. Just as we often +compare nations by their relative land areas, so if we compare +these two worlds in the same way we have the strange anomaly of a +larger world within a smaller one! + +"Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your Dian? +Without stars, or moon, or changing sun how could you find her even +though you knew where she might be found?" + +The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; but +I found that it left me all the more determined to attempt it. + +"If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it," I suggested. + +Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight to him. + +"Ghak," I said, "we are determined to escape from this bondage. +Will you accompany us?" + +"They will set the thipdars upon us," he said, "and then we shall +be killed; but--" he hesitated--"I would take the chance if I +thought that I might possibly escape and return to my own people." + +"Could you find your way back to your own land?" asked Perry. "And +could you aid David in his search for Dian?" + +"Yes." + +"But how," persisted Perry, "could you travel to strange country +without heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?" + +Ghak didn't know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a compass, +but he assured us that you might blindfold any man of Pellucidar +and carry him to the farthermost corner of the world, yet he would +be able to come directly to his own home again by the shortest route. +He seemed surprised to think that we found anything wonderful in +it. Perry said it must be some sort of homing instinct such as is +possessed by certain breeds of earthly pigeons. I didn't know, of +course, but it gave me an idea. + +"Then Dian could have found her way directly to her own people?" +I asked. + +"Surely," replied Ghak, "unless some mighty beast of prey killed +her." + +I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry and +Ghak counseled waiting for some propitious accident which would +insure us some small degree of success. I didn't see what accident +could befall a whole community in a land of perpetual daylight where +the inhabitants had no fixed habits of sleep. Why, I am sure that +some of the Mahars never sleep, while others may, at long intervals, +crawl into the dark recesses beneath their dwellings and curl up +in protracted slumber. Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for +three years he will make up all his lost sleep in a long year's +snooze. That may be all true, but I never saw but three of them +asleep, and it was the sight of these three that gave me a suggestion +for our means of escape. + +I had been searching about far below the levels that we slaves were +supposed to frequent--possibly fifty feet beneath the main floor +of the building--among a network of corridors and apartments, when +I came suddenly upon three Mahars curled up upon a bed of skins. At +first I thought they were dead, but later their regular breathing +convinced me of my error. Like a flash the thought came to me of +the marvelous opportunity these sleeping reptiles offered as a means +of eluding the watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth guards. + +Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, to +me, meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. To my +surprise he was horrified. + +"It would be murder, David," he cried. + +"Murder to kill a reptilian monster?" I asked in astonishment. + +"Here they are not monsters, David," he replied. "Here they are +the dominant race--we are the 'monsters'--the lower orders. In +Pellucidar evolution has progressed along different lines than +upon the outer earth. These terrible convulsions of nature time +and time again wiped out the existing species--but for this fact +some monster of the Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own +world. We see here what might well have occurred in our own history +had conditions been what they have been here. + +"Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. +Here man has but reached a stage analogous to the Stone Age of +our own world's history, but for countless millions of years these +reptiles have been progressing. Possibly it is the sixth sense +which I am sure they possess that has given them an advantage over +the other and more frightfully armed of their fellows; but this +we may never know. They look upon us as we look upon the beasts +of our fields, and I learn from their written records that other +races of Mahars feed upon men--they keep them in great droves, as +we keep cattle. They breed them most carefully, and when they are +quite fat, they kill and eat them." + +I shuddered. + +"What is there horrible about it, David?" the old man asked. "They +understand us no better than we understand the lower animals of our +own world. Why, I have come across here very learned discussions +of the question as to whether gilaks, that is men, have any means +of communication. One writer claims that we do not even reason--that +our every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race +of Pellucidar, David, have not yet learned that men converse among +themselves, or reason. Because we do not converse as they do it +is beyond them to imagine that we converse at all. It is thus that +we reason in relation to the brutes of our own world. They know +that the Sagoths have a spoken language, but they cannot comprehend +it, or how it manifests itself, since they have no auditory apparatus. +They believe that the motions of the lips alone convey the meaning. +That the Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible to +them. + +"Yes, David," he concluded, "it would entail murder to carry out +your plan." + +"Very well then, Perry." I replied. "I shall become a murderer." + +He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for some +reason which was not at the time clear to me insisted upon a very +careful description of the apartments and corridors I had just +explored. + +"I wonder, David," he said at length, "as you are determined to +carry out your wild scheme, if we could not accomplish something +of very real and lasting benefit for the human race of Pellucidar +at the same time. Listen, I have learned much of a most surprising +nature from these archives of the Mahars. That you may not appreciate +my plan I shall briefly outline the history of the race. + +"Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, little +by little, assumed the mastery. For other ages no noticeable change +took place in the race of Mahars. It continued to progress under +the intelligent and beneficent rule of the ladies. Science took +vast strides. This was especially true of the sciences which we +know as biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female scientist +announced the fact that she had discovered a method whereby eggs +might be fertilized by chemical means after they were laid--all +true reptiles, you know, are hatched from eggs. + +"What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased to +exist--the race was no longer dependent upon them. More ages elapsed +until at the present time we find a race consisting exclusively +of females. But here is the point. The secret of this chemical +formula is kept by a single race of Mahars. It is in the city of +Phutra, and unless I am greatly in error I judge from your description +of the vaults through which you passed today that it lies hidden +in the cellar of this building. + +"For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. First, +because upon it depends the very life of the race of Mahars, and second, +owing to the fact that when it was public property as at first so +many were experimenting with it that the danger of over-population +became very grave. + +"David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us this +great secret what will we not have accomplished for the human race +within Pellucidar!" The very thought of it fairly overpowered me. +Why, we two would be the means of placing the men of the inner world +in their rightful place among created things. Only the Sagoths +would then stand between them and absolute supremacy, and I was +not quite sure but that the Sagoths owed all their power to the +greater intelligence of the Mahars--I could not believe that these +gorilla-like beasts were the mental superiors of the human race of +Pellucidar. + +"Why, Perry," I exclaimed, "you and I may reclaim a whole world! +Together we can lead the races of men out of the darkness of ignorance +into the light of advancement and civilization. At one step we may +carry them from the Age of Stone to the twentieth century. It's +marvelous--absolutely marvelous just to think about it." + +"David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us here for just +that purpose--it shall be my life work to teach them His word--to +lead them into the light of His mercy while we are training their +hearts and hands in the ways of culture and civilization." + +"You are right, Perry," I said, "and while you are teaching them +to pray I'll be teaching them to fight, and between us we'll make +a race of men that will be an honor to us both." + +Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded our +conversation, and now he wanted to know what we were so excited +about. Perry thought we had best not tell him too much, and so I +only explained that I had a plan for escape. When I had outlined +it to him, he seemed about as horror-struck as Perry had been; but +for a different reason. The Hairy One only considered the horrible +fate that would be ours were we discovered; but at last I prevailed +upon him to accept my plan as the only feasible one, and when I had +assured him that I would take all the responsibility for it were +we captured, he accorded a reluctant assent. + + + +VI + +THE BEGINNING OF HORROR + + +WITHIN PELLUCIDAR ONE TIME IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER. There were no +nights to mask our attempted escape. All must be done in broad +daylight--all but the work I had to do in the apartment beneath the +building. So we determined to put our plan to an immediate test +lest the Mahars who made it possible should awake before I reached +them; but we were doomed to disappointment, for no sooner had +we reached the main floor of the building on our way to the pits +beneath, than we encountered hurrying bands of slaves being hastened +under strong Sagoth guard out of the edifice to the avenue beyond. + +Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of other +slaves, and the moment that we appeared we were pounced upon and +hustled into the line of marching humans. + +What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not know, +but presently through the line of captives ran the rumor that two +escaped slaves had been recaptured--a man and a woman--and that we +were marching to witness their punishment, for the man had killed +a Sagoth of the detachment that had pursued and overtaken them. + +At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was sure +that the two were of those who escaped in the dark grotto with +Hooja the Sly One, and that Dian must be the woman. Ghak thought +so too, as did Perry. + +"Is there naught that we may do to save her?" I asked Ghak. + +"Naught," he replied. + +Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing unusual +cruelty toward us, as though we, too, had been implicated in the +murder of their fellow. The occasion was to serve as an object-lesson +to all other slaves of the danger and futility of attempted escape, +and the fatal consequences of taking the life of a superior being, +and so I imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making the +entire proceeding as uncomfortable and painful to us as possible. + +They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets +at the least provocation, and at no provocation at all. It was a +most uncomfortable half-hour that we spent before we were finally +herded through a low entrance into a huge building the center of +which was given up to a good-sized arena. Benches surrounded this +open space upon three sides, and along the fourth were heaped huge +bowlders which rose in receding tiers toward the roof. + +At first I couldn't make out the purpose of this mighty pile of +rock, unless it were intended as a rough and picturesque background +for the scenes which were enacted in the arena before it, but +presently, after the wooden benches had been pretty well filled by +slaves and Sagoths, I discovered the purpose of the bowlders, for +then the Mahars began to file into the enclosure. + +They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon the +opposite side, where, spreading their bat-like wings, they rose +above the high wall of the pit, settling down upon the bowlders +above. These were the reserved seats, the boxes of the elect. + +Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone is +to them as plush as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, blinking +their hideous eyes, and doubtless conversing with one another in +their sixth-sense-fourth-dimension language. + +For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from the +others in no feature that was appreciable to my earthly eyes, in +fact all Mahars look alike to me: but when she crossed the arena +after the balance of her female subjects had found their bowlders, +she was preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, the largest I ever +had seen, and on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, while +behind came another score of Sagoth guardsmen. + +At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly +apelike agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose upon her +wings with her two frightful dragons close beside her, and settled +down upon the largest bowlder of them all in the exact center of +that side of the amphitheater which is reserved for the dominant +race. Here she squatted, a most repulsive and uninteresting queen; +though doubtless quite as well assured of her beauty and divine +right to rule as the proudest monarch of the outer world. + +And then the music started--music without sound! The Mahars cannot +hear, so the drums and fifes and horns of earthly bands are unknown +among them. The "band" consists of a score or more Mahars. It +filed out in the center of the arena where the creatures upon the +rocks might see it, and there it performed for fifteen or twenty +minutes. + +Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their +heads in a regular succession of measured movements resulting in a +cadence which evidently pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence +of our own instrumental music pleases our ears. Sometimes the band +took measured steps in unison to one side or the other, or backward +and again forward--it all seemed very silly and meaningless to me, +but at the end of the first piece the Mahars upon the rocks showed +the first indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by +the dominant race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up +and down, and smote their rocky perches with their mighty tails +until the ground shook. Then the band started another piece, and +all was again as silent as the grave. That was one great beauty +about Mahar music--if you didn't happen to like a piece that was +being played all you had to do was shut your eyes. + +When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and settled +upon the rocks above and behind the queen. Then the business of +the day was on. A man and woman were pushed into the arena by a +couple of Sagoth guardsmen. I leaned forward in my seat to scrutinize +the female--hoping against hope that she might prove to be another +than Dian the Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a while, and +the sight of the great mass of raven hair piled high upon her head +filled me with alarm. + +Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to admit +a huge, shaggy, bull-like creature. + +"A Bos," whispered Perry, excitedly. "His kind roamed the outer +crust with the cave bear and the mammoth ages and ages ago. We +have been carried back a million years, David, to the childhood of +a planet--is it not wondrous?" + +But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, and my heart +stood still in dumb misery at the sight of her, nor had I any eyes +for the wonders of natural history. But for Perry and Ghak I should +have leaped to the floor of the arena and shared whatever fate lay +in store for this priceless treasure of the Stone Age. + +With the advent of the Bos--they call the thing a thag within +Pellucidar--two spears were tossed into the arena at the feet of +the prisoners. It seemed to me that a bean shooter would have been +as effective against the mighty monster as these pitiful weapons. + +As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the ground +with the strength of many earthly bulls, another door directly +beneath us was opened, and from it issued the most terrific roar +that ever had fallen upon my outraged ears. I could not at first +see the beast from which emanated this fearsome challenge, but +the sound had the effect of bringing the two victims around with +a sudden start, and then I saw the girl's face--she was not Dian! +I could have wept for relief. + +And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of +that fearsome sound creeping stealthily into view. It was a huge +tiger--such as hunted the great Bos through the jungles primeval +when the world was young. In contour and markings it was not unlike +the noblest of the Bengals of our own world, but as its dimensions +were exaggerated to colossal proportions so too were its colorings +exaggerated. Its vivid yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites +were as eider down; its blacks glossy as the finest anthracite +coal, and its coat long and shaggy as a mountain goat. That it +is a beautiful animal there is no gainsaying, but if its size and +colors are magnified here within Pellucidar, so is the ferocity of +its disposition. It is not the occasional member of its species +that is a man hunter--all are man hunters; but they do not confine +their foraging to man alone, for there is no flesh or fish within +Pellucidar that they will not eat with relish in the constant efforts +which they make to furnish their huge carcasses with sufficient +sustenance to maintain their mighty thews. + +Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and advanced, +and upon the other tarag, the frightful, crept toward them with +gaping mouth and dripping fangs. + +The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. At +the sound of the roaring of the tiger the bull's bellowing became +a veritable frenzy of rageful noise. Never in my life had I heard +such an infernal din as the two brutes made, and to think it was +all lost upon the hideous reptiles for whom the show was staged! + +The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from the +other. The two puny things standing between them seemed already +lost, but at the very moment that the beasts were upon them the man +grasped his companion by the arm and together they leaped to one +side, while the frenzied creatures came together like locomotives +in collision. + +There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful +ferocity transcends the power of imagination or description. Time +and again the colossal bull tossed the enormous tiger high into the +air, but each time that the huge cat touched the ground he returned +to the encounter with apparently undiminished strength, and seemingly +increased ire. + +For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with keeping +out of the way of the two creatures, but finally I saw them separate +and each creep stealthily toward one of the combatants. The tiger +was now upon the bull's broad back, clinging to the huge neck with +powerful fangs while its long, strong talons ripped the heavy hide +into shreds and ribbons. + +For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with pain and +rage, its cloven hoofs widespread, its tail lashing viciously from +side to side, and then, in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening +about the arena in frenzied attempt to unseat its rending rider. +It was with difficulty that the girl avoided the first mad rush of +the wounded animal. + +All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, until +in desperation it threw itself upon the ground, rolling over and +over. A little of this so disconcerted the tiger, knocking its +breath from it I imagine, that it lost its hold and then, quick +as a cat, the great thag was up again and had buried those mighty +horns deep in the tarag's abdomen, pinning him to the floor of the +arena. + +The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears were +gone, and naught but a few strips of ragged, bloody flesh remained +upon the skull. Yet through all the agony of that fearful punishment +the thag still stood motionless pinning down his adversary, and +then the man leaped in, seeing that the blind bull would be the +least formidable enemy, and ran his spear through the tarag's heart. + +As the animal's fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his gory, +sightless head, and with a horrid roar ran headlong across the +arena. With great leaps and bounds he came, straight toward the +arena wall directly beneath where we sat, and then accident carried +him, in one of his mighty springs, completely over the barrier into +the midst of the slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. Swinging +his bloody horns from side to side the beast cut a wide swath +before him straight upward toward our seats. Before him slaves +and gorilla-men fought in mad stampede to escape the menace of the +creature's death agonies, for such only could that frightful charge +have been. + +Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for the +exits, many of which pierced the wall of the amphitheater behind +us. Perry, Ghak, and I became separated in the chaos which reigned +for a few moments after the beast cleared the wall of the arena, +each intent upon saving his own hide. + +I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the fear mad +mob that were battling to escape. One would have thought that an +entire herd of thags was loose behind them, rather than a single +blinded, dying beast; but such is the effect of panic upon a crowd. + + + +VII + +FREEDOM + + +ONCE OUT OF THE DIRECT PATH OF THE ANIMAL, fear of it left me, +but another emotion as quickly gripped me--hope of escape that the +demoralized condition of the guards made possible for the instant. + +I thought of Perry, but for the hope that I might better encompass +his release if myself free I should have put the thought of freedom +from me at once. As it was I hastened on toward the right searching +for an exit toward which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I +found it--a low, narrow aperture leading into a dark corridor. + +Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into the +shadows of the tunnel, feeling my way along through the gloom for +some distance. The noises of the amphitheater had grown fainter and +fainter until now all was as silent as the tomb about me. Faint +light filtered from above through occasional ventilating and lighting +tubes, but it was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes to cope +with the darkness, and so I was forced to move with extreme care, +feeling my way along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside +me. + +Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my delight, +I came upon a flight of steps leading upward, at the top of which +the brilliant light of the noonday sun shone through an opening in +the ground. + +Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel's end, and peering +out saw the broad plain of Phutra before me. The numerous lofty, +granite towers which mark the several entrances to the subterranean +city were all in front of me--behind, the plain stretched level +and unbroken to the nearby foothills. I had come to the surface, +then, beyond the city, and my chances for escape seemed much +enhanced. + +My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to cross +the plain, so deeply implanted are habits of thought; but of a +sudden I recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance which envelopes +Pellucidar, and with a smile I stepped forth into the daylight. + +Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of Phutra--the gorgeous +flowering grass of the inner world, each particular blade of which +is tipped with a tiny, five-pointed blossom--brilliant little stars +of varying colors that twinkle in the green foliage to add still +another charm to the weird, yet lovely, landscape. + +But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant hills +in which I hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, trampling +the myriad beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the +force of gravity is less upon the surface of the inner world than +upon that of the outer. He explained it all to me once, but I +was never particularly brilliant in such matters and so most of it +has escaped me. As I recall it the difference is due in some part +to the counter-attraction of that portion of the earth's crust +directly opposite the spot upon the face of Pellucidar at which +one's calculations are being made. Be that as it may, it always +seemed to me that I moved with greater speed and agility within +Pellucidar than upon the outer surface--there was a certain airy +lightness of step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily +detachment which I can only compare with that occasionally experienced +in dreams. + +And as I crossed Phutra's flower-bespangled plain that time I +seemed almost to fly, though how much of the sensation was due to +Perry's suggestion and how much to actuality I am sure I do not know. +The more I thought of Perry the less pleasure I took in my new-found +freedom. There could be no liberty for me within Pellucidar unless +the old man shared it with me, and only the hope that I might find +some way to encompass his release kept me from turning back to +Phutra. + +Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped +that some fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. +It was quite evident however that little less than a miracle could +aid me, for what could I accomplish in this strange world, naked +and unarmed? It was even doubtful that I could retrace my steps to +Phutra should I once pass beyond view of the plain, and even were +that possible, what aid could I bring to Perry no matter how far +I wandered? + +The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, yet +with a stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward the foothills. +Behind me no sign of pursuit developed, before me I saw no living +thing. It was as though I moved through a dead and forgotten world. + +I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the limit +of the plain, but at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty +little canyon upward toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a +laughing brooklet, hurrying upon its noisy way down to the silent +sea. In its quieter pools I discovered many small fish, of four-or +five-pound weight I should imagine. In appearance, except as to +size and color, they were not unlike the whale of our own seas. +As I watched them playing about I discovered, not only that they +suckled their young, but that at intervals they rose to the surface +to breathe as well as to feed upon certain grasses and a strange, +scarlet lichen which grew upon the rocks just above the water line. + +It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved +to capture one of these herbivorous cetaceans--that is what Perry +calls them--and make as good a meal as one can on raw, warm-blooded +fish; but I had become rather used, by this time, to the eating of +food in its natural state, though I still balked on the eyes and +entrails, much to the amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed +these delicacies. + +Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive +purple whales rose to nibble at the long grasses which overhung +the water, and then, like the beast of prey that man really is, I +sprang upon my victim, appeasing my hunger while he yet wriggled +to escape. + +Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands and face +continued my flight. Above the source of the brook I encountered +a rugged climb to the summit of a long ridge. Beyond was a steep +declivity to the shore of a placid, inland sea, upon the quiet +surface of which lay several beautiful islands. + +The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast was +to be seen that might threaten my new-found liberty, I slid over +the edge of the bluff, and half sliding, half falling, dropped into +the delightful valley, the very aspect of which seemed to offer a +haven of peace and security. + +The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly strewn +with strangely shaped, colored shells; some empty, others still +housing as varied a multitude of mollusks as ever might have drawn +out their sluggish lives along the silent shores of the antediluvian +seas of the outer crust. As I walked I could not but compare myself +with the first man of that other world, so complete the solitude +which surrounded me, so primal and untouched the virgin wonders +and beauties of adolescent nature. I felt myself a second Adam +wending my lonely way through the childhood of a world, searching +for my Eve, and at the thought there rose before my mind's eye the +exquisite outlines of a perfect face surmounted by a loose pile of +wondrous, raven hair. + +As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not +until I had come quite upon it that I discovered that which shattered +all my beautiful dream of solitude and safety and peace and primal +overlordship. The thing was a hollowed log drawn upon the sands, +and in the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. + +The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some +new form of danger was still upon me when I heard a rattling of +loose stones from the direction of the bluff, and turning my eyes +in that direction I beheld the author of the disturbance, a great +copper-colored man, running rapidly toward me. + +There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite +sufficiently menacing, so that I did not need the added evidence +of brandishing spear and scowling face to warn me that I was in no +safe position, but whither to flee was indeed a momentous question. + +The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility of escaping +him upon the open beach. There was but a single alternative--the +rude skiff--and with a celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing +into the sea and as it floated gave a final shove and clambered in +over the end. + +A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an +instant later his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed my shoulder and +buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. Then I grasped the +paddle, and with feverish haste urged the awkward, wobbly thing +out upon the surface of the sea. + +A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored one +had plunged in after me and was swimming rapidly in pursuit. His +mighty strokes bade fair to close up the distance between us in +short order, for at best I could make but slow progress with my +unfamiliar craft, which nosed stubbornly in every direction but +that which I desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was +expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course. + +I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident +that my pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff within the next +half-dozen strokes. In a frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather +of all paddles in a hopeless effort to escape, and still the copper +giant behind me gained and gained. + +His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, +sinuous body shoot from the depths below. The man saw it too, and +the look of terror that overspread his face assured me that I need +have no further concern as to him, for the fear of certain death +was in his look. + +And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster +of that prehistoric deep--a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged +jaws, and darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony +protuberances upon head and snout that formed short, stout horns. + +As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the +doomed man, and I could have sworn that in his I saw an expression +of hopeless appeal. But whether I did or not there swept through +me a sudden compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brother-man, +and that he might have killed me with pleasure had he caught me +was forgotten in the extremity of his danger. + +Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to engage +my pursuer, so now the skiff still drifted close beside the two. +The monster seemed to be but playing with his victim before he +closed his awful jaws upon him and dragged him down to his dark +den beneath the surface to devour him. The huge, snakelike body +coiled and uncoiled about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws +snapped in the victim's face. The forked tongue, lightning-like, +ran in and out upon the copper skin. + +Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet +against the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass; but +for all the damage he inflicted he might as well have struck with +his open palm. + +At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a fellowman +was dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile. +Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the spear that had been cast +after me by him whom I suddenly desired to save. With a wrench I +tore it loose, and standing upright in the wobbly log drove it with +all the strength of my two arms straight into the gaping jaws of +the hydrophidian. + +With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, +but the spear, imbedded in its throat, prevented it from seizing +me though it came near to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts +to reach me. + + + +VIII + +THE MAHAR TEMPLE + + +THE ABORIGINE, APPARENTLY UNINJURED, CLIMBED quickly into the skiff, +and seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the infuriated +creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the +waters about us and soon from the weakening struggles it became +evident that I had inflicted a death wound upon it. Presently +its efforts to reach us ceased entirely, and with a few convulsive +movements it turned upon its back quite dead. + +And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament +in which I had placed myself. I was entirely within the power of +the savage man whose skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the +spear I looked into his face to find him scrutinizing me intently, +and there we stood for some several minutes, each clinging tenaciously +to the weapon the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at each other. + +What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely the +question as to how soon the fellow would recommence hostilities. + +Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable to +translate. I shook my head in an effort to indicate my ignorance +of his language, at the same time addressing him in the bastard +tongue that the Sagoths use to converse with the human slaves of +the Mahars. + +To my delight he understood and answered me in the same jargon. + +"What do you want of my spear?" he asked. + +"Only to keep you from running it through me," I replied. + +"I would not do that," he said, "for you have just saved my life," +and with that he released his hold upon it and squatted down in +the bottom of the skiff. + +"Who are you," he continued, "and from what country do you come?" + +I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to explain +how I came to Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it was as impossible +for him to grasp or believe the strange tale I told him as I fear +it is for you upon the outer crust to believe in the existence +of the inner world. To him it seemed quite ridiculous to imagine +that there was another world far beneath his feet peopled by beings +similar to himself, and he laughed uproariously the more he thought +upon it. But it was ever thus. That which has never come within the +scope of our really pitifully meager world-experience cannot be--our +finite minds cannot grasp that which may not exist in accordance +with the conditions which obtain about us upon the outside of the +insignificant grain of dust which wends its tiny way among the +bowlders of the universe--the speck of moist dirt we so proudly +call the World. + +So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a +Mezop, and that his name was Ja. + +"Who are the Mezops?" I asked. "Where do they live?" + +He looked at me in surprise. + +"I might indeed believe that you were from another world," he said, +"for who of Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The Mezops live upon +the islands of the seas. In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop +lives elsewhere, and no others than Mezops dwell upon islands, but +of course it may be different in other far-distant lands. I do not +know. At any rate in this sea and those near by it is true that +only people of my race inhabit the islands. + +"We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going +to the mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon all but +the larger islands. And we are warriors also," he added proudly. +"Even the Sagoths of the Mahars fear us. Once, when Pellucidar +was young, the Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves as they +do the other men of Pellucidar, it is handed down from father to +son among us that this is so; but we fought so desperately and slew +so many Sagoths, and those of us that were captured killed so many +Mahars in their own cities that at last they learned that it were +better to leave us alone, and later came the time that the Mahars +became too indolent even to catch their own fish, except for +amusement, and then they needed us to supply their wants, and so a +truce was made between the races. Now they give us certain things +which we are unable to produce in return for the fish that we catch, +and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace. + +"The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far from +the prying eyes of their own Sagoths, that they practice their +religious rites in the temples they have builded there with our +assistance. If you live among us you will doubtless see the manner +of their worship, which is strange indeed, and most unpleasant for +the poor slaves they bring to take part in it." + +As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him more +closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I should say six feet six +or seven inches, well developed and of a coppery red not unlike that +of our own North American Indian, nor were his features dissimilar +to theirs. He had the aquiline nose found among many of the higher +tribes, the prominent cheek bones, and black hair and eyes, but his +mouth and lips were better molded. All in all, Ja was an impressive +and handsome creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable +makeshift language we were compelled to use. + +During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was propelling +the skiff with vigorous strokes toward a large island that lay some +half-mile from the mainland. The skill with which he handled his +crude and awkward craft elicited my deepest admiration, since it +had been so short a time before that I had made such pitiful work +of it. + +As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I followed +him. Together we dragged the skiff far up into the bushes that +grew beyond the sand. + +"We must hide our canoes," explained Ja, "for the Mezops of Luana +are always at war with us and would steal them if they found them," +he nodded toward an island farther out at sea, and at so great a +distance that it seemed but a blur hanging in the distant sky. The +upward curve of the surface of Pellucidar was constantly revealing +the impossible to the surprised eyes of the outer-earthly. To see +land and water curving upward in the distance until it seemed to +stand on edge where it melted into the distant sky, and to feel +that seas and mountains hung suspended directly above one's head +required such a complete reversal of the perceptive and reasoning +faculties as almost to stupefy one. + +No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the jungle, +presently emerging into a narrow but well-defined trail which +wound hither and thither much after the manner of the highways of +all primitive folk, but there was one peculiarity about this Mezop +trail which I was later to find distinguished them from all other +trails that I ever have seen within or without the earth. + +It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end suddenly +in the midst of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja would turn +directly back in his tracks for a little distance, spring into a +tree, climb through it to the other side, drop onto a fallen log, +leap over a low bush and alight once more upon a distinct trail +which he would follow back for a short distance only to turn directly +about and retrace his steps until after a mile or less this new +pathway ended as suddenly and mysteriously as the former section. +Then he would pass again across some media which would reveal no +spoor, to take up the broken thread of the trail beyond. + +As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I could +not but admire the native shrewdness of the ancient progenitor of +the Mezops who hit upon this novel plan to throw his enemies from +his track and delay or thwart them in their attempts to follow him +to his deep-buried cities. + +To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous method +of traveling through the jungle, but were you of Pellucidar you +would realize that time is no factor where time does not exist. +So labyrinthine are the windings of these trails, so varied the +connecting links and the distances which one must retrace one's +steps from the paths' ends to find them that a Mezop often reaches +man's estate before he is familiar even with those which lead from +his own city to the sea. + +In fact three-fourths of the education of the young male Mezop +consists in familiarizing himself with these jungle avenues, and +the status of an adult is largely determined by the number of trails +which he can follow upon his own island. The females never learn +them, since from birth to death they never leave the clearing +in which the village of their nativity is situated except they be +taken to mate by a male from another village, or captured in war +by the enemies of their tribe. + +After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been upward +of five miles we emerged suddenly into a large clearing in the +exact center of which stood as strange an appearing village as one +might well imagine. + +Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet above the +ground, and upon the tops of them spherical habitations of woven +twigs, mud covered, had been built. Each ball-like house was +surmounted by some manner of carven image, which Ja told me indicated +the identity of the owner. + +Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet wide, served +to admit light and ventilation. The entrances to the house were +through small apertures in the bases of the trees and thence upward +by rude ladders through the hollow trunks to the rooms above. The +houses varied in size from two to several rooms. The largest that +I entered was divided into two floors and eight apartments. + +All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay beautifully +cultivated fields in which the Mezops raised such cereals, fruits, +and vegetables as they required. Women and children were working +in these gardens as we crossed toward the village. At sight of Ja +they saluted deferentially, but to me they paid not the slightest +attention. Among them and about the outer verge of the cultivated +area were many warriors. These too saluted Ja, by touching the +points of their spears to the ground directly before them. + +Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the village--the +house with eight rooms--and taking me up into it gave me food and +drink. There I met his mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in +her arms. Ja told her of how I had saved his life, and she was +thereafter most kind and hospitable toward me, even permitting +me to hold and amuse the tiny bundle of humanity whom Ja told me +would one day rule the tribe, for Ja, it seemed, was the chief of +the community. + +We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja's amusement, +for it seemed that he seldom if ever did so, and then the red man +proposed that I accompany him to the temple of the Mahars which +lay not far from his village. "We are not supposed to visit it," +he said; "but the great ones cannot hear and if we keep well out of +sight they need never know that we have been there. For my part I +hate them and always have, but the other chieftains of the island +think it best that we continue to maintain the amicable relations +which exist between the two races; otherwise I should like nothing +better than to lead my warriors amongst the hideous creatures and +exterminate them--Pellucidar would be a better place to live were +there none of them." + +I wholly concurred in Ja's belief, but it seemed that it might be +a difficult matter to exterminate the dominant race of Pellucidar. +Thus conversing we followed the intricate trail toward the temple, +which we came upon in a small clearing surrounded by enormous trees +similar to those which must have flourished upon the outer crust +during the carboniferous age. + +Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of a rough +oval with rounded roof in which were several large openings. No +doors or windows were visible in the sides of the structure, nor +was there need of any, except one entrance for the slaves, since, +as Ja explained, the Mahars flew to and from their place of ceremonial, +entering and leaving the building by means of the apertures in the +roof. + +"But," added Ja, "there is an entrance near the base of which even +the Mahars know nothing. Come," and he led me across the clearing +and about the end to a pile of loose rock which lay against the +foot of the wall. Here he removed a couple of large bowlders, +revealing a small opening which led straight within the building, +or so it seemed, though as I entered after Ja I discovered myself +in a narrow place of extreme darkness. + +"We are within the outer wall," said Ja. "It is hollow. Follow +me closely." + +The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend +a primitive ladder similar to that which leads from the ground to +the upper stories of his house. We ascended for some forty feet +when the interior of the space between the walls commenced to grow +lighter and presently we came opposite an opening in the inner +wall which gave us an unobstructed view of the entire interior of +the temple. + +The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous +hideous Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of +granite rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon several of them +I saw men and women like myself. + +"What are the human beings doing here?" I asked. + +"Wait and you shall see," replied Ja. "They are to take a leading +part in the ceremonies which will follow the advent of the queen. +You may be thankful that you are not upon the same side of the wall +as they." + +Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above +and a moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of +Pellucidar winged slowly and majestically through the large central +opening in the roof and circled in stately manner about the temple. + +There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty awe-inspiring +pterodactyls--thipdars, they are called within Pellucidar. Behind +these came the queen, flanked by other thipdars as she had been +when she entered the amphitheater at Phutra. + +Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber, to +settle finally upon the damp, cold bowlders that fringe the outer +edge of the pool. In the center of one side the largest rock was +reserved for the queen, and here she took her place surrounded by +her terrible guard. + +All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. +One might have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor slaves +upon the diminutive islands watched the horrid creatures with wide +eyes. The men, for the most part, stood erect and stately with +folded arms, awaiting their doom; but the women and children clung +to one another, hiding behind the males. They are a noble-looking +race, these cave men of Pellucidar, and if our progenitors were as +they, the human race of the outer crust has deteriorated rather than +improved with the march of the ages. All they lack is opportunity. +We have opportunity, and little else. + +Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking about; +then very slowly she crawled to the edge of her throne and slid +noiselessly into the water. Up and down the long tank she swam, +turning at the ends as you have seen captive seals turn in their +tiny tanks, turning upon their backs and diving below the surface. + +Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she remained +at rest before the largest, which was directly opposite her throne. +Raising her hideous head from the water she fixed her great, round +eyes upon the slaves. They were fat and sleek, for they had been +brought from a distant Mahar city where human beings are kept in +droves, and bred and fattened, as we breed and fatten beef cattle. + +The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her victim tried +to turn away, hiding her face in her hands and kneeling behind a +woman; but the reptile, with unblinking eyes, stared on with such +fixity that I could have sworn her vision penetrated the woman, +and the girl's arms to reach at last the very center of her brain. + +Slowly the reptile's head commenced to move to and fro, but the +eyes never ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, and then the +victim responded. She turned wide, fear-haunted eyes toward the +Mahar queen, slowly she rose to her feet, and then as though dragged +by some unseen power she moved as one in a trance straight toward +the reptile, her glassy eyes fixed upon those of her captor. To +the water's edge she came, nor did she even pause, but stepped +into the shallows beside the little island. On she moved toward +the Mahar, who now slowly retreated as though leading her victim +on. The water rose to the girl's knees, and still she advanced, +chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was at her waist; now +her armpits. Her fellows upon the island looked on in horror, +helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast of their +own. + +The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were +exposed above the surface of the water, and the girl had advanced +until the end of that repulsive beak was but an inch or two from +her face, her horror-filled eyes riveted upon those of the reptile. + +Now the water passed above the girl's mouth and nose--her eyes +and forehead all that showed--yet still she walked on after the +retreating Mahar. The queen's head slowly disappeared beneath +the surface and after it went the eyes of her victim--only a slow +ripple widened toward the shores to mark where the two vanished. + +For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves were +motionless in terror. The Mahars watched the surface of the water +for the reappearance of their queen, and presently at one end of +the tank her head rose slowly into view. She was backing toward +the surface, her eyes fixed before her as they had been when she +dragged the helpless girl to her doom. + +And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes of the +maiden come slowly out of the depths, following the gaze of the +reptile just as when she had disappeared beneath the surface. On +and on came the girl until she stood in water that reached barely +to her knees, and though she had been beneath the surface sufficient +time to have drowned her thrice over there was no indication, +other than her dripping hair and glistening body, that she had been +submerged at all. + +Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and out +again, until the uncanny weirdness of the thing got on my nerves +so that I could have leaped into the tank to the child's rescue +had I not taken a firm hold of myself. + +Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came +to the surface I was horrified to see that one of the girl's arms +was gone--gnawed completely off at the shoulder--but the poor thing +gave no indication of realizing pain, only the horror in her set +eyes seemed intensified. + +The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then +the breasts, and then a part of the face--it was awful. The poor +creatures on the islands awaiting their fate tried to cover their +eyes with their hands to hide the fearful sight, but now I saw that +they too were under the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that +they could only crouch in terror with their eyes fixed upon the +terrible thing that was transpiring before them. + +Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, and when +she rose she came alone and swam sleepily toward her bowlder. The +moment she mounted it seemed to be the signal for the other Mahars +to enter the tank, and then commenced, upon a larger scale, a +repetition of the uncanny performance through which the queen had +led her victim. + +Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars--they being the +weakest and most tender--and when they had satisfied their appetite +for human flesh, some of them devouring two and three of the slaves, +there were only a score of full-grown men left, and I thought that +for some reason these were to be spared, but such was far from the +case, for as the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen's thipdars +darted into the air, circled the temple once and then, hissing like +steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining slaves. + +There was no hypnotism here--just the plain, brutal ferocity of +the beast of prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its meat, but at +that it was less horrible than the uncanny method of the Mahars. +By the time the thipdars had disposed of the last of the slaves +the Mahars were all asleep upon their rocks, and a moment later +the great pterodactyls swung back to their posts beside the queen, +and themselves dropped into slumber. + +"I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept," I said to Ja. + +"They do many things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere," +he replied. "The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed to eat human +flesh, yet slaves are brought here by thousands and almost always +you will find Mahars on hand to consume them. I imagine that they +do not bring their Sagoths here, because they are ashamed of the +practice, which is supposed to obtain only among the least advanced +of their race; but I would wager my canoe against a broken paddle +that there is no Mahar but eats human flesh whenever she can get +it." + +"Why should they object to eating human flesh," I asked, "if it is +true that they look upon us as lower animals?" + +"It is not because they consider us their equals that they are +supposed to look with abhorrence upon those who eat our flesh," +replied Ja; "it is merely that we are warm-blooded animals. They +would not think of eating the meat of a thag, which we consider +such a delicacy, any more than I would think of eating a snake. As +a matter of fact it is difficult to explain just why this sentiment +should exist among them." + +"I wonder if they left a single victim," I remarked, leaning far +out of the opening in the rocky wall to inspect the temple better. +Directly below me the water lapped the very side of the wall, +there being a break in the bowlders at this point as there was at +several other places about the side of the temple. + +My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed +a part of the wall, and all my weight upon it proved too much for +it. It slipped and I lunged forward. There was nothing to save +myself and I plunged headforemost into the water below. + +Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered no +injury from the fall, but as I was rising to the surface my mind +filled with the horrors of my position as I thought of the terrible +doom which awaited me the moment the eyes of the reptiles fell upon +the creature that had disturbed their slumber. + +As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly +in the direction of the islands that I might prolong my life to +the utmost. At last I was forced to rise for air, and as I cast +a terrified glance in the direction of the Mahars and the thipdars +I was almost stunned to see that not a single one remained upon +the rocks where I had last seen them, nor as I searched the temple +with my eyes could I discern any within it. + +For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I realized +that the reptiles, being deaf, could not have been disturbed by +the noise my body made when it hit the water, and that as there is +no such thing as time within Pellucidar there was no telling how +long I had been beneath the surface. It was a difficult thing to +attempt to figure out by earthly standards--this matter of elapsed +time--but when I set myself to it I began to realize that I might +have been submerged a second or a month or not at all. You have +no conception of the strange contradictions and impossibilities +which arise when all methods of measuring time, as we know them +upon earth, are non-existent. + +I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved +me for the moment, when the memory of the hypnotic powers of the +Mahars filled me with apprehension lest they be practicing their +uncanny art upon me to the end that I merely imagined that I was +alone in the temple. At the thought cold sweat broke out upon me +from every pore, and as I crawled from the water onto one of the +tiny islands I was trembling like a leaf--you cannot imagine the +awful horror which even the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars +of Pellucidar induces in the human mind, and to feel that you are +in their power--that they are crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to +drag you down beneath the waters and devour you! It is frightful. + +But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that +I was indeed alone within the temple. How long I should be alone +was the next question to assail me as I swam frantically about once +more in search of a means to escape. + +Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled +into the tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless +he had felt as certain of my doom when he saw me topple from our +hiding place as I had, and lest he too should be discovered, had +hastened from the temple and back to his village. + +I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the +doorways in the roof, for it did not seem reasonable to believe +that the thousands of slaves which were brought here to feed the +Mahars the human flesh they craved would all be carried through +the air, and so I continued my search until at last it was rewarded +by the discovery of several loose granite blocks in the masonry at +one end of the temple. + +A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones +to permit me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later +I had scurried across the intervening space to the dense jungle +beyond. + +Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath +the giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the grinning +fangs of death out of the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers +lay hidden in this island jungle, there could be none so fearsome +as those which I had just escaped. I knew that I could meet death +bravely enough if it but came in the form of some familiar beast +or man--anything other than the hideous and uncanny Mahars. + + + +IX + +THE FACE OF DEATH + + +I MUST HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP FROM EXHAUSTION. When I awoke I was very +hungry, and after busying myself searching for fruit for a while, +I set off through the jungle to find the beach. I knew that the +island was not so large but that I could easily find the sea if I +did but move in a straight line, but there came the difficulty as +there was no way in which I could direct my course and hold it, +the sun, of course, being always directly above my head, and the +trees so thickly set that I could see no distant object which might +serve to guide me in a straight line. + +As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four +times and slept twice before I reached the sea, but at last I did +so, and my pleasure at the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the +chance discovery of a hidden canoe among the bushes through which +I had stumbled just prior to coming upon the beach. + +I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft +down to the water and shove it far out from shore. My experience +with Ja had taught me that if I were to steal another canoe I must +be quick about it and get far beyond the owner's reach as soon as +possible. + +I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that +at which Ja and I had entered it, for the mainland was nowhere in +sight. For a long time I paddled around the shore, though well +out, before I saw the mainland in the distance. At the sight of +it I lost no time in directing my course toward it, for I had long +since made up my mind to return to Phutra and give myself up that +I might be once more with Perry and Ghak the Hairy One. + +I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, +especially in view of the fact that our plans were already well +formulated to make a break for freedom together. Of course I +realized that the chances of the success of our proposed venture +were slim indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy freedom +without Perry so long as the old man lived, and I had learned that +the probability that I might find him was less than slight. + +Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and +wit against the savage and primordial world in which I found myself. +I could have lived in seclusion within some rocky cave until I +had found the means to outfit myself with the crude weapons of the +Stone Age, and then set out in search of her whose image had now +become the constant companion of my waking hours, and the central +and beloved figure of my dreams. + +But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my +duty and wish to be again with him, that we might share the dangers +and vicissitudes of the strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, +too; the great, shaggy man had found a place in the hearts of us +both, for he was indeed every inch a man and king. Uncouth, perhaps, +and brutal, too, if judged too harshly by the standards of effete +twentieth-century civilization, but withal noble, dignified, +chivalrous, and loveable. + +Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered +Ja's canoe, and a short time later I was scrambling up the steep +bank to retrace my steps from the plain of Phutra. But my troubles +came when I entered the canyon beyond the summit, for here I found +that several of them centered at the point where I crossed the +divide, and which one I had traversed to reach the pass I could +not for the life of me remember. + +It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which +seemed the easiest going, and in this I made the same mistake that +many of us do in selecting the path along which we shall follow out +the course of our lives, and again learned that it is not always +best to follow the line of least resistance. + +By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced +that I was upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra and the inland +sea I had not slept at all, and had eaten but once. To retrace +my steps to the summit of the divide and explore another canyon +seemed the only solution of my problem, but a sudden widening and +levelness of the canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it was +about to open into a level country, and with the lure of discovery +strong upon me I decided to proceed but a short distance farther +before I turned back. + +The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before +me I saw a narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my right the +side of the canyon continued to the water's edge, the valley lying +to my left, and the foot of it running gradually into the sea, +where it formed a broad level beach. + +Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost +to the water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. From the +nature of the vegetation I was convinced that the land between the +ocean and the foothills was swampy, though directly before me it +seemed dry enough all the way to the sandy strip along which the +restless waters advanced and retreated. + +Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene +was very beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and tangled +vegetation of the swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the +ferns at my left, but though I stopped a moment to look it was not +repeated, and if anything lay hid there my eyes could not penetrate +the dense foliage to discern it. + +Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and +lonely sea across whose forbidding bosom no human being had yet +ventured, to discover what strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, +or what its invisible islands held of riches, wonders, or adventure. +What savage faces, what fierce and formidable beasts were this very +instant watching the lapping of the waves upon its farther shore! +How far did it extend? Perry had told me that the seas of Pellucidar +were small in comparison with those of the outer crust, but even +so this great ocean might stretch its broad expanse for thousands +of miles. For countless ages it had rolled up and down its countless +miles of shore, and yet today it remained all unknown beyond the +tiny strip that was visible from its beaches. + +The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as +though I had been carried back to the birth time of our own outer +world to look upon its lands and seas ages before man had traversed +either. Here was a new world, all untouched. It called to me to +explore it. I was dreaming of the excitement and adventure which +lay before us could Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when something, +a slight noise I imagine, drew my attention behind me. + +As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took +wing before the terrible embodiment of all three in concrete form +that I beheld advancing upon me. + +A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the mighty +jaws of an alligator. Its immense carcass must have weighed tons, +and yet it moved swiftly and silently toward me. Upon one hand +was the bluff that ran from the canyon to the sea, on the other the +fearsome swamp from which the creature had sneaked upon me, behind +lay the mighty untracked sea, and before me in the center of the +narrow way that led to safety stood this huge mountain of terrible +and menacing flesh. + +A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I +was facing one of those long-extinct, prehistoric creatures whose +fossilized remains are found within the outer crust as far back +as the Triassic formation, a gigantic labyrinthodon. And there I +was, unarmed, and, with the exception of a loin cloth, as naked as +I had come into the world. I could imagine how my first ancestor +felt that distant, prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first +time the terrifying progenitor of the thing that had me cornered +now beside the restless, mysterious sea. + +Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within +Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at that moment that he had +handed down to me with the various attributes that I presumed I +have inherited from him, the specific application of the instinct +of self-preservation which saved him from the fate which loomed so +close before me today. + +To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar +to jumping into a den of lions to escape one upon the outside. +The sea and swamp both were doubtless alive with these mighty, +carnivorous amphibians, and if not, the individual that menaced me +would pursue me into either the sea or the swamp with equal facility. + +There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. +I thought of Perry--how he would wonder what had become of me. I +thought of my friends of the outer world, and of how they all +would go on living their lives in total ignorance of the strange +and terrible fate that had overtaken me, or unguessing the weird +surroundings which had witnessed the last frightful agony of +my extinction. And with these thoughts came a realization of how +unimportant to the life and happiness of the world is the existence +of any one of us. We may be snuffed out without an instant's +warning, and for a brief day our friends speak of us with subdued +voices. The following morning, while the first worm is busily +engaged in testing the construction of our coffin, they are teeing +up for the first hole to suffer more acute sorrow over a sliced ball +than they did over our, to us, untimely demise. The labyrinthodon +was coming more slowly now. He seemed to realize that escape for +me was impossible, and I could have sworn that his huge, fanged +jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of my predicament, or was +it in anticipation of the juicy morsel which would so soon be pulp +between those formidable teeth? + +He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to +me from the direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and could +have shouted in delight at the sight that met my eyes, for there +stood Ja, waving frantically to me, and urging me to run for it to +the cliff's base. + +I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked +me for his breakfast, but at least I should not die alone. Human +eyes would watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet +I derived some slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it. + +To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable +cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, agile as a monkey, +crawl down the precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small +projections, and the tough creepers that had found root-hold here +and there. + +The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double +his portion of human flesh, so he was in no haste to pursue me to +the cliff and frighten away this other tidbit. Instead he merely +trotted along behind me. + +As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, +but I doubted if the thing would prove successful. He had come +down to within twenty feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with +one hand to a small ledge, and with his feet resting, precariously +upon tiny bushes that grew from the solid face of the rock, he +lowered the point of his long spear until it hung some six feet +above the ground. + +To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and +precipitating both to the same doom from which the copper-colored +one was attempting to save me seemed utterly impossible, and as I +came near the spear I told Ja so, and that I could not risk him to +try to save myself. + +But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no danger +himself. + +"The danger is still yours," he called, "for unless you move much +more rapidly than you are now, the sithic will be upon you and drag +you back before ever you are halfway up the spear--he can rear up +and reach you with ease anywhere below where I stand." + +Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped +the spear and clambered up toward the red man as rapidly as I +could--being so far removed from my simian ancestors as I am. I +imagine the slow-witted sithic, as Ja called him, suddenly realized +our intentions and that he was quite likely to lose all his meal +instead of having it doubled as he had hoped. + +When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss that +fairly shook the ground, and came charging after me at a terrific +rate. I had reached the top of the spear by this time, or almost; +another six inches would give me a hold on Ja's hand, when I felt +a sudden wrench from below and glancing fearfully downward saw the +mighty jaws of the monster close on the sharp point of the weapon. + +I made a frantic effort to reach Ja's hand, the sithic gave a +tremendous tug that came near to jerking Ja from his frail hold on +the surface of the rock, the spear slipped from his fingers, and +still clinging to it I plunged feet foremost toward my executioner. + +At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja's hand +the creature must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, for when +I came down, still clinging to the butt end of the weapon, the point +yet rested in his mouth and the result was that the sharpened end +transfixed his lower jaw. + +With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, +lost my hold upon the spear, rolled the length of his face and +head, across his short neck onto his broad back and from there to +the ground. + +Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing +madly for the path by which I had entered this horrible valley. A +glance over my shoulder showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at +the spear stuck through his lower jaw, and so busily engaged did +he remain in this occupation that I had gained the safety of the +cliff top before he was ready to take up the pursuit. When he did +not discover me in sight within the valley he dashed, hissing into +the rank vegetation of the swamp and that was the last I saw of +him. + + + +X + +PHUTRA AGAIN + + +I HASTENED TO THE CLIFF EDGE ABOVE JA AND helped him to a secure +footing. He would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to save +me, which had come so near miscarrying. + +"I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple," +he said, "for not even I could save you from their clutches, and +you may imagine my surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon +the beach of the mainland I discovered your own footprints in the +sand beside it. + +"I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you +must be entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers +which lurk upon the mainland both in the form of savage beasts and +reptiles, and men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you to +this point. It is well that I arrived when I did." + +"But why did you do it?" I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship +on the part of a man of another world and a different race and +color. + +"You saved my life," he replied; "from that moment it became my +duty to protect and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop +had I evaded my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this instance +for I like you. I wish that you would come and live with me. You +shall become a member of my tribe. Among us there is the best of +hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to choose a mate from, +the most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. Will you come?" + +I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty +was to them first. Afterward I should return and visit him--if I +could ever find his island. + +"Oh, that is easy, my friend," he said. "You need merely to come +to the foot of the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds. +There you will find a river which flows into the Lural Az. Directly +opposite the mouth of the river you will see three large islands +far out, so far that they are barely discernible, the one to the +extreme left as you face them from the mouth of the river is Anoroc, +where I rule the tribe of Anoroc." + +"But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?" I asked. "Men +say that they are visible from half Pellucidar," he replied. + +"How large is Pellucidar?" I asked, wondering what sort of theory +these primitive men had concerning the form and substance of their +world. + +"The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell," he +answered, "but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, we should +fall back were we to travel far in any direction, and all the waters +of Pellucidar would run to one spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar +is quite flat and extends no man knows how far in all directions. +At the edges, so my ancestors have reported and handed down to me, +is a great wall that prevents the earth and waters from escaping +over into the burning sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never +have been so far from Anoroc as to have seen this wall with my +own eyes. However, it is quite reasonable to believe that this is +true, whereas there is no reason at all in the foolish belief of +the Mahars. According to them Pellucidarians who live upon the +opposite side walk always with their heads pointed downward!" and +Ja laughed uproariously at the very thought. + +It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had +not advanced far in learning, and the thought that the ugly Mahars +had so outstripped them was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered +how many ages it would take to lift these people out of their +ignorance even were it given to Perry and me to attempt it. Possibly +we would be killed for our pains as were those men of the outer +world who dared challenge the dense ignorance and superstitions +of the earth's younger days. But it was worth the effort if the +opportunity ever presented itself. + +And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity--that I +might make a small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, and thus +note the effect of my teaching upon a Pellucidarian. + +"Ja," I said, "what would you say were I to tell you that in so +far as the Mahars' theory of the shape of Pellucidar is concerned +it is correct?" + +"I would say," he replied, "that either you are a fool, or took me +for one." + +"But, Ja," I insisted, "if their theory is incorrect how do you +account for the fact that I was able to pass through the earth from +the outer crust to Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a +sea of flame beneath us, where in no peoples could exist, and yet +I come from a great world that is covered with human beings, and +beasts, and birds, and fishes in mighty oceans." + +"You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with +your head pointed downward?" he scoffed. "And were I to believe +that, my friend, I should indeed be mad." + +I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means +of the dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it would be for +a body to fall off the earth under any circumstances. He listened +so intently that I thought I had made an impression, and started +the train of thought that would lead him to a partial understanding +of the truth. But I was mistaken. + +"Your own illustration," he said finally, "proves the falsity +of your theory." He dropped a fruit from his hand to the ground. +"See," he said, "without support even this tiny fruit falls until +it strikes something that stops it. If Pellucidar were not supported +upon the flaming sea it too would fall as the fruit falls--you have +proven it yourself!" He had me, that time--you could see it in his +eye. + +It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for +when I contemplated the necessity explanation of our solar system +and the universe I realized how futile it would be to attempt to +picture to Ja or any other Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the +planets, and the countless stars. Those born within the inner +world could no more conceive of such things than can we of the +outer crust reduce to factors appreciable to our finite minds such +terms as space and eternity. + +"Well, Ja," I laughed, "whether we be walking with our feet up or +down, here we are, and the question of greatest importance is not +so much where we came from as where we are going now. For my part +I wish that you could guide me to Phutra where I may give myself +up to the Mahars once more that my friends and I may work out the +plan of escape which the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us +together and drove us to the arena to witness the punishment of the +slaves who killed the guardsman. I wish now that I had not left +the arena for by this time my friends and I might have made good +our escape, whereas this delay may mean the wrecking of all our +plans, which depended for their consummation upon the continued +sleep of the three Mahars who lay in the pit beneath the building +in which we were confined." + +"You would return to captivity?" cried Ja. + +"My friends are there," I replied, "the only friends I have in Pellucidar, +except yourself. What else may I do under the circumstances?" + +He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head +sorrowfully. + +"It is what a brave man and a good friend should do," he said; "yet +it seems most foolish, for the Mahars will most certainly condemn +you to death for running away, and so you will be accomplishing +nothing for your friends by returning. Never in all my life have +I heard of a prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free will. +There are but few who escape them, though some do, and these would +rather die than be recaptured." + +"I see no other way, Ja," I said, "though I can assure you that +I would rather go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. However, +Perry is much too pious to make the probability at all great that +I should ever be called upon to rescue him from the former locality." + +Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could, +he said, "You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea upon which +Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried in the ground go +there. Piece by piece they are carried down to Molop Az by the +little demons who dwell there. We know this because when graves +are opened we find that the bodies have been partially or entirely +borne off. That is why we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees +where the birds may find them and bear them bit by bit to the Dead +World above the Land of Awful Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place +his body in the ground that it may go to Molop Az." + +As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come +to the great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to dissuade me +from returning to Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to +do so, he consented to guide me to a point from which I could see +the plain where lay the city. To my surprise the distance was but +short from the beach where I had again met Ja. It was evident that +I had spent much time following the windings of a tortuous canon, +while just beyond the ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which +I must have come several times. + +As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the +flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final effort to persuade me +to abandon my mad purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was +firm in my resolve, and at last he bid me good-bye, assured in his +own mind that he was looking upon me for the last time. + +I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much +indeed. With his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as a base, +and his savage warriors as escort Perry and I could have accomplished +much in the line of exploration, and I hoped that were we successful +in our effort to escape we might return to Anoroc later. + +There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished first--at +least it was the great thing to me--the finding of Dian the Beautiful. +I wanted to make amends for the affront I had put upon her in my +ignorance, and I wanted to--well, I wanted to see her again, and +to be with her. + +Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers, +and then across the rolling land toward the shadowless columns +that guard the ways to buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile from the +nearest entrance I was discovered by the Sagoth guard, and in an +instant four of the gorilla-men were dashing toward me. + +Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches +I paid not the slightest attention to them, walking quietly toward +them as though unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect +upon them that I had hoped, and as we came quite near together +they ceased their savage shouting. It was evident that they had +expected me to turn and flee at sight of them, thus presenting that +which they most enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast +their spears. + +"What do you here?" shouted one, and then as he recognized me, +"Ho! It is the slave who claims to be from another world--he who +escaped when the thag ran amuck within the amphitheater. But why +do you return, having once made good your escape?" + +"I did not 'escape'," I replied. "I but ran away to avoid the thag, +as did others, and coming into a long passage I became confused +and lost my way in the foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I +found my way back." + +"And you come of your free will back to Phutra!" exclaimed one of +the guardsmen. + +"Where else might I go?" I asked. "I am a stranger within Pellucidar +and know no other where than Phutra. Why should I not desire to +be in Phutra? Am I not well fed and well treated? Am I not happy? +What better lot could man desire?" + +The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them, +and so being stupid brutes they took me to their masters whom they +felt would be better fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for +riddle they still considered it. + +I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing +them off the scent of my purposed attempt at escape. If they +thought that I was so satisfied with my lot within Phutra that +I would voluntarily return when I had once had so excellent an +opportunity to escape, they would never for an instant imagine that +I could be occupied in arranging another escape immediately upon +my return to the city. + +So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within +the large room that was the thing's office. With cold, reptilian +eyes the creature seemed to bore through the thin veneer of my +deceit and read my inmost thoughts. It heeded the story which the +Sagoths told of my return to Phutra, watching the gorilla-men's +lips and fingers during the recital. Then it questioned me through +one of the Sagoths. + +"You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because +you think yourself better off here than elsewhere--do you not know +that you may be the next chosen to give up your life in the interests +of the wonderful scientific investigations that our learned ones +are continually occupied with?" + +I hadn't heard of anything of that nature, but I thought best not +to admit it. + +"I could be in no more danger here," I said, "than naked and unarmed +in the savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar. I +was fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I +barely escaped death within the jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am +sure that I am safer in the hands of intelligent creatures such +as rule Phutra. At least such would be the case in my own world, +where human beings like myself rule supreme. There the higher races +of man extend protection and hospitality to the stranger within +their gates, and being a stranger here I naturally assumed that a +like courtesy would be accorded me." + +The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased +speaking and the Sagoth had translated my words to his master. The +creature seemed deep in thought. Presently he communicated some +message to the Sagoth. The latter turned, and motioning me to follow +him, left the presence of the reptile. Behind and on either side +of me marched the balance of the guard. + +"What are they going to do with me?" I asked the fellow at my right. + +"You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you +regarding this strange world from which you say you come." + +After a moment's silence he turned to me again. + +"Do you happen to know," he asked, "what the Mahars do to slaves +who lie to them?" + +"No," I replied, "nor does it interest me, as I have no intention +of lying to the Mahars." + +"Then be careful that you don't repeat the impossible tale you +told Sol-to-to just now--another world, indeed, where human beings +rule!" he concluded in fine scorn. + +"But it is the truth," I insisted. "From where else then did I +come? I am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could see +that." + +"It is your misfortune then," he remarked dryly, "that you may not +be judged by one with but half an eye." + +"What will they do with me," I asked, "if they do not have a mind +to believe me?" + +"You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used +in research work by the learned ones," he replied. + +"And what will they do with me there?" I persisted. + +"No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with +them, but as the latter never return, their knowledge does them +but little good. It is said that the learned ones cut up their +subjects while they are yet alive, thus learning many useful things. +However I should not imagine that it would prove very useful to +him who was being cut up; but of course this is all but conjecture. +The chances are that ere long you will know much more about it than +I," and he grinned as he spoke. The Sagoths have a well-developed +sense of humor. + +"And suppose it is the arena," I continued; "what then?" + +"You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you +escaped?" he said. + +"Yes." + +"Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for +them," he explained, "though of course the same kinds of animals +might not be employed." + +"It is sure death in either event?" I asked. + +"What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not +know, nor does any other," he replied; "but those who go to the +arena may come out alive and thus regain their liberty, as did the +two whom you saw." + +"They gained their liberty? And how?" + +"It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive +within the arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it +has happened that several mighty warriors from far distant lands, +whom we have captured on our slave raids, have battled the brutes +turned in upon them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom. +In the instance which you witnessed the beasts killed each other, +but the result was the same--the man and woman were liberated, +furnished with weapons, and started on their homeward journey. +Upon the left shoulder of each a mark was burned--the mark of the +Mahars--which will forever protect these two from slaving parties." + +"There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena, +and none at all if the learned ones drag me to the pits?" + +"You are quite right," he replied; "but do not felicitate yourself +too quickly should you be sent to the arena, for there is scarce +one in a thousand who comes out alive." + +To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which +I had been confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. At the +doorway I was turned over to the guards there. + +"He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly," +said he who had brought me back, "so have him in readiness." + +The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I +had returned of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt that it +would be safe to give me liberty within the building as had been +the custom before I had escaped, and so I was told to return to +whatever duty had been mine formerly. + +My first act was to hunt up Perry; whom I found poring as usual +over the great tomes that he was supposed to be merely dusting and +rearranging upon new shelves. + +As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me, +only to resume his work as though I had never been away at all. +I was both astonished and hurt at his indifference. And to think +that I was risking death to return to him purely from a sense of +duty and affection! + +"Why, Perry!" I exclaimed, "haven't you a word for me after my long +absence?" + +"Long absence!" he repeated in evident astonishment. "What do you +mean?" + +"Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed +me since that time we were separated by the charging thag within +the arena?" + +"'That time'," he repeated. "Why man, I have but just returned +from the arena! You reached here almost as soon as I. Had you +been much later I should indeed have been worried, and as it is I +had intended asking you about how you escaped the beast as soon as +I had completed the translation of this most interesting passage." + +"Perry, you ARE mad," I exclaimed. "Why, the Lord only knows how +long I have been away. I have been to other lands, discovered +a new race of humans within Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their +worship in their hidden temple, and barely escaped with my life +from them and from a great labyrinthodon that I met afterward, +following my long and tedious wanderings across an unknown world. +I must have been away for months, Perry, and now you barely look up +from your work when I return and insist that we have been separated +but a moment. Is that any way to treat a friend? I'm surprised +at you, Perry, and if I'd thought for a moment that you cared no +more for me than this I should not have returned to chance death +at the hands of the Mahars for your sake." + +The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There +was a puzzled expression upon his wrinkled face, and a look of hurt +sorrow in his eyes. + +"David, my boy," he said, "how could you for a moment doubt my love +for you? There is something strange here that I cannot understand. +I know that I am not mad, and I am equally sure that you are not; +but how in the world are we to account for the strange hallucinations +that each of us seems to harbor relative to the passage of time +since last we saw each other. You are positive that months have +gone by, while to me it seems equally certain that not more than +an hour ago I sat beside you in the amphitheater. Can it be that +both of us are right and at the same time both are wrong? First +tell me what time is, and then maybe I can solve our problem. Do +you catch my meaning?" + +I didn't and said so. + +"Yes," continued the old man, "we are both right. To me, bent over +my book here, there has been no lapse of time. I have done little +or nothing to waste my energies and so have required neither food +nor sleep, but you, on the contrary, have walked and fought and +wasted strength and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by nutriment +and food, and so, having eaten and slept many times since last you +saw me you naturally measure the lapse of time largely by these acts. +As a matter of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction +that there is no such thing as time--surely there can be no time +here within Pellucidar, where there are no means for measuring +or recording time. Why, the Mahars themselves take no account of +such a thing as time. I find here in all their literary works but +a single tense, the present. There seems to be neither past nor +future with them. Of course it is impossible for our outer-earthly +minds to grasp such a condition, but our recent experiences seem +to demonstrate its existence." + +It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to +enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it, and after listening +with interest to my account of the adventures through which I had +passed he returned once more to the subject, which he was enlarging +upon with considerable fluency when he was interrupted by the +entrance of a Sagoth. + +"Come!" commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. "The investigators +would speak with you." + +"Good-bye, Perry!" I said, clasping the old man's hand. "There may +be nothing but the present and no such thing as time, but I feel +that I am about to take a trip into the hereafter from which I shall +never return. If you and Ghak should manage to escape I want you +to promise me that you will find Dian the Beautiful and tell her +that with my last words I asked her forgiveness for the unintentional +affront I put upon her, and that my one wish was to be spared long +enough to right the wrong that I had done her." + +Tears came to Perry's eyes. + +"I cannot believe but that you will return, David," he said. "It +would be awful to think of living out the balance of my life without +you among these hateful and repulsive creatures. If you are taken +away I shall never escape, for I feel that I am as well off here as +I should be anywhere within this buried world. Good-bye, my boy, +good-bye!" and then his old voice faltered and broke, and as he +hid his face in his hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly +by the shoulder and hustled me from the chamber. + + + +XI + +FOUR DEAD MAHARS + + +A MOMENT LATER I WAS STANDING BEFORE A DOZEN Mahars--the social +investigators of Phutra. They asked me many questions, through a +Sagoth interpreter. I answered them all truthfully. They seemed +particularly interested in my account of the outer earth and the +strange vehicle which had brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. I +thought that I had convinced them, and after they had sat in silence +for a long time following my examination, I expected to be ordered +returned to my quarters. + +During this apparent silence they were debating through the medium +of strange, unspoken language the merits of my tale. At last the +head of the tribunal communicated the result of their conference +to the officer in charge of the Sagoth guard. + +"Come," he said to me, "you are sentenced to the experimental pits +for having dared to insult the intelligence of the mighty ones with +the ridiculous tale you have had the temerity to unfold to them." + +"Do you mean that they do not believe me?" I asked, totally +astonished. + +"Believe you!" he laughed. "Do you mean to say that you expected +any one to believe so impossible a lie?" + +It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard down +through the dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom. At +a low level we came upon a number of lighted chambers in which we +saw many Mahars engaged in various occupations. To one of these +chambers my guard escorted me, and before leaving they chained me +to a side wall. There were other humans similarly chained. Upon +a long table lay a victim even as I was ushered into the room. +Several Mahars stood about the poor creature holding him down so +that he could not move. Another, grasping a sharp knife with her +three-toed fore foot, was laying open the victim's chest and abdomen. +No anesthetic had been administered and the shrieks and groans of +the tortured man were terrible to hear. This, indeed, was vivisection +with a vengeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me as I realized that +soon my turn would come. And to think that where there was no such +thing as time I might easily imagine that my suffering was enduring +for months before death finally released me! + +The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I had been +brought into the room. So deeply immersed were they in their work +that I am sure they did not even know that the Sagoths had entered +with me. The door was close by. Would that I could reach it! But +those heavy chains precluded any such possibility. I looked about +for some means of escape from my bonds. Upon the floor between +me and the Mahars lay a tiny surgical instrument which one of them +must have dropped. It looked not unlike a button-hook, but was +much smaller, and its point was sharpened. A hundred times in my +boyhood days had I picked locks with a buttonhook. Could I but +reach that little bit of polished steel I might yet effect at least +a temporary escape. + +Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching one +hand as far out as I could my fingers still fell an inch short of +the coveted instrument. It was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber +of my being as I would, I could not quite make it. + +At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the object. +My heart came to my throat! I could just touch the thing! But +suppose that in my effort to drag it toward me I should accidentally +shove it still farther away and thus entirely out of reach! Cold +sweat broke out upon me from every pore. Slowly and cautiously I +made the effort. My toes dropped upon the cold metal. Gradually +I worked it toward me until I felt that it was within reach of my +hand and a moment later I had turned about and the precious thing +was in my grasp. + +Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my chain. +It was pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and a moment +later I was free. The Mahars were now evidently completing their +work at the table. One already turned away and was examining other +victims, evidently with the intention of selecting the next subject. + +Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the creature +walking toward us I might have escaped that moment. Slowly the +thing approached me, when its attention was attracted by a huge +slave chained a few yards to my right. Here the reptile stopped +and commenced to go over the poor devil carefully, and as it did +so its back turned toward me for an instant, and in that instant I +gave two mighty leaps that carried me out of the chamber into the +corridor beyond, down which I raced with all the speed I could +command. + +Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only thought +was to place as much distance as possible between me and that +frightful chamber of torture. + +Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later realizing +the danger of running into some new predicament, were I not careful, +I moved still more slowly and cautiously. After a time I came to +a passage that seemed in some mysterious way familiar to me, and +presently, chancing to glance within a chamber which led from the +corridor I saw three Mahars curled up in slumber upon a bed of +skins. I could have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the +same corridor and the same Mahars that I had intended to have lead +so important a role in our escape from Phutra. Providence had +indeed been kind to me, for the reptiles still slept. + +My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels in +search of Perry and Ghak, but there was nothing else to be done, +and so I hastened upward. When I came to the frequented portions +of the building, I found a large burden of skins in a corner and +these I lifted to my head, carrying them in such a way that ends +and corners fell down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. +Thus disguised I found Perry and Ghak together in the chamber where +we had been wont to eat and sleep. + +Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of course +they had known nothing of the fate that had been meted out to me by +my judges. It was decided that no time should now be lost before +attempting to put our plan of escape to the test, as I could not hope +to remain hidden from the Sagoths long, nor could I forever carry +that bale of skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion. +However it seemed likely that it would carry me once more safely +through the crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels, +and so I set out with Perry and Ghak--the stench of the illy cured +pelts fairly choking me. + +Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the +main floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak halted to await +me. The buildings are cut out of the solid limestone formation. +There is nothing at all remarkable about their architecture. The +rooms are sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular, and again +oval in shape. The corridors which connect them are narrow and +not always straight. The chambers are lighted by diffused sunlight +reflected through tubes similar to those by which the avenues are +lighted. The lower the tiers of chambers, the darker. Most of the +corridors are entirely unlighted. The Mahars can see quite well +in semidarkness. + +Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, and +slaves; but no attention was paid to us as we had become a part of +the domestic life of the building. There was but a single entrance +leading from the place into the avenue and this was well guarded +by Sagoths--this doorway alone were we forbidden to pass. It is +true that we were not supposed to enter the deeper corridors and +apartments except on special occasions when we were instructed to +do so; but as we were considered a lower order without intelligence +there was little reason to fear that we could accomplish any harm +by so doing, and so we were not hindered as we entered the corridor +which led below. + +Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, and +the arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. As many slaves bore +skin-wrapped burdens to and fro my load attracted no comment. Where +I left Ghak and Perry there were no other creatures in sight, and +so I withdrew one sword from the package, and leaving the balance +of the weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the lower levels. + +Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept +I entered silently on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures were +without the sense of hearing. With a quick thrust through the heart +I disposed of the first but my second thrust was not so fortunate, +so that before I could kill the next of my victims it had hurled +itself against the third, who sprang quickly up, facing me with +wide-distended jaws. But fighting is not the occupation which the +race of Mahars loves, and when the thing saw that I already had +dispatched two of its companions, and that my sword was red with +their blood, it made a dash to escape me. But I was too quick for +it, and so, half hopping, half flying, it scurried down another +corridor with me close upon its heels. + +Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all probability +my instant death. This thought lent wings to my feet; but even at +my best I could do no more than hold my own with the leaping thing +before me. + +Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the corridor, +and an instant later as I rushed in I found myself facing two of +the Mahars. The one who had been there when we entered had been +occupied with a number of metal vessels, into which had been put +powders and liquids as I judged from the array of flasks standing +about upon the bench where it had been working. In an instant I +realized what I had stumbled upon. It was the very room for the +finding of which Perry had given me minute directions. It was the +buried chamber in which was hidden the Great Secret of the race +of Mahars. And on the bench beside the flasks lay the skin-bound +book which held the only copy of the thing I was to have sought, +after dispatching the three Mahars in their sleep. + +There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in which +I now stood facing the two frightful reptiles. Cornered, I knew +that they would fight like demons, and they were well equipped to +fight if fight they must. Together they launched themselves upon +me, and though I ran one of them through the heart on the instant, +the other fastened its gleaming fangs about my sword arm above the +elbow, and then with her sharp talons commenced to rake me about +the body, evidently intent upon disemboweling me. I saw that it +was useless to hope that I might release my arm from that powerful, +viselike grip which seemed to be severing my arm from my body. +The pain I suffered was intense, but it only served to spur me to +greater efforts to overcome my antagonist. + +Back and forth across the floor we struggled--the Mahar dealing me +terrific, cutting blows with her fore feet, while I attempted to +protect my body with my left hand, at the same time watching for +an opportunity to transfer my blade from my now useless sword hand +to its rapidly weakening mate. At last I was successful, and with +what seemed to me my last ounce of strength I ran the blade through +the ugly body of my foe. + +Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from pain +and loss of blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant pride that +I stepped across its convulsively stiffening corpse to snatch up +the most potent secret of a world. A single glance assured me it +was the very thing that Perry had described to me. + +And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the human race +of Pellucidar--did there flash through my mind the thought that +countless generations of my own kind yet unborn would have reason +to worship me for the thing that I had accomplished for them? I +did not. I thought of a beautiful oval face, gazing out of limpid +eyes, through a waving mass of jet-black hair. I thought of red, red +lips, God-made for kissing. And of a sudden, apropos of nothing, +standing there alone in the secret chamber of the Mahars of +Pellucidar, I realized that I loved Dian the Beautiful. + + + +XII + +PURSUIT + + +FOR AN INSTANT I STOOD THERE THINKING OF HER, and then, with a +sigh, I tucked the book in the thong that supported my loin cloth, +and turned to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor +which leads aloft from the lower chambers I whistled in accordance +with the prearranged signal which was to announce to Perry and Ghak +that I had been successful. A moment later they stood beside me, +and to my surprise I saw that Hooja the Sly One accompanied them. + +"He joined us," explained Perry, "and would not be denied. The +fellow is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than be thwarted of +our chance now I told him that I would bring him to you, and let +you decide whether he might accompany us." + +I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure +that if he thought it would profit him he would betray us; but I +saw no way out of it now, and the fact that I had killed four Mahars +instead of only the three I had expected to, made it possible to +include the fellow in our scheme of escape. + +"Very well," I said, "you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first +intimation of treachery I shall run my sword through you. Do you +understand?" + +He said that he did. + +Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and +so succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves that there seemed +an excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was +not an easy thing to fasten the hides together where we had split +them along the belly to remove them from their carcasses, but by +remaining out until the others had all been sewed in with my help, +and then leaving an aperture in the breast of Perry's skin through +which he could pass his hands to sew me up, we were enabled +to accomplish our design to really much better purpose than I had +hoped. We managed to keep the heads erect by passing our swords +up through the necks, and by the same means were enabled to move +them about in a life-like manner. We had our greatest difficulty +with the webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, +so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes +punctured in the baggy throats into which our heads were thrust +permitted us to see well enough to guide our progress. + +Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak +headed the strange procession, then came Perry, followed by Hooja, +while I brought up the rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had +so arranged my sword that I could thrust it through the head of my +disguise into his vitals were he to show any indication of faltering. + +As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the +busy corridors of the main level, my heart came up into my mouth. +It is with no sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened--never +before in my life, nor since, did I experience any such agony of +soulsearing fear and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible +to sweat blood, I sweat it then. + +Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when +they are not using their wings, we crept through throngs of busy +slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we +reached the outer door which leads into the main avenue of Phutra. +Many Sagoths loitered near the opening. They glanced at Ghak as +he padded between them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. Now it +was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized +that the warm blood from my wounded arm was trickling down through +the dead foot of the Mahar skin I wore and leaving its tell-tale +mark upon the pavement, for I saw a Sagoth call a companion's +attention to it. + +The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke +to me in the sign language which these two races employ as a means +of communication. Even had I known what he was saying I could not +have replied with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen +a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look. It seemed +my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I moved my +sword so that it made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes +upon the gorilla-man. For a long moment I stood perfectly still, +eyeing the fellow with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head +and started slowly on. For a moment all hung in the balance, but +before I touched him the guard stepped to one side, and I passed +on out into the avenue. + +On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very +numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. Fortunately, +there was a great concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake +which lies a mile or more from the city. They go there to indulge +their amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and enjoying +the cool depths of the water. It is a fresh-water lake, shallow, +and free from the larger reptiles which make the use of the great +seas of Pellucidar impossible for any but their own kind. + +In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the +plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the stream that was +traveling toward the lake, but finally, at the bottom of a little +gully he halted, and there we remained until all had passed and +we were alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set off directly +away from Phutra. + +The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our +horrible prisons unbearable, so that after passing a low divide, +and entering a sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mahar +skins that had brought us thus far in safety. + +I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling +flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped in our +tracks. How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How +we barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions and tigers the size of +which would dwarf into pitiful insignificance the greatest felines +of the outer world. + +On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between +ourselves and Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us to his own +land--the land of Sari. No sign of pursuit had developed, and +yet we were sure that somewhere behind us relentless Sagoths were +dogging our tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt down their +quarry until they had captured it or themselves been turned back +by a superior force. + +Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite +strong enough in their mountain fastness to beat off any number of +Sagoths. + +At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have +been years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment which buttressed +the foothills of Sari. At almost the same instant, Hooja, who +looked ever quite as much behind as before, announced that he could +see a body of men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake. +It was the long-expected pursuit. + +I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them. + +"We may," he replied; "but you will find that the Sagoths can move +with incredible swiftness, and as they are almost tireless they +are doubtless much fresher than we. Then--" he paused, glancing +at Perry. + +I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the +period of our flight either Ghak or I had half supported him on the +march. With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths +might easily overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights +which confronted us. + +"You and Hooja go on ahead," I said. "Perry and I will make it +if we are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, and there +is no reason why all should be lost because of that. It can't be +helped--we have simply to face it." + +"I will not desert a companion," was Ghak's simple reply. I hadn't +known that this great, hairy, primeval man had any such nobility +of character stowed away inside him. I had always liked him, but +now to my liking was added honor and respect. Yes, and love. + +But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could +reach his people he might be able to bring out a sufficient force +to drive off the Sagoths and rescue Perry and myself. + +No, he wouldn't leave us, and that was all there was to it, but +he suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn the Sarians of the +king's danger. It didn't require much urging to start Hooja--the +naked idea was enough to send him leaping on ahead of us into the +foothills which we now had reached. + +Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak's life and mine and the +old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him, although I knew +that he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror at the thought +of falling into the hands of the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the +problem, in part, by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying +him. While the act cut down Ghak's speed he still could travel +faster thus than when half supporting the stumbling old man. + + + +XIII + +THE SLY ONE + + +THE SAGOTHS WERE GAINING ON US RAPIDLY, FOR once they had sighted +us they had greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled +up the narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the heights +of Sari. On either side rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, +parti-colored rock, while beneath our feet a thick mountain grass +formed a soft and noiseless carpet. Since we had entered the +canyon we had had no glimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing +to hope that they had lost our trail and that we would reach the +now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to scale them before we should +be overtaken. + +Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the +success of Hooja's mission. By now he should have reached the +outposts of the Sarians, and we should at least hear the savage +cries of the tribesmen as they swarmed to arms in answer to their +king's appeal for succor. In another moment the frowning cliffs +ahead should be black with primeval warriors. But nothing of the +kind happened--as a matter of fact the Sly One had betrayed us. +At the moment that we expected to see Sarian spearmen charging to +our relief at Hooja's back, the craven traitor was sneaking around +the outskirts of the nearest Sarian village, that he might come up +from the other side when it was too late to save us, claiming that +he had become lost among the mountains. + +Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had +struck in Dian's protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal +to sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon me. + +As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians +appeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the +sound of rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called +to me over his shoulder that we were lost. + +A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at +the far end of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we +had just passed, and then a sudden turning shut the ugly creature +from my view; but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind +us was evidence that the gorilla-man had sighted us. + +Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another +branch ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so +that appeared more like the main canyon than the lefthand branch. +The Sagoths were now not over two hundred and fifty yards behind +us, and I saw that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape other +than by a ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, +and as I reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance. + +Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. +Ghak and Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon, +and as the Sagoth's savage yell announced that he had seen me I +turned and fled up the right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, +and the entire party of man-hunters raced headlong after me up one +canyon while Ghak bore Perry to safety up the other. + +Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when +my very life depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I +ran any better than on the occasions when my pitiful base running +had called down upon my head the rooter's raucous and reproachful +cries of "Ice Wagon," and "Call a cab." + +The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular, +fleeter than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon had +become a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep angle toward what +seemed a pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could +not even guess--possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of feet into the +corresponding valley upon the other side. Could it be that I had +plunged into a cul-de-sac? + +Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the +top of the canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to +check them temporarily, and to this end had unslung my rudely made +bow and plucked an arrow from the skin quiver which hung behind my +shoulder. As I fitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped and +wheeled toward the gorilla-man. + +In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our +escape from Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game +by means of my arrows, and so, through necessity, had developed +a fair degree of accuracy. During our flight from Phutra I had +restrung my bow with a piece of heavy gut taken from a huge tiger +which Ghak and I had worried and finally dispatched with arrows, +spear, and sword. The hard wood of the bow was extremely tough +and this, with the strength and elasticity of my new string, gave +me unwonted confidence in my weapon. + +Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then--never were my +nerves and muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully +and deliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had never +before seen a bow and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over +his dull intellect that the thing I held toward him was some sort +of engine of destruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously +swinging his hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods in +which they employ this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they +achieve, even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is little +short of miraculous. + +My shaft was drawn back its full length--my eye had centered +its sharp point upon the left breast of my adversary; and then +he launched his hatchet and I released my arrow. At the instant +that our missiles flew I leaped to one side, but the Sagoth sprang +forward to follow up his attack with a spear thrust. I felt the +swish of the hatchet at it grazed my head, and at the same instant +my shaft pierced the Sagoth's savage heart, and with a single groan +he lunged almost at my feet--stone dead. Close behind him were two +more--fifty yards perhaps--but the distance gave me time to snatch +up the dead guardsman's shield, for the close call his hatchet had +just given me had borne in upon me the urgent need I had for one. +Those which I had purloined at Phutra we had not been able to bring +along because their size precluded our concealing them within the +skins of the Mahars which had brought us safely from the city. + +With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with +another arrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his +fellow's hatchet sped toward me I caught it upon the shield, and +fitted another shaft for him; but he did not wait to receive it. +Instead, he turned and retreated toward the main body of gorilla-men. +Evidently he had seen enough of me for the moment. + +Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently +overanxious to press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested +I reached the top of the canyon where I found a sheer drop of two +or three hundred feet to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the +left a narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff. +Along this I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond +the canyon's end, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening +to a large cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from +sight about another projecting buttress of the mountain. + +Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could +advance upon me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting +him until he came full upon me around the corner of the turn. About +me lay scattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were +of various sizes and shapes, but enough were of handy dimensions +for use as ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering a +number of stones into a little pile beside the mouth of the cave +I waited the advance of the Sagoths. + +As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint +sound that should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight +noise from within the cave's black depths attracted my attention. +It might have been produced by the moving of the great body of some +huge beast rising from the rock floor of its lair. At almost the +same instant I thought that I caught the scraping of hide sandals +upon the ledge beyond the turn. For the next few seconds my +attention was considerably divided. + +And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes +glaring into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet +above my head. It is true that the beast who owned them might be +standing upon a ledge within the cave, or that it might be rearing +up upon its hind legs; but I had seen enough of the monsters of +Pellucidar to know that I might be facing some new and frightful +Titan whose dimensions and ferocity eclipsed those of any I had +seen before. + +Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the +cave, and now, deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and ominous +growl. I waited no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with +the thing which owned that voice. The noise had not been loud--I +doubt if the Sagoths heard it at all--but the suggestion of latent +possibilities behind it was such that I knew it would only emanate +from a gigantic and ferocious beast. + +As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the +cave, where I no longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but +an instant later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth +as it warily advanced beyond the cliff's turn on the far side of +the cave's mouth. As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge +in pursuit, and after him came as many of his companions as could +crowd upon each other's heels. At the same time the beast emerged +from the cave, so that he and the Sagoths came face to face upon +that narrow ledge. + +The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully +eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the +end of its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet in length. As it +sighted the Sagoths it emitted a most frightful roar, and with open +mouth charged full upon them. With a cry of terror the foremost +gorilla-man turned to escape, but behind him he ran full upon his +on-rushing companions. + +The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth +nearest the cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and +leaped deliberately to an awful death upon the jagged rocks three +hundred feet below. Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered +in the next--there was a sickening sound of crushing bones, and +the mangled corpse was dropped over the cliff's edge. Nor did the +mighty beast even pause in his steady advance along the ledge. + +Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to +escape him, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing +the demoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long time I +could hear the horrid roaring of the brute intermingled with the +screams and shrieks of his victims, until finally the awful sounds +dwindled and disappeared in the distance. + +Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen +and returned with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is +called, pursued the Sagoths until it had exterminated the entire +band. Ghak was, of course, positive that I had fallen prey to the +terrible creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of +beasts. + +Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall +prey either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along +the ledge, believing that by following around the mountain I could +reach the land of Sari from another direction. But I evidently +became confused by the twisting and turning of the canyons and +gullies, for I did not come to the land of Sari then, nor for a +long time thereafter. + + + +XIV + +THE GARDEN OF EDEN + + +WITH NO HEAVENLY GUIDE, IT IS LITTLE WONDER that I became confused +and lost in the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. What, +in reality, I did was to pass entirely through them and come out +above the valley upon the farther side. I know that I wandered +for a long time, until tired and hungry I came upon a small cave +in the face of the limestone formation which had taken the place +of the granite farther back. + +The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous side +of a lofty cliff. The way to it was such that I knew no extremely +formidable beast could frequent it, nor was it large enough to make +a comfortable habitat for any but the smaller mammals or reptiles. +Yet it was with the utmost caution that I crawled within its dark +interior. + +Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft +in the rock above which let the sunlight filter in in sufficient +quantities partially to dispel the utter darkness which I had +expected. The cave was entirely empty, nor were there any signs of +its having been recently occupied. The opening was comparatively +small, so that after considerable effort I was able to lug up a +bowlder from the valley below which entirely blocked it. + +Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and +on this trip was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, the +diminutive horse of Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of +a fox terrier, which abounds in all parts of the inner world. Thus, +with food and bedding I returned to my lair, where after a meal +of raw meat, to which I had now become quite accustomed, I dragged +the bowlder before the entrance and curled myself upon a bed of +grasses--a naked, primeval, cave man, as savagely primitive as my +prehistoric progenitors. + +I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled +out upon the little rocky shelf which was my front porch. Before +me spread a small but beautiful valley, through the center of which +a clear and sparkling river wound its way down to an inland sea, +the blue waters of which were just visible between the two mountain +ranges which embraced this little paradise. The sides of the +opposite hills were green with verdure, for a great forest clothed +them to the foot of the red and yellow and copper green of the towering +crags which formed their summit. The valley itself was carpeted +with a luxuriant grass, while here and there patches of wild flowers +made great splashes of vivid color against the prevailing green. + +Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike +trees--three or four together as a rule. Beneath these stood +antelope, while others grazed in the open, or wandered gracefully +to a nearby ford to drink. There were several species of this +beautiful animal, the most magnificent somewhat resembling the giant +eland of Africa, except that their spiral horns form a complete +curve backward over their ears and then forward again beneath +them, ending in sharp and formidable points some two feet before +the face and above the eyes. In size they remind one of a pure +bred Hereford bull, yet they are very agile and fast. The broad +yellow bands that stripe the dark roan of their coats made me take +them for zebra when I first saw them. All in all they are handsome +animals, and added the finishing touch to the strange and lovely +landscape that spread before my new home. + +I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with it as +a base make a systematic exploration of the surrounding country in +search of the land of Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the +carcass of the orthopi I had killed before my last sleep. Then I +hid the Great Secret in a deep niche at the back of my cave, rolled +the bowlder before my front door, and with bow, arrows, sword, and +shield scrambled down into the peaceful valley. + +The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, the +little orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and galloping to +safest distances. All the animals stopped feeding as I approached, +and after moving to what they considered a safe distance stood +contemplating me with serious eyes and up-cocked ears. Once one +of the old bull antelopes of the striped species lowered his head +and bellowed angrily--even taking a few steps in my direction, +so that I thought he meant to charge; but after I had passed, he +resumed feeding as though nothing had disturbed him. + +Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, and +across the river saw a great sadok, the enormous double-horned +progenitor of the modern rhinoceros. At the valley's end the +cliffs upon the left ran out into the sea, so that to pass around +them as I desired to do it was necessary to scale them in search of +a ledge along which I might continue my journey. Some fifty feet +from the base I came upon a projection which formed a natural path +along the face of the cliff, and this I followed out over the sea +toward the cliff's end. + +Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the +cliffs--the stratum which formed it evidently having been forced up +at this steep angle when the mountains behind it were born. As I +climbed carefully up the ascent my attention suddenly was attracted +aloft by the sound of strange hissing, and what resembled the +flapping of wings. + +And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision the +most frightful thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. It was a +giant dragon such as is pictured in the legends and fairy tales of +earth folk. Its huge body must have measured forty feet in length, +while the batlike wings that supported it in midair had a spread of +fully thirty. Its gaping jaws were armed with long, sharp teeth, +and its claw equipped with horrible talons. + +The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was issuing +from its throat, and seemed to be directed at something beyond +and below me which I could not see. The ledge upon which I stood +terminated abruptly a few paces farther on, and as I reached the +end I saw the cause of the reptile's agitation. + +Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at this +point, so that beyond the spot where I stood the strata had slipped +down a matter of twenty feet. The result was that the continuation +of my ledge lay twenty feet below me, where it ended as abruptly +as did the end upon which I stood. + +And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable break +in the ledge, stood the object of the creature's attack--a girl +cowering upon the narrow platform, her face buried in her arms, as +though to shut out the sight of the frightful death which hovered +just above her. + +The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in upon +its prey. There was no time to be lost, scarce an instant in which +to weigh the possible chances that I had against the awfully armed +creature; but the sight of that frightened girl below me called +out to all that was best in me, and the instinct for protection +of the other sex, which nearly must have equaled the instinct of +self-preservation in primeval man, drew me to the girl's side like +an irresistible magnet. + +Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the end of +the ledge upon which I stood, for the tiny shelf twenty feet below. +At the same instant the dragon darted in toward the girl, but my +sudden advent upon the scene must have startled him for he veered +to one side, and then rose above us once more. + +The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl that the +end had come, for she thought I was the dragon; but finally when +no cruel fangs closed upon her she raised her eyes in astonishment. +As they fell upon me the expression that came into them would be +difficult to describe; but her feelings could scarcely have been +one whit more complicated than my own--for the wide eyes that looked +into mine were those of Dian the Beautiful. + +"Dian!" I cried. "Dian! Thank God that I came in time." + +"You?" she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor could +I tell whether she were glad or angry that I had come. + +Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly that I +had no time to unsling my bow. All that I could do was to snatch +up a rock, and hurl it at the thing's hideous face. Again my aim +was true, and with a hiss of pain and rage the reptile wheeled once +more and soared away. + +Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the +next attack, and as I did so I looked down at the girl, so that I +surprised her in a surreptitious glance which she was stealing at +me; but immediately, she again covered her face with her hands. + +"Look at me, Dian," I pleaded. "Are you not glad to see me?" + +She looked straight into my eyes. + +"I hate you," she said, and then, as I was about to beg for a fair +hearing she pointed over my shoulder. "The thipdar comes," she +said, and I turned again to meet the reptile. + +So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel bloodhound +of the Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl of the outer world. +But this time I met it with a weapon it never had faced before. I +had selected my longest arrow, and with all my strength had bent +the bow until the very tip of the shaft rested upon the thumb of +my left hand, and then as the great creature darted toward us I +let drive straight for that tough breast. + +Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty creature +fell turning and twisting into the sea below, my arrow buried +completely in its carcass. I turned toward the girl. She was +looking past me. It was evident that she had seen the thipdar die. + +"Dian," I said, "won't you tell me that you are not sorry that I +have found you?" + +"I hate you," was her only reply; but I imagined that there was less +vehemence in it than before--yet it might have been but my imagination. + +"Why do you hate me, Dian?" I asked, but she did not answer me. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked, "and what has happened to you +since Hooja freed you from the Sagoths?" + +At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, but +finally she thought better of it. + +"I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she said. +"After I escaped from the Sagoths I made my way alone back to my +own land; but on account of Jubal I did not dare enter the villages +or let any of my friends know that I had returned for fear that +Jubal might find out. By watching for a long time I found that my +brother had not yet returned, and so I continued to live in a cave +beside a valley which my race seldom frequents, awaiting the time +that he should come back and free me from Jubal. + +"But at last one of Jubal's hunters saw me as I was creeping toward +my father's cave to see if my brother had yet returned and he gave +the alarm and Jubal set out after me. He has been pursuing me +across many lands. He cannot be far behind me now. When he comes +he will kill you and carry me back to his cave. He is a terrible +man. I have gone as far as I can go, and there is no escape," and +she looked hopelessly up at the continuation of the ledge twenty +feet above us. + +"But he shall not have me," she suddenly cried, with great vehemence. +"The sea is there"--she pointed over the edge of the cliff--"and +the sea shall have me rather than Jubal." + +"But I have you now Dian," I cried; "nor shall Jubal, nor any other +have you, for you are mine," and I seized her hand, nor did I lift +it above her head and let it fall in token of release. + +She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my eyes +with level gaze. + +"I do not believe you," she said, "for if you meant it you would +have done this when the others were present to witness it--then I +should truly have been your mate; now there is no one to see you +do it, for you know that without witnesses your act does not bind +you to me," and she withdrew her hand from mine and turned away. + +I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply couldn't +forget the humiliation that I had put upon her on that other +occasion. + +"If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to prove +it," she said, "if Jubal does not catch and kill you. I am in your +power, and the treatment you accord me will be the best proof of +your intentions toward me. I am not your mate, and again I tell +you that I hate you, and that I should be glad if I never saw you +again." + +Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In fact +I found candor and directness to be quite a marked characteristic +of the cave men of Pellucidar. Finally I suggested that we make +some attempt to gain my cave, where we might escape the searching +Jubal, for I am free to admit that I had no considerable desire to +meet the formidable and ferocious creature, of whose mighty prowess +Dian had told me when I first met her. He it was who, armed with +a puny knife, had met and killed a cave bear in a hand-to-hand +struggle. It was Jubal who could cast his spear entirely through +the armored carcass of the sadok at fifty paces. It was he who +had crushed the skull of a charging dyryth with a single blow of +his war club. No, I was not pining to meet the Ugly One-and it +was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for him; but +the matter was taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often the +way, and I did meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face. + +This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge the +way she had come, searching for a path that would lead us to the +top of the cliff, for I knew that we could then cross over to the +edge of my own little valley, where I felt certain we should find +a means of ingress from the cliff top. As we proceeded along the +ledge I gave Dian minute directions for finding my cave against +the chance of something happening to me. I knew that she would be +quite safely hidden away from pursuit once she gained the shelter +of my lair, and the valley would afford her ample means of sustenance. + +Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My heart was +sad and heavy, and I wanted to make her feel badly by suggesting +that something terrible might happen to me--that I might, in fact, +be killed. But it didn't work worth a cent, at least as far as I +could perceive. Dian simply shrugged those magnificent shoulders +of hers, and murmured something to the effect that one was not rid +of trouble so easily as that. + +For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to think +that I had twice protected her from attack--the last time risking +my life to save hers. It was incredible that even a daughter of +the Stone Age could be so ungrateful--so heartless; but maybe her +heart partook of the qualities of her epoch. + +Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened and +extended by the action of the water draining through it from the +plateau above. It gave us a rather rough climb to the summit, +but finally we stood upon the level mesa which stretched back for +several miles to the mountain range. Behind us lay the broad inland +sea, curving upward in the horizonless distance to merge into the +blue of the sky, so that for all the world it looked as though the +sea lapped back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond +the distant mountains at our backs--the weird and uncanny aspect +of the seascapes of Pellucidar balk description. + +At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country was +open and clear to the plateau's farther verge. It was in this +direction that our way led, and we had turned to resume our journey +when Dian touched my arm. I turned to her, thinking that she was +about to make peace overtures; but I was mistaken. + +"Jubal," she said, and nodded toward the forest. + +I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a perfect +whale of a man. He must have been seven feet tall, and proportioned +accordingly. He still was too far off to distinguish his features. + +"Run," I said to Dian. "I can engage him until you get a good +start. Maybe I can hold him until you have gotten entirely away," +and then, without a backward glance, I advanced to meet the Ugly +One. I had hoped that Dian would have a kind word to say to me +before she went, for she must have known that I was going to my death +for her sake; but she never even so much as bid me good-bye, and it +was with a heavy heart that I strode through the flower-bespangled +grass to my doom. + +When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his features +I understood how it was that he had earned the sobriquet of Ugly +One. Apparently some fearful beast had ripped away one entire +side of his face. The eye was gone, the nose, and all the flesh, +so that his jaws and all his teeth were exposed and grinning through +the horrible scar. + +Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others of +his handsome race, and it may be that the terrible result of this +encounter had tended to sour an already strong and brutal character. +However this may be it is quite certain that he was not a pretty +sight, and now that his features, or what remained of them, were +distorted in rage at the sight of Dian with another male, he was +indeed most terrible to see--and much more terrible to meet. + +He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised his +mighty spear, while I halted and fitting an arrow to my bow took +as steady aim as I could. I was somewhat longer than usual, for I +must confess that the sight of this awful man had wrought upon my +nerves to such an extent that my knees were anything but steady. +What chance had I against this mighty warrior for whom even the +fiercest cave bear had no terrors! Could I hope to best one who +slaughtered the sadok and dyryth singlehanded! I shuddered; but, +in fairness to myself, my fear was more for Dian than for my own +fate. + +And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped spear, +and I raised my shield to break the force of its terrific velocity. +The impact hurled me to my knees, but the shield had deflected the +missile and I was unscathed. Jubal was rushing upon me now with the +only remaining weapon that he carried--a murderous-looking knife. +He was too close for a careful bowshot, but I let drive at him as +he came, without taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part of +his thigh, inflicting a painful but not disabling wound. And then +he was upon me. + +My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his raised +arm, and when he wheeled to come at me again he found a sword's +point in his face. And a moment later he felt an inch or two of +it in the muscles of his knife arm, so that thereafter he went more +warily. + +It was a duel of strategy now--the great, hairy man maneuvering +to get inside my guard where he could bring those giant thews to +play, while my wits were directed to the task of keeping him at +arm's length. Thrice he rushed me, and thrice I caught his knife +blow upon my shield. Each time my sword found his body--once +penetrating to his lung. He was covered with blood by this time, +and the internal hemorrhage induced paroxysms of coughing that +brought the red stream through the hideous mouth and nose, covering +his face and breast with bloody froth. He was a most unlovely +spectacle, but he was far from dead. + +As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be +perfectly candid, I had not expected to survive the first rush of +that monstrous engine of ungoverned rage and hatred. And I think +that Jubal, from utter contempt of me, began to change to a feeling +of respect, and then in his primitive mind there evidently loomed +the thought that perhaps at last he had met his master, and was +facing his end. + +At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can account for +his next act, which was in the nature of a last resort--a sort of +forlorn hope, which could only have been born of the belief that +if he did not kill me quickly I should kill him. It happened on +the occasion of his fourth charge, when, instead of striking at me +with his knife, he dropped that weapon, and seizing my sword blade +in both his hands wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily as +from a babe. + +Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an instant +glaring into my face with such a horrid leer of malignant triumph +as to almost unnerve me--then he sprang for me with his bare hands. +But it was Jubal's day to learn new methods of warfare. For the +first time he had seen a bow and arrows, never before that duel had +he beheld a sword, and now he learned what a man who knows may do +with his bare fists. + +As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath his +outstretched arm, and as I came up planted as clean a blow upon +his jaw as ever you have seen. Down went that great mountain of +flesh sprawling upon the ground. He was so surprised and dazed +that he lay there for several seconds before he made any attempt to +rise, and I stood over him with another dose ready when he should +gain his knees. + +Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; +but he didn't stay up--I let him have a left fair on the point of +the jaw that sent him tumbling over on his back. By this time I +think Jubal had gone mad with hate, for no sane man would have come +back for more as many times as he did. Time after time I bowled +him over as fast as he could stagger up, until toward the last he +lay longer on the ground between blows, and each time came up weaker +than before. + +He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, and +presently a terrific blow over the heart sent him reeling heavily +to the ground, where he lay very still, and somehow I knew at once +that Jubal the Ugly One would never get up again. But even as I +looked upon that massive body lying there so grim and terrible in +death, I could not believe that I, single-handed, had bested this +slayer of fearful beasts--this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age. + +Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the dead +body of my foeman, and as I thought of the battle I had just fought +and won a great idea was born in my brain--the outcome of this and +the suggestion that Perry had made within the city of Phutra. If +skill and science could render a comparative pygmy the master of +this mighty brute, what could not the brute's fellows accomplish +with the same skill and science. Why all Pellucidar would be at +their feet--and I would be their king and Dian their queen. + +Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite within +the possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even were I king. +She was quite the most superior person I ever had met--with the most +convincing way of letting you know that she was superior. Well, +I could go to the cave, and tell her that I had killed Jubal, and +then she might feel more kindly toward me, since I had freed her +of her tormentor. I hoped that she had found the cave easily--it +would be terrible had I lost her again, and I turned to gather up +my shield and bow to hurry after her, when to my astonishment I +found her standing not ten paces behind me. + +"Girl!" I cried, "what are you doing here? I thought that you had +gone to the cave, as I told you to do." + +Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the majesty +out of me, and left me feeling more like the palace janitor--if +palaces have janitors. + +"As you told me to do!" she cried, stamping her little foot. "I +do as I please. I am the daughter of a king, and furthermore, I +hate you." + +I was dumbfounded--this was my thanks for saving her from Jubal! +I turned and looked at the corpse. "May be that I saved you from +a worse fate, old man," I said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, +for she never seemed to notice it at all. + +"Let us go to my cave," I said, "I am tired and hungry." + +She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. I +was too angry, and she evidently didn't care to converse with the +lower orders. I was mad all the way through, as I had certainly +felt that at least a word of thanks should have rewarded me, for +I knew that even by her own standards, I must have done a very +wonderful thing to have killed the redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand +encounter. + +We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went down into +the valley and bowled over a small antelope, which I dragged up the +steep ascent to the ledge before the door. Here we ate in silence. +Occasionally I glanced at her, thinking that the sight of her tearing +at raw flesh with her hands and teeth like some wild animal would +cause a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; but to my surprise +I found that she ate quite as daintily as the most civilized woman +of my acquaintance, and finally I found myself gazing in foolish +rapture at the beauties of her strong, white teeth. Such is love. + +After our repast we went down to the river together and bathed +our hands and faces, and then after drinking our fill went back to +the cave. Without a word I crawled into the farthest corner and, +curling up, was soon asleep. + +When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out across +the valley. As I came out she moved to one side to let me pass, +but she had no word for me. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn't. +Every time I looked at her something came up in my throat, so that +I nearly choked. I had never been in love before, but I did not +need any aid in diagnosing my case--I certainly had it and had it +bad. God, how I loved that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, +prehistoric girl! + +After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended returning to +her tribe now that Jubal was dead, but she shook her head sadly, +and said that she did not dare, for there was still Jubal's brother +to be considered--his oldest brother. + +"What has he to do with it?" I asked. "Does he too want you, or +has the option on you become a family heirloom, to be passed on +down from generation to generation?" + +She was not quite sure as to what I meant. + +"It is probable," she said, "that they all will want revenge for +the death of Jubal--there are seven of them--seven terrible men. +Someone may have to kill them all, if I am to return to my people." + +It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too large +for me--about seven sizes, in fact. + +"Had Jubal any cousins?" I asked. It was just as well to know the +worst at once. + +"Yes," replied Dian, "but they don't count--they all have mates. +Jubal's brothers have no mates because Jubal could get none for +himself. He was so ugly that women ran away from him--some have +even thrown themselves from the cliffs of Amoz into the Darel Az +rather than mate with the Ugly One." + +"But what had that to do with his brothers?" I asked. + +"I forget that you are not of Pellucidar," said Dian, with a look +of pity mixed with contempt, and the contempt seemed to be laid +on a little thicker than the circumstance warranted--as though to +make quite certain that I shouldn't overlook it. "You see," she +continued, "a younger brother may not take a mate until all his +older brothers have done so, unless the older brother waives his +prerogative, which Jubal would not do, knowing that as long as +he kept them single they would be all the keener in aiding him to +secure a mate." + +Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began to entertain +hopes that she might be warming up toward me a bit, although upon +what slender thread I hung my hopes I soon discovered. + +"As you dare not return to Amoz," I ventured, "what is to become of +you since you cannot be happy here with me, hating me as you do?" + +"I shall have to put up with you," she replied coldly, "until you +see fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace, then I shall get +along very well alone." + +I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible that even +a prehistoric woman could be so cold and heartless and ungrateful. +Then I arose. + +"I shall leave you NOW," I said haughtily, "I have had quite enough +of your ingratitude and your insults," and then I turned and strode +majestically down toward the valley. I had taken a hundred steps +in absolute silence, and then Dian spoke. + +"I hate you!" she shouted, and her voice broke--in rage, I thought. + +I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn't gone too far when I began +to realize that I couldn't leave her alone there without protection, +to hunt her own food amid the dangers of that savage world. She +might hate me, and revile me, and heap indignity after indignity +upon me, as she already had, until I should have hated her; but +the pitiful fact remained that I loved her, and I couldn't leave +her there alone. + +The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the time +I reached the valley I was furious, and the result of it was that +I turned right around and went up that cliff again as fast as I +had come down. I saw that Dian had left the ledge and gone within +the cave, but I bolted right in after her. She was lying upon her +face on the pile of grasses I had gathered for her bed. When she +heard me enter she sprang to her feet like a tigress. + +"I hate you!" she cried. + +Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the +semidarkness of the cave I could not see her features, and I was +rather glad, for I disliked to think of the hate that I should have +read there. + +I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across the +cave and grasped her by the wrists, and when she struggled, I put +my arm around her so as to pinion her hands to her sides. She +fought like a tigress, but I took my free hand and pushed her head +back--I imagine that I had suddenly turned brute, that I had gone +back a thousand million years, and was again a veritable cave man +taking my mate by force--and then I kissed that beautiful mouth +again and again. + +"Dian," I cried, shaking her roughly, "I love you. Can't you +understand that I love you? That I love you better than all else +in this world or my own? That I am going to have you? That love +like mine cannot be denied?" + +I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my eyes +became accustomed to the light I saw that she was smiling--a very +contented, happy smile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, +very gently, she was trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened +my grip upon them so that she could do so. Slowly they came up and +stole about my neck, and then she drew my lips down to hers once +more and held them there for a long time. At last she spoke. + +"Why didn't you do this at first, David? I have been waiting so +long." + +"What!" I cried. "You said that you hated me!" + +"Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I loved you +before I knew that you loved me?" she asked. + +"But I have told you right along that I love you," I said. "Love +speaks in acts," she replied. "You could have made your mouth say +what you wished it to say, but just now when you came and took me +in your arms your heart spoke to mine in the language that a woman's +heart understands. What a silly man you are, David?" + +"Then you haven't hated me at all, Dian?" I asked. + +"I have loved you always," she whispered, "from the first moment +that I saw you, although I did not know it until that time you +struck down Hooja the Sly One, and then spurned me." + +"But I didn't spurn you, dear," I cried. "I didn't know your +ways--I doubt if I do now. It seems incredible that you could have +reviled me so, and yet have cared for me all the time." + +"You might have known," she said, "when I did not run away from +you that it was not hate which chained me to you. While you were +battling with Jubal, I could have run to the edge of the forest, +and when I learned the outcome of the combat it would have been a +simple thing to have eluded you and returned to my own people." + +"But Jubal's brothers--and cousins--" I reminded her, "how about +them?" + +She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder. + +"I had to tell you SOMETHING, David," she whispered. "I must needs +have SOME excuse for remaining near you." + +"You little sinner!" I exclaimed. "And you have caused me all this +anguish for nothing!" + +"I have suffered even more," she answered simply, "for I thought +that you did not love me, and I was helpless. I couldn't come +to you and demand that my love be returned, as you have just come +to me. Just now when you went away hope went with you. I was +wretched, terrified, miserable, and my heart was breaking. I wept, +and I have not done that before since my mother died," and now I +saw that there was the moisture of tears about her eyes. It was +near to making me cry myself when I thought of all that poor child +had been through. Motherless and unprotected; hunted across a +savage, primeval world by that hideous brute of a man; exposed to +the attacks of the countless fearsome denizens of its mountains, +its plains, and its jungles--it was a miracle that she had survived +it all. + +To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears must +have endured that the human race of the outer crust might survive. +It made me very proud to think that I had won the love of such +a woman. Of course she couldn't read or write; there was nothing +cultured or refined about her as you judge culture and refinement; +but she was the essence of all that is best in woman, for she was +good, and brave, and noble, and virtuous. And she was all these +things in spite of the fact that their observance entailed suffering +and danger and possible death. + +How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in the +first place! She would have been his lawful mate. She would have +been queen in her own land--and it meant just as much to the cave +woman to be a queen in the Stone Age as it does to the woman of +today to be a queen now; it's all comparative glory any way you +look at it, and if there were only half-naked savages on the outer +crust today, you'd find that it would be considerable glory to be +the wife a Dahomey chief. + +I couldn't help but compare Dian's action with that of a splendid +young woman I had known in New York--I mean splendid to look at +and to talk to. She had been head over heels in love with a chum +of mine--a clean, manly chap--but she had married a broken-down, +disreputable old debauchee because he was a count in some dinky +little European principality that was not even accorded a distinctive +color by Rand McNally. + +Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian. + +After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious to +see Perry, and to know that all was right with him. I had told +Dian about our plan of emancipating the human race of Pellucidar, +and she was fairly wild over it. She said that if Dacor, her +brother, would only return he could easily be king of Amoz, and +that then he and Ghak could form an alliance. That would give us +a flying start, for the Sarians and the Amozites were both very +powerful tribes. Once they had been armed with swords, and bows +and arrows, and trained in their use we were confident that they +could overcome any tribe that seemed disinclined to join the great +army of federated states with which we were planning to march upon +the Mahars. + +I explained the various destructive engines of war which Perry +and I could construct after a little experimentation--gunpowder, +rifles, cannon, and the like, and Dian would clap her hands, and +throw her arms about my neck, and tell me what a wonderful thing +I was. She was beginning to think that I was omnipotent although +I really hadn't done anything but talk--but that is the way with +women when they love. Perry used to say that if a fellow was +one-tenth as remarkable as his wife or mother thought him, he would +have the world by the tail with a down-hill drag. + +The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of poisonous +vipers before we reached the valley. A little fellow stung me on +the ankle, and Dian made me come back to the cave. She said that +I mustn't exercise, or it might prove fatal--if it had been a +full-grown snake that struck me she said, I wouldn't have moved a +single pace from the nest--I'd have died in my tracks, so virulent +is the poison. As it was I must have been laid up for quite a +while, though Dian's poultices of herbs and leaves finally reduced +the swelling and drew out the poison. + +The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an idea +which added a thousand-fold to the value of my arrows as missiles +of offense and defense. As soon as I was able to be about again, +I sought out some adult vipers of the species which had stung me, +and having killed them, I extracted their virus, smearing it upon +the tips of several arrows. Later I shot a hyaenodon with one of +these, and though my arrow inflicted but a superficial flesh wound +the beast crumpled in death almost immediately after he was hit. + +We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it was with +feelings of sincere regret that we bade good-bye to our beautiful +Garden of Eden, in the comparative peace and harmony of which we +had lived the happiest moments of our lives. How long we had been +there I did not know, for as I have told you, time had ceased to +exist for me beneath that eternal noonday sun--it may have been an +hour, or a month of earthly time; I do not know. + + + +XV + +BACK TO EARTH + + +WE CROSSED THE RIVER AND PASSED THROUGH THE mountains beyond, and +finally we came out upon a great level plain which stretched away +as far as the eye could reach. I cannot tell you in what direction +it stretched even if you would care to know, for all the while that +I was within Pellucidar I never discovered any but local methods +of indicating direction--there is no north, no south, no east, no +west. UP is about the only direction which is well defined, and +that, of course, is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun +neither rises nor sets there is no method of indicating direction +beyond visible objects such as high mountains, forests, lakes, and +seas. + +The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the Darel +Az upon the shore nearest the Mountains of the Clouds is about +as near to any direction as any Pellucidarian can come. If you +happen not to have heard of the Darel Az, or the white cliffs, or +the Mountains of the Clouds you feel that there is something lacking, +and long for the good old understandable northeast and southwest +of the outer world. + +We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two enormous +animals approaching us from a great distance. So far were they +that we could not distinguish what manner of beasts they might be, +but as they came closer, I saw that they were enormous quadrupeds, +eighty or a hundred feet long, with tiny heads perched at the top +of very long necks. Their heads must have been quite forty feet +from the ground. The beasts moved very slowly--that is their action +was slow--but their strides covered such a great distance that in +reality they traveled considerably faster than a man walks. + +As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back of each +sat a human being. Then Dian knew what they were, though she never +before had seen one. + +"They are lidis from the land of the Thorians," she cried. "Thoria +lies at the outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. The Thorians +alone of all the races of Pellucidar ride the lidi, for nowhere +else than beside the dark country are they found." + +"What is the Land of Awful Shadow?" I asked. + +"It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World," replied Dian; +"the Dead World which hangs forever between the sun and Pellucidar +above the Land of Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World which makes +the great shadow upon this portion of Pellucidar." + +I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure that I do +yet, for I have never been to that part of Pellucidar from which +the Dead World is visible; but Perry says that it is the moon of +Pellucidar--a tiny planet within a planet--and that it revolves +around the earth's axis coincidently with the earth, and thus is +always above the same spot within Pellucidar. + +I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him about +this Dead World, for he seemed to think that it explained the +hitherto inexplicable phenomena of nutation and the precession of +the equinoxes. + +When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we saw that +one was a man and the other a woman. The former had held up his +two hands, palms toward us, in sign of peace, and I had answered him +in kind, when he suddenly gave a cry of astonishment and pleasure, +and slipping from his enormous mount ran forward toward Dian, +throwing his arms about her. + +In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an instant; +since Dian quickly drew the man toward me, telling him that I was +David, her mate. + +"And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David," she said to +me. + +It appeared that the woman was Dacor's mate. He had found none +to his liking among the Sari, nor farther on until he had come to +the land of the Thoria, and there he had found and fought for this +very lovely Thorian maiden whom he was bringing back to his own +people. + +When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to accompany +us to Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come to an agreement relative +to an alliance, as Dacor was quite as enthusiastic about the proposed +annihilation of the Mahars and Sagoths as either Dian or I. + +After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, we +came to the first of the Sarian villages which consists of between +one and two hundred artificial caves cut into the face of a great +cliff. Here to our immense delight, we found both Perry and Ghak. +The old man was quite overcome at sight of me for he had long since +given me up as dead. + +When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn't quite know what to +say, but he afterward remarked that with the pick of two worlds I +could not have done better. + +Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it was at +a council of the head men of the various tribes of the Sari that the +eventual form of government was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, +the various kingdoms were to remain virtually independent, but there +was to be one great overlord, or emperor. It was decided that I +should be the first of the dynasty of the emperors of Pellucidar. + +We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, and +poison pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which provided +the virus, and it was they who mined the iron ore, and fashioned +the swords under Perry's direction. Rapidly the fever spread from +one tribe to another until representatives from nations so far +distant that the Sarians had never even heard of them came in to +take the oath of allegiance which we required, and to learn the +art of making the new weapons and using them. + +We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of the +federation, and the movement had reached colossal proportions before +the Mahars discovered it. The first intimation they had was when +three of their great slave caravans were annihilated in rapid +succession. They could not comprehend that the lower orders had +suddenly developed a power which rendered them really formidable. + +In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our Sarians +took a number of Sagoth prisoners, and among them were two who had +been members of the guards within the building where we had been +confined at Phutra. They told us that the Mahars were frantic with +rage when they discovered what had taken place in the cellars of +the buildings. The Sagoths knew that something very terrible had +befallen their masters, but the Mahars had been most careful to +see that no inkling of the true nature of their vital affliction +reached beyond their own race. How long it would take for the race +to become extinct it was impossible even to guess; but that this +must eventually happen seemed inevitable. + +The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of any one +of us alive, and at the same time had threatened to inflict the +direst punishment upon whomever should harm us. The Sagoths could +not understand these seemingly paradoxical instructions, though +their purpose was quite evident to me. The Mahars wanted the Great +Secret, and they knew that we alone could deliver it to them. + +Perry's experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the fashioning +of rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we had hoped--there was +a whole lot about these two arts which Perry didn't know. We were +both assured that the solution of these problems would advance +the cause of civilization within Pellucidar thousands of years at +a single stroke. Then there were various other arts and sciences +which we wished to introduce, but our combined knowledge of them +did not embrace the mechanical details which alone could render +them of commercial, or practical value. + +"David," said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to produce +gunpowder that would even burn, "one of us must return to the +outer world and bring back the information we lack. Here we have +all the labor and materials for reproducing anything that ever has +been produced above--what we lack is knowledge. Let us go back +and get that knowledge in the shape of books--then this world will +indeed be at our feet." + +And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, +which still lay upon the edge of the forest at the point where we +had first penetrated to the surface of the inner world. Dian would +not listen to any arrangement for my going which did not include +her, and I was not sorry that she wished to accompany me, for I +wanted her to see my world, and I wanted my world to see her. + +With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, which +Perry soon had hoisted into position with its nose pointed back +toward the outer crust. He went over all the machinery carefully. +He replenished the air tanks, and manufactured oil for the engine. +At last everything was ready, and we were about to set out when our +pickets, a long, thin line of which had surrounded our camp at all +times, reported that a great body of what appeared to be Sagoths +and Mahars were approaching from the direction of Phutra. + +Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to witness the +first clash between two fair-sized armies of the opposing races of +Pellucidar. I realized that this was to mark the historic beginning +of a mighty struggle for possession of a world, and as the first +emperor of Pellucidar I felt that it was not alone my duty, but my +right, to be in the thick of that momentous struggle. + +As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many Mahars +with the Sagoth troops--an indication of the vast importance which +the dominant race placed upon the outcome of this campaign, for +it was not customary with them to take active part in the sorties +which their creatures made for slaves--the only form of warfare +which they waged upon the lower orders. + +Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to view the +prospector. I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians on the right of +our battle line. Dacor took the left, while I commanded the center. +Behind us I stationed a sufficient reserve under one of Ghak's +head men. The Sagoths advanced steadily with menacing spears, and +I let them come until they were within easy bowshot before I gave +the word to fire. + +At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front ranks of the +gorilla-men crumpled to the ground; but those behind charged over +the prostrate forms of their comrades in a wild, mad rush to be upon +us with their spears. A second volley stopped them for an instant, +and then my reserve sprang through the openings in the firing line +to engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy spears of the +Sagoths were no match for the swords of the Sarian and Amozite, +who turned the spear thrusts aside with their shields and leaped +to close quarters with their lighter, handier weapons. + +Ghak took his archers along the enemy's flank, and while the +swordsmen engaged them in front, he poured volley after volley into +their unprotected left. The Mahars did little real fighting, and +were more in the way than otherwise, though occasionally one of +them would fasten its powerful jaw upon the arm or leg of a Sarian. + +The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I led our +men in upon the Sagoth's right with naked swords they were already +so demoralized that they turned and fled before us. We pursued +them for some time, taking many prisoners and recovering nearly a +hundred slaves, among whom was Hooja the Sly One. + +He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his own +land; but that his life had been spared in hope that through him +the Mahars would learn the whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak +and I were inclined to think that the Sly One had been guiding +this expedition to the land of Sari, where he thought that the book +might be found in Perry's possession; but we had no proof of this +and so we took him in and treated him as one of us, although none +liked him. And how he rewarded my generosity you will presently +learn. + +There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so fearful +were our own people of them that they would not approach them +unless completely covered from the sight of the reptiles by a piece +of skin. Even Dian shared the popular superstition regarding the +evil effects of exposure to the eyes of angry Mahars, and though +I laughed at her fears I was willing enough to humor them if it +would relieve her apprehension in any degree, and so she sat apart +from the prospector, near which the Mahars had been chained, while +Perry and I again inspected every portion of the mechanism. + +At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to one of +the men without to fetch Dian. It happened that Hooja stood quite +close to the doorway of the prospector, so that it was he who, +without my knowledge, went to bring her; but how he succeeded in +accomplishing the fiendish thing he did, I cannot guess, unless +there were others in the plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, +since all my people were loyal to me and would have made short +work of Hooja had he suggested the heartless scheme, even had he +had time to acquaint another with it. It was all done so quickly +that I may only believe that it was the result of sudden impulse, +aided by a number of, to Hooja, fortuitous circumstances occurring +at precisely the right moment. + +All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the prospector, +still wrapped from head to toe in the skin of an enormous cave lion +which covered her since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into +camp. He deposited his burden in the seat beside me. I was all +ready to get under way. The good-byes had been said. Perry had +grasped my hand in the last, long farewell. I closed and barred the +outer and inner doors, took my seat again at the driving mechanism, +and pulled the starting lever. + +As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our first trial +of the iron monster, there was a frightful roaring beneath us--the +giant frame trembled and vibrated--there was a rush of sound as the +loose earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner +and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. Once more the thing +was off. + +But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my seat by +the sudden lurching of the prospector. At first I did not realize +what had happened, but presently it dawned upon me that just +before entering the crust the towering body had fallen through its +supporting scaffolding, and that instead of entering the ground +vertically we were plunging into it at a different angle. Where it +would bring us out upon the upper crust I could not even conjecture. +And then I turned to note the effect of this strange experience +upon Dian. She still sat shrouded in the great skin. + +"Come, come," I cried, laughing, "come out of your shell. No Mahar +eyes can reach you here," and I leaned over and snatched the lion +skin from her. And then I shrank back upon my seat in utter horror. + +The thing beneath the skin was not Dian--it was a hideous Mahar. +Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja had played upon me, and +the purpose of it. Rid of me, forever as he doubtless thought, +Dian would be at his mercy. Frantically I tore at the steering +wheel in an effort to turn the prospector back toward Pellucidar; +but, as on that other occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair. + +It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of that journey. +It varied but little from the former one which had brought us from +the outer to the inner world. Because of the angle at which we +had entered the ground the trip required nearly a day longer, and +brought me out here upon the sand of the Sahara instead of in the +United States as I had hoped. + +For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. I +dared not leave the prospector for fear I should never be able to +find it again--the shifting sands of the desert would soon cover +it, and then my only hope of returning to my Dian and her Pellucidar +would be gone forever. + +That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, for +how may I know upon what part of Pellucidar my return journey may +terminate--and how, without a north or south or an east or a west +may I hope ever to find my way across that vast world to the tiny +spot where my lost love lies grieving for me? + + +That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the goat-skin tent +upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. The next day he took me +out to see the prospector--it was precisely as he had described it. +So huge was it that it could have been brought to this inaccessible +part of the world by no means of transportation that existed there--it +could only have come in the way that David Innes said it came--up +through the crust of the earth from the inner world of Pellucidar. + +I spent a week with him, and then, abandoned my lion hunt, returned +directly to the coast and hurried to London where I purchased a +great quantity of stuff which he wished to take back to Pellucidar +with him. There were books, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, cameras, +chemicals, telephones, telegraph instruments, wire, tool and more +books--books upon every subject under the sun. He said he wanted +a library with which they could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth +century in the Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I got +it for him. + +I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied them to +the end of the railroad; but from here I was recalled to America +upon important business. However, I was able to employ a very +trustworthy man to take charge of the caravan--the same guide, +in fact, who had accompanied me on the previous trip into the +Sahara--and after writing a long letter to Innes in which I gave +him my American address, I saw the expedition head south. + +Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five hundred +miles of double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. I had +it packed on a special reel at his suggestion, as it was his idea +that he could fasten one end here before he left and by paying it +out through the end of the prospector lay a telegraph line between +the outer and inner worlds. In my letter I told him to be sure to +mark the terminus of the line very plainly with a high cairn, in +case I was not able to reach him before he set out, so that I might +easily find and communicate with him should he be so fortunate as +to reach Pellucidar. + +I received several letters from him after I returned to America--in +fact he took advantage of every northward-passing caravan to drop +me word of some sort. His last letter was written the day before +he intended to depart. Here it is. + + +MY DEAR FRIEND: + +Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. That is +if the Arabs don't get me. They have been very nasty of late. I +don't know the cause, but on two occasions they have threatened my +life. One, more friendly than the rest, told me today that they +intended attacking me tonight. It would be unfortunate should anything +of that sort happen now that I am so nearly ready to depart. + +However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the hour +approaches, the slenderer my chances for success appear. + +Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north for me, +so good-bye, and God bless you for your kindness to me. + +The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand to the +south--he thinks it is the party coming to murder me, and he doesn't +want to be found with me. So good-bye again. + +Yours, + +DAVID INNES. + + +A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, headed +for the spot where I had left Innes. My first disappointment was +when I discovered that my old guide had died within a few weeks +of my return, nor could I find any member of my former party who +could lead me to the same spot. + +For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing countless +desert sheiks in the hope that at last I might find one who had +heard of Innes and his wonderful iron mole. Constantly my eyes +scanned the blinding waste of sand for the ricky cairn beneath +which I was to find the wires leading to Pellucidar--but always +was I unsuccessful. + +And always do these awful questions harass me when I think of David +Innes and his strange adventures. + +Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? +Or, did he again turn the nose of his iron monster toward the inner +world? Did he reach it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart +of the great crust? And if he did come again to Pellucidar was it +to break through into the bottom of one of her great island seas, +or among some savage race far, far from the land of his heart's +desire? + +Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, +at the end of two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost cairn? I wonder. + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of At the Earth's Core +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + diff --git a/old/old/ecore11.zip b/old/old/ecore11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..60a700b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11.zip diff --git a/old/old/ecore11h.htm b/old/old/ecore11h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ffc8714 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6084 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> + +<html> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" + content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> + <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of At the Earth's Core by + Edgar Rice Burroughs</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + PRE { font-family: Courier, monospaced;} + + --> + </style> +</head> + +<body> + <pre> +The Project Gutenberg Etext of At the Earth's Core +by Edgar Rice Burroughs +(#1 in the At the Earth's Core Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + +Created by Judith Boss, Omaha, Nebraska +</pre> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <h1>At the Earth's Core</h1> + + <h3>By Edgar Rice Burroughs</h3> + + <p> </p> + <hr> + + <p> </p> + + <h2>PROLOGUE</h2> + + <p>IN THE FIRST PLACE PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT I do not expect + you to believe this story. Nor could you wonder had you + witnessed a recent experience of mine when, in the armor of + blissful and stupendous ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of + it to a Fellow of the Royal Geological Society on the occasion + of my last trip to London.</p> + + <p>You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no + less a heinous crime than the purloining of the Crown Jewels + from the Tower, or putting poison in the coffee of His Majesty + the King.</p> + + <p>The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I + was half through!—it is all that saved him from + exploding—and my dreams of an Honorary Fellowship, gold + medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame faded into the thin, + cold air of his arctic atmosphere.</p> + + <p>But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the + learned Fellow of the Royal Geological Society, had you and he + heard it from the lips of the man who told it to me. Had you + seen, as I did, the fire of truth in those gray eyes; had you + felt the ring of sincerity in that quiet voice; had you + realized the pathos of it all—you, too, would believe. + You would not have needed the final ocular proof that I + had—the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature which he had + brought back with him from the inner world.</p> + + <p>I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, + upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. He was standing before + a goat-skin tent amidst a clump of date palms within a tiny + oasis. Close by was an Arab douar of some eight or ten + tents.</p> + + <p>I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party + consisted of a dozen children of the desert—I was the + only "white" man. As we approached the little clump of verdure + I saw the man come from his tent and with hand-shaded eyes peer + intently at us. At sight of me he advanced rapidly to meet + us.</p> + + <p>"A white man!" he cried. "May the good Lord be praised! I + have been watching you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS + time there would be a white man. Tell me the date. What year is + it?"</p> + + <p>And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been + struck full in the face, so that he was compelled to grasp my + stirrup leather for support.</p> + + <p>"It cannot be!" he cried after a moment. "It cannot be! Tell + me that you are mistaken, or that you are but joking."</p> + + <p>"I am telling you the truth, my friend," I replied. "Why + should I deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a + matter as the date?"</p> + + <p>For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head.</p> + + <p>"Ten years!" he murmured, at last. "Ten years, and I thought + that at the most it could be scarce more than one!" That night + he told me his story—the story that I give you here as + nearly in his own words as I can recall them.</p> + <hr> + + <h2>I</h2> + + <h3>TOWARD THE ETERNAL FIRES</h3> + + <p>I WAS BORN IN CONNECTICUT ABOUT THIRTY YEARS ago. My name is + David Innes. My father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was + nineteen he died. All his property was to be mine when I had + attained my majority—provided that I had devoted the two + years intervening in close application to the great business I + was to inherit.</p> + + <p>I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my + parent—not because of the inheritance, but because I + loved and honored my father. For six months I toiled in the + mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to know every + minute detail of the business.</p> + + <p>Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old + fellow who had devoted the better part of a long life to the + perfection of a mechanical subterranean prospector. As + relaxation he studied paleontology. I looked over his plans, + listened to his arguments, inspected his working + model—and then, convinced, I advanced the funds necessary + to construct a full-sized, practical prospector.</p> + + <p>I shall not go into the details of its construction—it + lies out there in the desert now—about two miles from + here. Tomorrow you may care to ride out and see it. Roughly, it + is a steel cylinder a hundred feet long, and jointed so that it + may turn and twist through solid rock if need be. At one end is + a mighty revolving drill operated by an engine which Perry said + generated more power to the cubic inch than any other engine + did to the cubic foot. I remember that he used to claim that + that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy—we + were going to make the whole thing public after the successful + issue of our first secret trial—but Perry never returned + from that trial trip, and I only after ten years.</p> + + <p>I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that + momentous occasion upon which we were to test the practicality + of that wondrous invention. It was near midnight when we + repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry had constructed his + "iron mole" as he was wont to call the thing. The great nose + rested upon the bare earth of the floor. We passed through the + doors into the outer jacket, secured them, and then passing on + into the cabin, which contained the controlling mechanism + within the inner tube, switched on the electric lights.</p> + + <p>Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held + the life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture + fresh air to replace that which we consumed in breathing; to + his instruments for recording temperatures, speed, distance, + and for examining the materials through which we were to + pass.</p> + + <p>He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty + cogs which transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant + drill at the nose of his strange craft.</p> + + <p>Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so + arranged upon transverse bars that we would be upright whether + the craft were ploughing her way downward into the bowels of + the earth, or running horizontally along some great seam of + coal, or rising vertically toward the surface again.</p> + + <p>At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For + a moment we were silent, and then the old man's hand grasped + the starting lever. There was a frightful roaring beneath + us—the giant frame trembled and vibrated—there was + a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through the hollow + space between the inner and outer jackets to be deposited in + our wake. We were off!</p> + + <p>The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a + full minute neither of us could do aught but cling with the + proverbial desperation of the drowning man to the handrails of + our swinging seats. Then Perry glanced at the thermometer.</p> + + <p>"Gad!" he cried, "it cannot be possible—quick! What + does the distance meter read?"</p> + + <p>That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, + and as I turned to take a reading from the former I could see + Perry muttering.</p> + + <p>"Ten degrees rise—it cannot be possible!" and then I + saw him tug frantically upon the steering wheel.</p> + + <p>As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I + translated Perry's evident excitement, and my heart sank within + me. But when I spoke I hid the fear which haunted me. "It will + be seven hundred feet, Perry," I said, "by the time you can + turn her into the horizontal."</p> + + <p>"You'd better lend me a hand then, my boy," he replied, "for + I cannot budge her out of the vertical alone. God give that our + combined strength may be equal to the task, for else we are + lost."</p> + + <p>I wormed my way to the old man's side with never a doubt but + that the great wheel would yield on the instant to the power of + my young and vigorous muscles. Nor was my belief mere vanity, + for always had my physique been the envy and despair of my + fellows. And for that very reason it had waxed even greater + than nature had intended, since my natural pride in my great + strength had led me to care for and develop my body and my + muscles by every means within my power. What with boxing, + football, and baseball, I had been in training since + childhood.</p> + + <p>And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of + the huge iron rim; but though I threw every ounce of my + strength into it, my best effort was as unavailing as Perry's + had been—the thing would not budge—the grim, + insensate, horrible thing that was holding us upon the straight + road to death!</p> + + <p>At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word + returned to my seat. There was no need for words—at least + none that I could imagine, unless Perry desired to pray. And I + was quite sure that he would, for he never left an opportunity + neglected where he might sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when + he arose in the morning, he prayed before he ate, he prayed + when he had finished eating, and before he went to bed at night + he prayed again. In between he often found excuses to pray even + when the provocation seemed far-fetched to my worldly + eyes—now that he was about to die I felt positive that I + should witness a perfect orgy of prayer—if one may allude + with such a simile to so solemn an act.</p> + + <p>But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring + him in the face Abner Perry was transformed into a new being. + From his lips there flowed—not prayer—but a clear + and limpid stream of undiluted profanity, and it was all + directed at that quietly stubborn piece of unyielding + mechanism.</p> + + <p>"I should think, Perry," I chided, "that a man of your + professed religiousness would rather be at his prayers than + cursing in the presence of imminent death."</p> + + <p>"Death!" he cried. "Death is it that appalls you? That is + nothing by comparison with the loss the world must suffer. Why, + David within this iron cylinder we have demonstrated + possibilities that science has scarce dreamed. We have + harnessed a new principle, and with it animated a piece of + steel with the power of ten thousand men. That two lives will + be snuffed out is nothing to the world calamity that entombs in + the bowels of the earth the discoveries that I have made and + proved in the successful construction of the thing that is now + carrying us farther and farther toward the eternal central + fires."</p> + + <p>I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more + concerned with our own immediate future than with any + problematic loss which the world might be about to suffer. The + world was at least ignorant of its bereavement, while to me it + was a real and terrible actuality.</p> + + <p>"What can we do?" I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath + the mask of a low and level voice.</p> + + <p>"We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our + atmosphere tanks are empty," replied Perry, "or we may continue + on with the slight hope that we may later sufficiently deflect + the prospector from the vertical to carry us along the arc of a + great circle which must eventually return us to the surface. If + we succeed in so doing before we reach the higher internal + temperature we may even yet survive. There would seem to me to + be about one chance in several million that we shall + succeed—otherwise we shall die more quickly but no more + surely than as though we sat supinely waiting for the torture + of a slow and horrible death."</p> + + <p>I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. + While we were talking the mighty iron mole had bored its way + over a mile into the rock of the earth's crust.</p> + + <p>"Let us continue on, then," I replied. "It should soon be + over at this rate. You never intimated that the speed of this + thing would be so high, Perry. Didn't you know it?"</p> + + <p>"No," he answered. "I could not figure the speed exactly, + for I had no instrument for measuring the mighty power of my + generator. I reasoned, however, that we should make about five + hundred yards an hour."</p> + + <p>"And we are making seven miles an hour," I concluded for + him, as I sat with my eyes upon the distance meter. "How thick + is the Earth's crust, Perry?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there + are geologists," was his answer. "One estimates it thirty + miles, because the internal heat, increasing at the rate of + about one degree to each sixty to seventy feet depth, would be + sufficient to fuse the most refractory substances at that + distance beneath the surface. Another finds that the phenomena + of precession and nutation require that the earth, if not + entirely solid, must at least have a shell not less than eight + hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. So there you are. You + may take your choice."</p> + + <p>"And if it should prove solid?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"It will be all the same to us in the end, David," replied + Perry. "At the best our fuel will suffice to carry us but three + or four days, while our atmosphere cannot last to exceed three. + Neither, then, is sufficient to bear us in the safety through + eight thousand miles of rock to the antipodes."</p> + + <p>"If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a + final stop between six and seven hundred miles beneath the + earth's surface; but during the last hundred and fifty miles of + our journey we shall be corpses. Am I correct?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"Quite correct, David. Are you frightened?"</p> + + <p>"I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce + believe that either of us realizes the real terrors of our + position. I feel that I should be reduced to panic; but yet I + am not. I imagine that the shock has been so great as to + partially stun our sensibilities."</p> + + <p>Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising + with less rapidity. It was now but 140 degrees, although we had + penetrated to a depth of nearly four miles. I told Perry, and + he smiled.</p> + + <p>"We have shattered one theory at least," was his only + comment, and then he returned to his self-assumed occupation of + fluently cursing the steering wheel. I once heard a pirate + swear, but his best efforts would have seemed like those of a + tyro alongside of Perry's masterful and scientific + imprecations.</p> + + <p>Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well + have essayed to swing the earth itself. At my suggestion Perry + stopped the generator, and as we came to rest I again threw all + my strength into a supreme effort to move the thing even a + hair's breadth—but the results were as barren as when we + had been traveling at top speed.</p> + + <p>I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. + Perry pulled it toward him, and once again we were plunging + downward toward eternity at the rate of seven miles an hour. I + sat with my eyes glued to the thermometer and the distance + meter. The mercury was rising very slowly now, though even at + 145 degrees it was almost unbearable within the narrow confines + of our metal prison.</p> + + <p>About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this + unfortunate journey, we had bored to a depth of eighty-four + miles, at which point the mercury registered 153 degrees F.</p> + + <p>Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager + food he sustained his optimism I could not conjecture. From + cursing he had turned to singing—I felt that the strain + had at last affected his mind. For several hours we had not + spoken except as he asked me for the readings of the + instruments from time to time, and I announced them. My + thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I recalled numerous + acts of my past life which I should have been glad to have had + a few more years to live down. There was the affair in the + Latin Commons at Andover when Calhoun and I had put gunpowder + in the stove—and nearly killed one of the masters. And + then—but what was the use, I was about to die and atone + for all these things and several more. Already the heat was + sufficient to give me a foretaste of the hereafter. A few more + degrees and I felt that I should lose consciousness.</p> + + <p>"What are the readings now, David?" Perry's voice broke in + upon my somber reflections.</p> + + <p>"Ninety miles and 153 degrees," I replied.</p> + + <p>"Gad, but we've knocked that thirty-mile-crust theory into a + cocked hat!" he cried gleefully.</p> + + <p>"Precious lot of good it will do us," I growled back.</p> + + <p>"But my boy," he continued, "doesn't that temperature + reading mean anything to you? Why it hasn't gone up in six + miles. Think of it, son!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I'm thinking of it," I answered; "but what difference + will it make when our air supply is exhausted whether the + temperature is 153 degrees or 153,000? We'll be just as dead, + and no one will know the difference, anyhow." But I must admit + that for some unaccountable reason the stationary temperature + did renew my waning hope. What I hoped for I could not have + explained, nor did I try. The very fact, as Perry took pains to + explain, of the blasting of several very exact and learned + scientific hypotheses made it apparent that we could not know + what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, and so we + might continue to hope for the best, at least until we were + dead—when hope would no longer be essential to our + happiness. It was very good, and logical reasoning, and so I + embraced it.</p> + + <p>At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 + DEGREES! When I announced it Perry reached over and hugged + me.</p> + + <p>From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to + drop until it became as uncomfortably cold as it had been + unbearably hot before. At the depth of two hundred and forty + miles our nostrils were assailed by almost overpowering ammonia + fumes, and the temperature had dropped to TEN BELOW ZERO! We + suffered nearly two hours of this intense and bitter cold, + until at about two hundred and forty-five miles from the + surface of the earth we entered a stratum of solid ice, when + the mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees. During the next three + hours we passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging + into another series of ammonia-impregnated strata, where the + mercury again fell to ten degrees below zero.</p> + + <p>Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at + last we were nearing the molten interior of the earth. At four + hundred miles the temperature had reached 153 degrees. + Feverishly I watched the thermometer. Slowly it rose. Perry had + ceased singing and was at last praying.</p> + + <p>Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually + increasing heat seemed to our distorted imaginations much + greater than it really was. For another hour I saw that + pitiless column of mercury rise and rise until at four hundred + and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. Now it was that we began + to hang upon those readings in almost breathless anxiety.</p> + + <p>One hundred and fifty-three degrees had been the maximum + temperature above the ice stratum. Would it stop at this point + again, or would it continue its merciless climb? We knew that + there was no hope, and yet with the persistence of life itself + we continued to hope against practical certainty.</p> + + <p>Already the air tanks were at low ebb—there was barely + enough of the precious gases to sustain us for another twelve + hours. But would we be alive to know or care? It seemed + incredible.</p> + + <p>At four hundred and twenty miles I took another reading.</p> + + <p>"Perry!" I shouted. "Perry, man! She's going down! She's + going down! She's 152 degrees again."</p> + + <p>"Gad!" he cried. "What can it mean? Can the earth be cold at + the center?"</p> + + <p>"I do not know, Perry," I answered; "but thank God, if I am + to die it shall not be by fire—that is all that I have + feared. I can face the thought of any death but that."</p> + + <p>Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had + seven miles from the surface of the earth, and then of a sudden + the realization broke upon us that death was very near. Perry + was the first to discover it. I saw him fussing with the valves + that regulate the air supply. And at the same time I + experienced difficulty in breathing. My head felt + dizzy—my limbs heavy.</p> + + <p>I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and + sat erect again. Then he turned toward me.</p> + + <p>"Good-bye, David," he said. "I guess this is the end," and + then he smiled and closed his eyes.</p> + + <p>"Good-bye, Perry, and good luck to you," I answered, smiling + back at him. But I fought off that awful lethargy. I was very + young—I did not want to die.</p> + + <p>For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death + that surrounded me upon all sides. At first I found that by + climbing high into the framework above me I could find more of + the precious life-giving elements, and for a while these + sustained me. It must have been an hour after Perry had + succumbed that I at last came to the realization that I could + no longer carry on this unequal struggle against the + inevitable.</p> + + <p>With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned + mechanically toward the distance meter. It stood at exactly + five hundred miles from the earth's surface—and then of a + sudden the huge thing that bore us came to a stop. The rattle + of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket ceased. The wild + racing of the giant drill betokened that it was running loose + in AIR—and then another truth flashed upon me. The point + of the prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it dawned on me that + since passing through the ice strata it had been above. We had + turned in the ice and sped upward toward the earth's crust. + Thank God! We were safe!</p> + + <p>I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were + to have been taken during the passage of the prospector through + the earth, and my fondest hopes were realized—a flood of + fresh air was pouring into the iron cabin. The reaction left me + in a state of collapse, and I lost consciousness.</p> + + <h2>II</h2> + + <h3>A STRANGE WORLD</h3> + + <p>I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT, for as I + lunged forward from the crossbeam to which I had been clinging, + and fell with a crash to the floor of the cabin, the shock + brought me to myself.</p> + + <p>My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the + thought that upon the very threshold of salvation he might be + dead. Tearing open his shirt I placed my ear to his breast. I + could have cried with relief—his heart was beating quite + regularly.</p> + + <p>At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it + smartly across his forehead and face several times. In a moment + I was rewarded by the raising of his lids. For a time he lay + wide-eyed and quite uncomprehending. Then his scattered wits + slowly foregathered, and he sat up sniffing the air with an + expression of wonderment upon his face.</p> + + <p>"Why, David," he cried at last, "it's air, as sure as I + live. Why—why what does it mean? Where in the world are + we? What has happened?"</p> + + <p>"It means that we're back at the surface all right, Perry," + I cried; "but where, I don't know. I haven't opened her up yet. + Been too busy reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a close + squeak!"</p> + + <p>"You say we're back at the surface, David? How can that be? + How long have I been unconscious?"</p> + + <p>"Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don't you recall + the sudden whirling of our seats? After that the drill was + above you instead of below. We didn't notice it at the time; + but I recall it now."</p> + + <p>"You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, + David? That is not possible. The prospector cannot turn unless + its nose is deflected from the outside—by some external + force or resistance—the steering wheel within would have + moved in response. The steering wheel has not budged, David, + since we started. You know that."</p> + + <p>I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in + pure air, and copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin.</p> + + <p>"We couldn't have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know + as well as you," I replied; "but the fact remains that we did, + for here we are this minute at the surface of the earth again, + and I am going out to see just where."</p> + + <p>"Better wait till morning, David—it must be midnight + now."</p> + + <p>I glanced at the chronometer.</p> + + <p>"Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours, so + it must be midnight. Nevertheless I am going to have a look at + the blessed sky that I had given up all hope of ever seeing + again," and so saying I lifted the bars from the inner door, + and swung it open. There was quite a quantity of loose material + in the jacket, and this I had to remove with a shovel to get at + the opposite door in the outer shell.</p> + + <p>In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock + to the floor of the cabin to expose the door beyond. Perry was + directly behind me as I threw it open. The upper half was above + the surface of the ground. With an expression of surprise I + turned and looked at Perry—it was broad daylight + without!</p> + + <p>"Something seems to have gone wrong either with our + calculations or the chronometer," I said. Perry shook his + head—there was a strange expression in his eyes.</p> + + <p>"Let's have a look beyond that door, David," he cried.</p> + + <p>Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of + a landscape at once weird and beautiful. Before us a low and + level shore stretched down to a silent sea. As far as the eye + could reach the surface of the water was dotted with countless + tiny isles—some of towering, barren, granitic + rock—others resplendent in gorgeous trappings of tropical + vegetation, myriad starred with the magnificent splendor of + vivid blooms.</p> + + <p>Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant + arborescent ferns intermingled with the commoner types of a + primeval tropical forest. Huge creepers depended in great loops + from tree to tree, dense under-brush overgrew a tangled mass of + fallen trunks and branches. Upon the outer verge we could see + the same splendid coloring of countless blossoms that glorified + the islands, but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and + gloomy as the grave.</p> + + <p>And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays out of a + cloudless sky.</p> + + <p>"Where on earth can we be?" I asked, turning to Perry.</p> + + <p>For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with + bowed head, buried in deep thought. But at last he spoke.</p> + + <p>"David," he said, "I am not so sure that we are ON + earth."</p> + + <p>"What do you mean Perry?" I cried. "Do you think that we are + dead, and this is heaven?" He smiled, and turning, pointing to + the nose of the prospector protruding from the ground at our + backs.</p> + + <p>"But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed + come to the country beyond the Styx. The prospector renders + that theory untenable—it, certainly, could never have + gone to heaven. However I am willing to concede that we + actually may be in another world from that which we have always + known. If we are not ON earth, there is every reason to believe + that we may be IN it."</p> + + <p>"We may have quartered through the earth's crust and come + out upon some tropical island of the West Indies," I suggested. + Again Perry shook his head.</p> + + <p>"Let us wait and see, David," he replied, "and in the + meantime suppose we do a bit of exploring up and down the + coast—we may find a native who can enlighten us."</p> + + <p>As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly + across the water. Evidently he was wrestling with a mighty + problem.</p> + + <p>"David," he said abruptly, "do you perceive anything unusual + about the horizon?"</p> + + <p>As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the + strangeness of the landscape that had haunted me from the first + with an illusive suggestion of the bizarre and + unnatural—THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as the eye could + reach out the sea continued and upon its bosom floated tiny + islands, those in the distance reduced to mere specks; but ever + beyond them was the sea, until the impression became quite real + that one was LOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyes + could fathom—the distance was lost in the distance. That + was all—there was no clear-cut horizontal line marking + the dip of the globe below the line of vision.</p> + + <p>"A great light is commencing to break on me," continued + Perry, taking out his watch. "I believe that I have partially + solved the riddle. It is now two o'clock. When we emerged from + the prospector the sun was directly above us. Where is it + now?"</p> + + <p>I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the + center of the heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely noticed it + before. Fully thrice the size of the sun I had known throughout + my life, and apparently so near that the sight of it carried + the conviction that one might almost reach up and touch it.</p> + + <p>"My God, Perry, where are we?" I exclaimed. "This thing is + beginning to get on my nerves."</p> + + <p>"I think that I may state quite positively, David," he + commenced, "that we are—" but he got no further. From + behind us in the vicinity of the prospector there came the most + thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever had fallen upon my + ears. With one accord we turned to discover the author of that + fearsome noise.</p> + + <p>Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the + sight that met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it. + Emerging from the forest was a colossal beast which closely + resembled a bear. It was fully as large as the largest elephant + and with great forepaws armed with huge claws. Its nose, or + snout, depended nearly a foot below its lower jaw, much after + the manner of a rudimentary trunk. The giant body was covered + by a coat of thick, shaggy hair.</p> + + <p>Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling + trot. I turned to Perry to suggest that it might be wise to + seek other surroundings—the idea had evidently occurred + to Perry previously, for he was already a hundred paces away, + and with each second his prodigious bounds increased the + distance. I had never guessed what latent speed possibilities + the old gentleman possessed.</p> + + <p>I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest + which ran out toward the sea not far from where we had been + standing, and as the mighty creature, the sight of which had + galvanized him into such remarkable action, was forging + steadily toward me. I set off after Perry, though at a somewhat + more decorous pace. It was evident that the massive beast + pursuing us was not built for speed, so all that I considered + necessary was to gain the trees sufficiently ahead of it to + enable me to climb to the safety of some great branch before it + came up.</p> + + <p>Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at + Perry's frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety of the + lower branches of the trees he now had reached. The stems were + bare for a distance of some fifteen feet—at least on + those trees which Perry attempted to ascend, for the suggestion + of safety carried by the larger of the forest giants had + evidently attracted him to them. A dozen times he scrambled up + the trunks like a huge cat only to fall back to the ground once + more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over his + shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting + terror-stricken shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim + forest.</p> + + <p>At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of + one's wrist, and when I reached the trees he was racing madly + up it, hand over hand. He had almost reached the lowest branch + of the tree from which the creeper depended when the thing + parted beneath his weight and he fell sprawling at my feet.</p> + + <p>The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was + already too close to us for comfort. Seizing Perry by the + shoulder I dragged him to his feet, and rushing to a smaller + tree—one that he could easily encircle with his arms and + legs—I boosted him as far up as I could, and then left + him to his fate, for a glance over my shoulder revealed the + awful beast almost upon me.</p> + + <p>It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its + enormous bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with + the agility of my young muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge + out of its way and run completely behind it before its slow + wits could direct it in pursuit.</p> + + <p>The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely + lodged in the branches of a tree a few paces from that in which + Perry had at last found a haven.</p> + + <p>Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite + safe, and so did Perry. He was praying—raising his voice + in thanksgiving at our deliverance—and had just completed + a sort of paeon of gratitude that the thing couldn't climb a + tree when without warning it reared up beneath him on its + enormous tail and hind feet, and reached those fearfully armed + paws quite to the branch upon which he crouched.</p> + + <p>The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry's scream + of fright, and he came near tumbling headlong into the gaping + jaws beneath him, so precipitate was his impetuous haste to + vacate the dangerous limb. It was with a deep sigh of relief + that I saw him gain a higher branch in safety.</p> + + <p>And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with + horror. Grasping the tree's stem with his powerful paws he + dragged down with all the great weight of his huge bulk and all + the irresistible force of those mighty muscles. Slowly, but + surely, the stem began to bend toward him. Inch by inch he + worked his paws upward as the tree leaned more and more from + the perpendicular. Perry clung chattering in a panic of terror. + Higher and higher into the bending and swaying tree he + clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining + toward the ground.</p> + + <p>I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous + paws. The use that he was putting them to was precisely that + for which nature had intended them. The sloth-like creature was + herbivorous, and to feed that mighty carcass entire trees must + be stripped of their foliage. The reason for its attacking us + might easily be accounted for on the supposition of an ugly + disposition such as that which the fierce and stupid rhinoceros + of Africa possesses. But these were later reflections. At the + moment I was too frantic with apprehension on Perry's behalf to + consider aught other than a means to save him from the death + that loomed so close.</p> + + <p>Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the + open, I dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only on + distracting the thing's attention from Perry long enough to + enable the old man to gain the safety of a larger tree. There + were many close by which not even the terrific strength of that + titanic monster could bend.</p> + + <p>As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the + tangled mass that matted the jungle-like floor of the forest + and, leaping unnoticed behind the shaggy back, dealt the brute + a terrific blow. My plan worked like magic. From the previous + slowness of the beast I had been led to look for no such + marvelous agility as he now displayed. Releasing his hold upon + the tree he dropped on all fours and at the same time swung his + great, wicked tail with a force that would have broken every + bone in my body had it struck me; but, fortunately, I had + turned to flee at the very instant that I felt my blow land + upon the towering back.</p> + + <p>As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running + along the edge of the forest rather than making for the open + beach. In a moment I was knee-deep in rotting vegetation, and + the awful thing behind me was gaining rapidly as I floundered + and fell in my efforts to extricate myself.</p> + + <p>A fallen log gave me an instant's advantage, for climbing + upon it I leaped to another a few paces farther on, and in this + way was able to keep clear of the mush that carpeted the + surrounding ground. But the zigzag course that this + necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap upon me that my + pursuer was steadily gaining upon me.</p> + + <p>Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, + piercing barks—much the sound that a pack of wolves + raises when in full cry. Involuntarily I glanced backward to + discover the origin of this new and menacing note with the + result that I missed my footing and went sprawling once more + upon my face in the deep muck.</p> + + <p>My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I + must feel the weight of one of his terrible paws before I could + rise, but to my surprise the blow did not fall upon me. The + howling and snapping and barking of the new element which had + been infused into the melee now seemed centered quite close + behind me, and as I raised myself upon my hands and glanced + around I saw what it was that had distracted the DYRYTH, as I + afterward learned the thing is called, from my trail.</p> + + <p>It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like + creatures—wild dogs they seemed—that rushed + growling and snapping in upon it from all sides, so that they + sank their white fangs into the slow brute and were away again + before it could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping + tail.</p> + + <p>But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. + Chattering and gibbering through the lower branches of the + trees came a company of manlike creatures evidently urging on + the dog pack. They were to all appearances strikingly similar + in aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their skins were very black, + and their features much like those of the more pronounced + Negroid type except that the head receded more rapidly above + the eyes, leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were rather + longer and their legs shorter in proportion to the torso than + in man, and later I noticed that their great toes protruded at + right angles from their feet—because of their arboreal + habits, I presume. Behind them trailed long, slender tails + which they used in climbing quite as much as they did either + their hands or feet.</p> + + <p>I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that + the wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay. At sight of me + several of the savage creatures left off worrying the great + brute to come slinking with bared fangs toward me, and as I + turned to run toward the trees again to seek safety among the + lower branches, I saw a number of the man-apes leaping and + chattering in the foliage of the nearest tree.</p> + + <p>Between them and the beasts behind me there was little + choice, but at least there was a doubt as to the reception + these grotesque parodies on humanity would accord me, while + there was none as to the fate which awaited me beneath the + grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers.</p> + + <p>And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath + that which held the man-things and take refuge in another + farther on; but the wolf-dogs were very close behind + me—so close that I had despaired of escaping them, when + one of the creatures in the tree above swung down headforemost, + his tail looped about a great limb, and grasping me beneath my + armpits swung me in safety up among his fellows.</p> + + <p>There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement + and curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair, and my + flesh. They turned me about to see if I had a tail, and when + they discovered that I was not so equipped they fell into roars + of laughter. Their teeth were very large and white and even, + except for the upper canines which were a trifle longer than + the others—protruding just a bit when the mouth was + closed.</p> + + <p>When they had examined me for a few moments one of them + discovered that my clothing was not a part of me, with the + result that garment by garment they tore it from me amidst + peals of the wildest laughter. Apelike, they essayed to don the + apparel themselves, but their ingenuity was not sufficient to + the task and so they gave it up.</p> + + <p>In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a + glimpse of Perry, but nowhere about could I see him, although + the clump of trees in which he had first taken refuge was in + full view. I was much exercised by fear that something had + befallen him, and though I called his name aloud several times + there was no response.</p> + + <p>Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures + threw it to the ground, and catching me, one on either side, by + an arm, started off at a most terrifying pace through the tree + tops. Never have I experienced such a journey before or + since—even now I oftentimes awake from a deep sleep + haunted by the horrid remembrance of that awful experience.</p> + + <p>From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying + squirrels, while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as I + glimpsed the depths beneath, into which a single misstep on the + part of either of my bearers would hurl me. As they bore me + along, my mind was occupied with a thousand bewildering + thoughts. What had become of Perry? Would I ever see him again? + What were the intentions of these half-human things into whose + hands I had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the same world + into which I had been born? No! It could not be. But yet where + else? I had not left that earth—of that I was sure. Still + neither could I reconcile the things which I had seen to a + belief that I was still in the world of my birth. With a sigh I + gave it up.</p> + + <h2>III</h2> + + <h3>A CHANGE OF MASTERS</h3> + + <p>WE MUST HAVE TRAVELED SEVERAL MILES THROUGH the dark and + dismal wood when we came suddenly upon a dense village built + high among the branches of the trees. As we approached it my + escort broke into wild shouting which was immediately answered + from within, and a moment later a swarm of creatures of the + same strange race as those who had captured me poured out to + meet us. Again I was the center of a wildly chattering horde. I + was pulled this way and that. Pinched, pounded, and thumped + until I was black and blue, yet I do not think that their + treatment was dictated by either cruelty or malice—I was + a curiosity, a freak, a new plaything, and their childish minds + required the added evidence of all their senses to back up the + testimony of their eyes.</p> + + <p>Presently they dragged me within the village, which + consisted of several hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves + supported upon the branches of the trees.</p> + + <p>Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, + were dead branches and the trunks of small trees which + connected the huts upon one tree to those within adjoining + trees; the whole network of huts and pathways forming an almost + solid flooring a good fifty feet above the ground.</p> + + <p>I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting + bridges between the trees, but later when I saw the motley + aggregation of half-savage beasts which they kept within their + village I realized the necessity for the pathways. There were a + number of the same vicious wolf-dogs which we had left worrying + the dyryth, and many goatlike animals whose distended udders + explained the reasons for their presence.</p> + + <p>My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was + pushed; then two of the creatures squatted down before the + entrance—to prevent my escape, doubtless. Though where I + should have escaped to I certainly had not the remotest + conception. I had no more than entered the dark shadows of the + interior than there fell upon my ears the tones of a familiar + voice, in prayer.</p> + + <p>"Perry!" I cried. "Dear old Perry! Thank the Lord you are + safe."</p> + + <p>"David! Can it be possible that you escaped?" And the old + man stumbled toward me and threw his arms about me.</p> + + <p>He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been + seized by a number of the ape-creatures and borne through the + tree tops to their village. His captors had been as inquisitive + as to his strange clothing as had mine, with the same result. + As we looked at each other we could not help but laugh.</p> + + <p>"With a tail, David," remarked Perry, "you would make a very + handsome ape."</p> + + <p>"Maybe we can borrow a couple," I rejoined. "They seem to be + quite the thing this season. I wonder what the creatures intend + doing with us, Perry. They don't seem really savage. What do + you suppose they can be? You were about to tell me where we are + when that great hairy frigate bore down upon us—have you + really any idea at all?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, David," he replied, "I know precisely where we are. We + have made a magnificent discovery, my boy! We have proved that + the earth is hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust + to the inner world."</p> + + <p>"Perry, you are mad!"</p> + + <p>"Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our + prospector bore us through the crust beneath our outer world. + At that point it reached the center of gravity of the + five-hundred-mile-thick crust. Up to that point we had been + descending—direction is, of course, merely relative. Then + at the moment that our seats revolved—the thing that made + you believe that we had turned about and were speeding + upward—we passed the center of gravity and, though we did + not alter the direction of our progress, yet we were in reality + moving upward—toward the surface of the inner world. Does + not the strange fauna and flora which we have seen convince you + that you are not in the world of your birth? And the + horizon—could it present the strange aspects which we + both noted unless we were indeed standing upon the inside + surface of a sphere?"</p> + + <p>"But the sun, Perry!" I urged. "How in the world can the sun + shine through five hundred miles of solid crust?"</p> + + <p>"It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It + is another sun—an entirely different sun—that casts + its eternal noonday effulgence upon the face of the inner + world. Look at it now, David—if you can see it from the + doorway of this hut—and you will see that it is still in + the exact center of the heavens. We have been here for many + hours—yet it is still noon.</p> + + <p>"And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a + nebulous mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it shrank. At length + a thin crust of solid matter formed upon its outer + surface—a sort of shell; but within it was partially + molten matter and highly expanded gases. As it continued to + cool, what happened? Centrifugal force hurled the particles of + the nebulous center toward the crust as rapidly as they + approached a solid state. You have seen the same principle + practically applied in the modern cream separator. Presently + there was only a small super-heated core of gaseous matter + remaining within a huge vacant interior left by the contraction + of the cooling gases. The equal attraction of the solid crust + from all directions maintained this luminous core in the exact + center of the hollow globe. What remains of it is the sun you + saw today—a relatively tiny thing at the exact center of + the earth. Equally to every part of this inner world it + diffuses its perpetual noonday light and torrid heat.</p> + + <p>"This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support + animal life long ages after life appeared upon the outer crust, + but that the same agencies were at work here is evident from + the similar forms of both animal and vegetable creation which + we have already seen. Take the great beast which attacked us, + for example. Unquestionably a counterpart of the Megatherium of + the post-Pliocene period of the outer crust, whose fossilized + skeleton has been found in South America."</p> + + <p>"But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?" I urged. + "Surely they have no counterpart in the earth's history."</p> + + <p>"Who can tell?" he rejoined. "They may constitute the link + between ape and man, all traces of which have been swallowed by + the countless convulsions which have racked the outer crust, or + they may be merely the result of evolution along slightly + different lines—either is quite possible."</p> + + <p>Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of + several of our captors before the entrance of the hut. Two of + them entered and dragged us forth. The perilous pathways and + the surrounding trees were filled with the black ape-men, their + females, and their young. There was not an ornament, a weapon, + or a garment among the lot.</p> + + <p>"Quite low in the scale of creation," commented Perry.</p> + + <p>"Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though," I + replied. "Now what do you suppose they intend doing with + us?"</p> + + <p>We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip + to the village we were seized by a couple of the powerful + creatures and whirled away through the tree tops, while about + us and in our wake raced a chattering, jabbering, grinning + horde of sleek, black ape-things.</p> + + <p>Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased + beating as we plunged toward instant death among the tangled + deadwood beneath. But on both occasions those lithe, powerful + tails reached out and found sustaining branches, nor did either + of the creatures loosen their grasp upon me. In fact, it seemed + that the incidents were of no greater moment to them than would + be the stubbing of one's toe at a street crossing in the outer + world—they but laughed uproariously and sped on with + me.</p> + + <p>For some time they continued through the forest—how + long I could not guess for I was learning, what was later borne + very forcefully to my mind, that time ceases to be a factor the + moment means for measuring it cease to exist. Our watches were + gone, and we were living beneath a stationary sun. Already I + was puzzled to compute the period of time which had elapsed + since we broke through the crust of the inner world. It might + be hours, or it might be days—who in the world could tell + where it was always noon! By the sun, no time had + elapsed—but my judgment told me that we must have been + several hours in this strange world.</p> + + <p>Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a + level plain. A short distance before us rose a few low, rocky + hills. Toward these our captors urged us, and after a short + time led us through a narrow pass into a tiny, circular valley. + Here they got down to work, and we were soon convinced that if + we were not to die to make a Roman holiday, we were to die for + some other purpose. The attitude of our captors altered + immediately as they entered the natural arena within the rocky + hills. Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity marked their + bestial faces—bared fangs menaced us.</p> + + <p>We were placed in the center of the amphitheater—the + thousand creatures forming a great ring about us. Then a + wolf-dog was brought—hyaenadon Perry called it—and + turned loose with us inside the circle. The thing's body was as + large as that of a full-grown mastiff, its legs were short and + powerful, and its jaws broad and strong. Dark, shaggy hair + covered its back and sides, while its breast and belly were + quite white. As it slunk toward us it presented a most + formidable aspect with its upcurled lips baring its mighty + fangs.</p> + + <p>Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a + small stone. At my movement the beast veered off a bit and + commenced circling us. Evidently it had been a target for + stones before. The ape-things were dancing up and down urging + the brute on with savage cries, until at last, seeing that I + did not throw, he charged us.</p> + + <p>At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball + teams. My speed and control must both have been above the + ordinary, for I made such a record during my senior year at + college that overtures were made to me in behalf of one of the + great major-league teams; but in the tightest pitch that ever + had confronted me in the past I had never been in such need for + control as now.</p> + + <p>As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles + under absolute command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling + toward me at terrific speed. And then I let go, with every + ounce of my weight and muscle and science in back of that + throw. The stone caught the hyaenodon full upon the end of the + nose, and sent him bowling over upon his back.</p> + + <p>At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from + the circle of spectators, so that for a moment I thought that + the upsetting of their champion was the cause; but in this I + soon saw that I was mistaken. As I looked, the ape-things broke + in all directions toward the surrounding hills, and then I + distinguished the real cause of their perturbation. Behind + them, streaming through the pass which leads into the valley, + came a swarm of hairy men—gorilla-like creatures armed + with spears and hatchets, and bearing long, oval shields. Like + demons they set upon the ape-things, and before them the + hyaenodon, which had now regained its senses and its feet, fled + howling with fright. Past us swept the pursued and the + pursuers, nor did the hairy ones accord us more than a passing + glance until the arena had been emptied of its former + occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to have + authority among them directed that we be brought with them.</p> + + <p>When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great + plain we saw a caravan of men and women—human beings like + ourselves—and for the first time hope and relief filled + my heart, until I could have cried out in the exuberance of my + happiness. It is true that they were a half-naked, + wild-appearing aggregation; but they at least were fashioned + along the same lines as ourselves—there was nothing + grotesque or horrible about them as about the other creatures + in this strange, weird world.</p> + + <p>But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we + discovered that the poor wretches were chained neck to neck in + a long line, and that the gorilla-men were their guards. With + little ceremony Perry and I were chained at the end of the + line, and without further ado the interrupted march was + resumed.</p> + + <p>Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now + the tiresome monotony of the long march across the sun-baked + plain brought on all the agonies consequent to a long-denied + sleep. On and on we stumbled beneath that hateful noonday sun. + If we fell we were prodded with a sharp point. Our companions + in chains did not stumble. They strode along proudly erect. + Occasionally they would exchange words with one another in a + monosyllabic language. They were a noble-appearing race with + well-formed heads and perfect physiques. The men were heavily + bearded, tall and muscular; the women, smaller and more + gracefully molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into + loose knots upon their heads. The features of both sexes were + well proportioned—there was not a face among them that + would have been called even plain if judged by earthly + standards. They wore no ornaments; but this I later learned was + due to the fact that their captors had stripped them of + everything of value. As garmenture the women possessed a single + robe of some light-colored, spotted hide, rather similar in + appearance to a leopard's skin. This they wore either supported + entirely about the waist by a leathern thong, so that it hung + partially below the knee on one side, or possibly looped + gracefully across one shoulder. Their feet were shod with skin + sandals. The men wore loin cloths of the hide of some shaggy + beast, long ends of which depended before and behind nearly to + the ground. In some instances these ends were finished with the + strong talons of the beast from which the hides had been + taken.</p> + + <p>Our guards, whom I already have described as gorilla-like + men, were rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but even so + they were indeed mighty creatures. Their arms and legs were + proportioned more in conformity with human standards, but their + entire bodies were covered with shaggy, brown hair, and their + faces were quite as brutal as those of the few stuffed + specimens of the gorilla which I had seen in the museums at + home.</p> + + <p>Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the + head above and back of the ears. In this respect they were not + one whit less human than we. They were clothed in a sort of + tunic of light cloth which reached to the knees. Beneath this + they wore only a loin cloth of the same material, while their + feet were shod with thick hide of some mammoth creature of this + inner world.</p> + + <p>Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of + metal—silver predominating—and on their tunics were + sewn the heads of tiny reptiles in odd and rather artistic + designs. They talked among themselves as they marched along on + either side of us, but in a language which I perceived differed + from that employed by our fellow prisoners. When they addressed + the latter they used what appeared to be a third language, and + which I later learned is a mongrel tongue rather analogous to + the Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie.</p> + + <p>How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both + of us were asleep much of the time for hours before a halt was + called—then we dropped in our tracks. I say "for hours," + but how may one measure time where time does not exist! When + our march commenced the sun stood at zenith. When we halted our + shadows still pointed toward nadir. Whether an instant or an + eternity of earthly time elapsed who may say. That march may + have occupied nine years and eleven months of the ten years + that I spent in the inner world, or it may have been + accomplished in the fraction of a second—I cannot tell. + But this I do know that since you have told me that ten years + have elapsed since I departed from this earth I have lost all + respect for time—I am commencing to doubt that such a + thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man.</p> + + <h2>IV</h2> + + <h3>DIAN THE BEAUTIFUL</h3> + + <p>WHEN OUR GUARDS AROUSED US FROM SLEEP WE were much + refreshed. They gave us food. Strips of dried meat it was, but + it put new life and strength into us, so that now we too + marched with high-held heads, and took noble strides. At least + I did, for I was young and proud; but poor Perry hated walking. + On earth I had often seen him call a cab to travel a + square—he was paying for it now, and his old legs wobbled + so that I put my arm about him and half carried him through the + balance of those frightful marches.</p> + + <p>The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of + the level plain through mighty mountains of virgin granite. The + tropical verdure of the lowlands was replaced by hardier + vegetation, but even here the effects of constant heat and + light were apparent in the immensity of the trees and the + profusion of foliage and blooms. Crystal streams roared through + their rocky channels, fed by the perpetual snows which we could + see far above us. Above the snowcapped heights hung masses of + heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, which evidently + served the double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and + protecting them from the direct rays of the sun.</p> + + <p>By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard + language in which our guards addressed us, as well as making + good headway in the rather charming tongue of our co-captives. + Directly ahead of me in the chain gang was a young woman. Three + feet of chain linked us together in a forced companionship + which I, at least, soon rejoiced in. For I found her a willing + teacher, and from her I learned the language of her tribe, and + much of the life and customs of the inner world—at least + that part of it with which she was familiar.</p> + + <p>She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that + she belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs + above the Darel Az, or shallow sea.</p> + + <p>"How came you here?" I asked her.</p> + + <p>"I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she answered, + as though that was explanation quite sufficient.</p> + + <p>"Who is Jubal the Ugly One?" I asked. "And why did you run + away from him?"</p> + + <p>She looked at me in surprise.</p> + + <p>"Why DOES a woman run away from a man?" she answered my + question with another.</p> + + <p>"They do not, where I come from," I replied. "Sometimes they + run after them."</p> + + <p>But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp + the fact that I was of another world. She was quite as positive + that creation was originated solely to produce her own kind and + the world she lived in as are many of the outer world.</p> + + <p>"But Jubal," I insisted. "Tell me about him, and why you ran + away to be chained by the neck and scourged across the face of + a world."</p> + + <p>"Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father's + house. It was the head of a mighty tandor. It remained there + and no greater trophy was placed beside it. So I knew that + Jubal the Ugly One would come and take me as his mate. None + other so powerful wished me, or they would have slain a + mightier beast and thus have won me from Jubal. My father is + not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a sadok tossed him, and + never again had he the full use of his right arm. My brother, + Dacor the Strong One, had gone to the land of Sari to steal a + mate for himself. Thus there was none, father, brother, or + lover, to save me from Jubal the Ugly One, and I ran away and + hid among the hills that skirt the land of Amoz. And there + these Sagoths found me and made me captive."</p> + + <p>"What will they do with you?" I asked. "Where are they + taking us?"</p> + + <p>Again she looked her incredulity.</p> + + <p>"I can almost believe that you are of another world," she + said, "for otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable. Do you + really mean that you do not know that the Sagoths are the + creatures of the Mahars—the mighty Mahars who think they + own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon its surface, or + creeps or burrows beneath, or swims within its lakes and + oceans, or flies through its air? Next you will be telling me + that you never before heard of the Mahars!"</p> + + <p>I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there + was no alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a + clean breast of my pitiful ignorance as to the mighty Mahars. + She was shocked. But she did her very best to enlighten me, + though much that she said was as Greek would have been to her. + She described the Mahars largely by comparisons. In this way + they were like unto thipdars, in that to the hairless lidi.</p> + + <p>About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite + hideous, had wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built + beneath the ground; could swim under water for great distances, + and were very, very wise. The Sagoths were their weapons of + offense and defense, and the races like herself were their + hands and feet—they were the slaves and servants who did + all the manual labor. The Mahars were the heads—the + brains—of the inner world. I longed to see this wondrous + race of supermen.</p> + + <p>Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we + occasionally did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, + he would join in the conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, + he who was chained just ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of + Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the conversation + occasionally. Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the + Beautiful. It didn't take half an eye to see that he had + developed a bad case; but the girl appeared totally oblivious + to his thinly veiled advances. Did I say thinly veiled? There + is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have forgotten + which, who indicate their preference for the lady of their + affections by banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By + comparison with this method Hooja's lovemaking might be called + thinly veiled. At first it caused me to blush violently + although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in + other less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, and + Hamburg.</p> + + <p>But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that + she considered herself as entirely above and apart from her + present surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with + Perry, and with the taciturn Ghak because we were respectful; + but she couldn't even see Hooja the Sly One, much less hear + him, and that made him furious. He tried to get one of the + Sagoths to move the girl up ahead of him in the slave gang, but + the fellow only poked him with his spear and told him that he + had selected the girl for his own property—that he would + buy her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, + it seemed, was the city of our destination.</p> + + <p>After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a + salt sea, upon whose bosom swam countless horrid things. + Seal-like creatures there were with long necks stretching ten + and more feet above their enormous bodies and whose snake heads + were split with gaping mouths bristling with countless fangs. + There were huge tortoises too, paddling about among these other + reptiles, which Perry said were Plesiosaurs of the Lias. I + didn't question his veracity—they might have been most + anything.</p> + + <p>Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, + and that the other, and more fearsome reptiles, which + occasionally rose from the deep to do battle with them, were + azdyryths, or sea-dyryths—Perry called them Ichthyosaurs. + They resembled a whale with the head of an alligator.</p> + + <p>I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at + school—about all that remained was an impression of + horror that the illustrations of restored prehistoric monsters + had made upon me, and a well-defined belief that any man with a + pig's shank and a vivid imagination could "restore" most any + sort of paleolithic monster he saw fit, and take rank as a + first class paleontologist. But when I saw these sleek, shiny + carcasses shimmering in the sunlight as they emerged from the + ocean, shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll + from their sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they + glided hither and thither, now upon the surface, now half + submerged; as I saw them meet, open-mouthed, hissing and + snorting, in their titanic and interminable warring I realized + how futile is man's poor, weak imagination by comparison with + Nature's incredible genius.</p> + + <p>And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so + himself.</p> + + <p>"David," he remarked, after we had marched for a long time + beside that awful sea. "David, I used to teach geology, and I + thought that I believed what I taught; but now I see that I did + not believe it—that it is impossible for man to believe + such things as these unless he sees them with his own eyes. We + take things for granted, perhaps, because we are told them over + and over again, and have no way of disproving them—like + religions, for example; but we don't believe them, we only + think we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you will + find that the geologists and paleontologists will be the first + to set you down a liar, for they know that no such creatures as + they restore ever existed. It is all right to IMAGINE them as + existing in an equally imaginary epoch—but now? + poof!"</p> + + <p>At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough + slack chain to permit him to worm himself back quite close to + Dian. We were all standing, and as he edged near the girl she + turned her back upon him in such a truly earthly feminine + manner that I could scarce repress a smile; but it was a + short-lived smile for on the instant the Sly One's hand fell + upon the girl's bare arm, jerking her roughly toward him.</p> + + <p>I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics + which prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need + the appealing look which the girl shot to me from her + magnificent eyes to influence my subsequent act. What the Sly + One's intention was I paused not to inquire; but instead, + before he could lay hold of her with his other hand, I placed a + right to the point of his jaw that felled him in his + tracks.</p> + + <p>A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners + and the Sagoths who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I + later learned, because I had championed the girl, but for the + neat and, to them, astounding method by which I had bested + Hooja.</p> + + <p>And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering + eyes, and then she dropped her head, her face half averted, and + a delicate flush suffused her cheek. For a moment she stood + thus in silence, and then her head went high, and she turned + her back upon me as she had upon Hooja. Some of the prisoners + laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak the Hairy One go very black + as he looked at me searchingly. And what I could see of Dian's + cheek went suddenly from red to white.</p> + + <p>Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I + realized that in some way I had offended Dian the Beautiful I + could not prevail upon her to talk with me that I might learn + wherein I had erred—in fact I might quite as well have + been addressing a sphinx for all the attention I got. At last + my own foolish pride stepped in and prevented my making any + further attempts, and thus a companionship that without my + realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me was cut off. + Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not + renew his advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture + near me.</p> + + <p>Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became + a perfect nightmare of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed + became the realization that the girl's friendship had meant so + much to me, the more I came to miss it; and the more + impregnable the barrier of silly pride. But I was very young + and would not ask Ghak for the explanation which I was sure he + could give, and that might have made everything all right + again.</p> + + <p>On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to + notice me—when her eyes wandered in my direction she + looked either over my head or directly through me. At last I + became desperate, and determined to swallow my self-esteem, and + again beg her to tell me how I had offended, and how I might + make reparation. I made up my mind that I should do this at the + next halt. We were approaching another range of mountains at + the time, and when we reached them, instead of winding across + them through some high-flung pass we entered a mighty natural + tunnel—a series of labyrinthine grottoes, dark as + Erebus.</p> + + <p>The guards had no torches or light of any description. In + fact we had seen no artificial light or sign of fire since we + had entered Pellucidar. In a land of perpetual noon there is no + need of light above ground, yet I marveled that they had no + means of lighting their way through these dark, subterranean + passages. So we crept along at a snail's pace, with much + stumbling and falling—the guards keeping up a singsong + chant ahead of us, interspersed with certain high notes which I + found always indicated rough places and turns.</p> + + <p>Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to + Dian until I could see from the expression of her face how she + was receiving my apologies. At last a faint glow ahead + forewarned us of the end of the tunnel, for which I for one was + devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden turn we emerged into the + full light of the noonday sun.</p> + + <p>But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a + real catastrophe—Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen + other prisoners. The guards saw it too, and the ferocity of + their rage was terrible to behold. Their awesome, bestial faces + were contorted in the most diabolical expressions, as they + accused each other of responsibility for the loss. Finally they + fell upon us, beating us with their spear shafts, and hatchets. + They had already killed two near the head of the line, and were + like to have finished the balance of us when their leader + finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. Never in all my + life had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of bestial + rage—I thanked God that Dian had not been one of those + left to endure it.</p> + + <p>Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me + each alternate one had been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja + was gone. Ghak remained. What could it mean? How had it been + accomplished? The commander of the guards was investigating. + Soon he discovered that the rude locks which had held the + neckbands in place had been deftly picked.</p> + + <p>"Hooja the Sly One," murmured Ghak, who was now next to me + in line. "He has taken the girl that you would not have," he + continued, glancing at me.</p> + + <p>"That I would not have!" I cried. "What do you mean?"</p> + + <p>He looked at me closely for a moment.</p> + + <p>"I have doubted your story that you are from another world," + he said at last, "but yet upon no other grounds could your + ignorance of the ways of Pellucidar be explained. Do you really + mean that you do not know that you offended the Beautiful One, + and how?"</p> + + <p>"I do not know, Ghak," I replied.</p> + + <p>"Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes + between another man and the woman the other man would have, the + woman belongs to the victor. Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. + You should have claimed her or released her. Had you taken her + hand, it would have indicated your desire to make her your + mate, and had you raised her hand above her head and then + dropped it, it would have meant that you did not wish her for a + mate and that you released her from all obligation to you. By + doing neither you have put upon her the greatest affront that a + man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No man will + take her as mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall + have overcome you in combat, and men do not choose slave women + as their mates—at least not the men of Pellucidar."</p> + + <p>"I did not know, Ghak," I cried. "I did not know. Not for + all Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, + or look, or act of mine. I do not want her as my slave. I do + not want her as my—" but here I stopped. The vision of + that sweet and innocent face floated before me amidst the soft + mists of imagination, and where I had on the second believed + that I clung only to the memory of a gentle friendship I had + lost, yet now it seemed that it would have been disloyalty to + her to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as my + mate. I had not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a + strange, cruel world. Even now I did not think that I loved + her.</p> + + <p>I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my + expression than in my words, for presently he laid his hand + upon my shoulder.</p> + + <p>"Man of another world," he said, "I believe you. Lips may + lie, but when the heart speaks through the eyes it tells only + the truth. Your heart has spoken to me. I know now that you + meant no affront to Dian the Beautiful. She is not of my tribe; + but her mother is my sister. She does not know it—her + mother was stolen by Dian's father who came with many others of + the tribe of Amoz to battle with us for our women—the + most beautiful women of Pellucidar. Then was her father king of + Amoz, and her mother was daughter of the king of Sari—to + whose power I, his son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of + kings, though her father is no longer king since the sadok + tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One wrested his kingship from + him. Because of her lineage the wrong you did her was greatly + magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never forgive + you."</p> + + <p>I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could + release the girl from the bondage and ignominy I had + unwittingly placed upon her.</p> + + <p>"If ever you find her, yes," he answered. "Merely to raise + her hand above her head and drop it in the presence of others + is sufficient to release her; but how may you ever find her, + you who are doomed to a life of slavery yourself in the buried + city of Phutra?"</p> + + <p>"Is there no escape?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him," + replied Ghak. "But there are no more dark places on the way to + Phutra, and once there it is not so easy—the Mahars are + very wise. Even if one escaped from Phutra there are the + thipdars—they would find you, and then—" the Hairy + One shuddered. "No, you will never escape the Mahars."</p> + + <p>It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought + about it; but he only shrugged his shoulders and continued a + longwinded prayer he had been at for some time. He was wont to + say that the only redeeming feature of our captivity was the + ample time it gave him for the improvisation of + prayers—it was becoming an obsession with him. The + Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of declaiming + throughout entire marches. One of them asked him what he was + saying—to whom he was talking. The question gave me an + idea, so I answered quickly before Perry could say + anything.</p> + + <p>"Do not interrupt him," I said. "He is a very holy man in + the world from which we come. He is speaking to spirits which + you cannot see—do not interrupt him or they will spring + out of the air upon you and rend you limb from limb—like + that," and I jumped toward the great brute with a loud "Boo!" + that sent him stumbling backward.</p> + + <p>I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any + capital out of Perry's harmless mania I wanted to make it while + the making was prime. It worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated + us both with marked respect during the balance of the journey, + and then passed the word along to their masters, the + Mahars.</p> + + <p>Two marches after this episode we came to the city of + Phutra. The entrance to it was marked by two lofty towers of + granite, which guarded a flight of steps leading to the buried + city. Sagoths were on guard here as well as at a hundred or + more other towers scattered about over a large plain.</p> + + <h2>V</h2> + + <h3>SLAVES</h3> + + <p>AS WE DESCENDED THE BROAD STAIRCASE WHICH led to the main + avenue of Phutra I caught my first sight of the dominant race + of the inner world. Involuntarily I shrank back as one of the + creatures approached to inspect us. A more hideous thing it + would be impossible to imagine. The all-powerful Mahars of + Pellucidar are great reptiles, some six or eight feet in + length, with long narrow heads and great round eyes. Their + beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, and the + backs of their huge, lizard bodies are serrated into bony + ridges from their necks to the end of their long tails. Their + feet are equipped with three webbed toes, while from the fore + feet membranous wings, which are attached to their bodies just + in front of the hind legs, protrude at an angle of 45 degrees + toward the rear, ending in sharp points several feet above + their bodies.</p> + + <p>I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. + The old man was gazing at the horrid creature with wide + astonished eyes. When it passed on, he turned to me.</p> + + <p>"A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David," he said, + "but, gad, how enormous! The largest remains we ever have + discovered have never indicated a size greater than that + attained by an ordinary crow."</p> + + <p>As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw + many thousand of the creatures coming and going upon their + daily duties. They paid but little attention to us. Phutra is + laid out underground with a regularity that indicates + remarkable engineering skill. It is hewn from solid limestone + strata. The streets are broad and of a uniform height of twenty + feet. At intervals tubes pierce the roof of this underground + city, and by means of lenses and reflectors transmit the + sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would otherwise + be Cimmerian darkness. In like manner air is introduced.</p> + + <p>Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public + building, where one of the Sagoths who had formed our guard + explained to a Maharan official the circumstances surrounding + our capture. The method of communication between these two was + remarkable in that no spoken words were exchanged. They + employed a species of sign language. As I was to learn later, + the Mahars have no ears, not any spoken language. Among + themselves they communicate by means of what Perry says must be + a sixth sense which is cognizant of a fourth dimension.</p> + + <p>I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain + it to me upon numerous occasions. I suggested telepathy, but he + said no, that it was not telepathy since they could only + communicate when in each others' presence, nor could they talk + with the Sagoths or the other inhabitants of Pellucidar by the + same method they used to converse with one another.</p> + + <p>"What they do," said Perry, "is to project their thoughts + into the fourth dimension, when they become appreciable to the + sixth sense of their listener. Do I make myself quite + clear?"</p> + + <p>"You do not, Perry," I replied. He shook his head in + despair, and returned to his work. They had set us to carrying + a great accumulation of Maharan literature from one apartment + to another, and there arranging it upon shelves. I suggested to + Perry that we were in the public library of Phutra, but later, + as he commenced to discover the key to their written language, + he assured me that we were handling the ancient archives of the + race.</p> + + <p>During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian + the Beautiful. I was, of course, glad that she had escaped the + Mahars, and the fate that had been suggested by the Sagoth who + had threatened to purchase her upon our arrival at Phutra. I + often wondered if the little party of fugitives had been + overtaken by the guards who had returned to search for them. + Sometimes I was not so sure but that I should have been more + contented to know that Dian was here in Phutra, than to think + of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. Ghak, Perry, and I + often talked together of possible escape, but the Sarian was so + steeped in his lifelong belief that no one could escape from + the Mahars except by a miracle, that he was not much aid to + us—his attitude was of one who waits for the miracle to + come to him.</p> + + <p>At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps + of iron which we discovered among some rubbish in the cells + where we slept, for we were permitted almost unrestrained + freedom of action within the limits of the building to which we + had been assigned. So great were the number of slaves who + waited upon the inhabitants of Phutra that none of us was apt + to be overburdened with work, nor were our masters unkind to + us.</p> + + <p>We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our + beds, and then Perry conceived the idea of making bows and + arrows—weapons apparently unknown within Pellucidar. Next + came shields; but these I found it easier to steal from the + walls of the outer guardroom of the building.</p> + + <p>We had completed these arrangements for our protection after + leaving Phutra when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture + the escaped prisoners returned with four of them, of whom Hooja + was one. Dian and two others had eluded them. It so happened + that Hooja was confined in the same building with us. He told + Ghak that he had not seen Dian or the others after releasing + them within the dark grotto. What had become of them he had not + the faintest conception—they might be wandering yet, lost + within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not dead from + starvation.</p> + + <p>I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, + and at this time, I imagine, came the first realization that my + affection for the girl might be prompted by more than + friendship. During my waking hours she was constantly the + subject of my thoughts, and when I slept her dear face haunted + my dreams. More than ever was I determined to escape the + Mahars.</p> + + <p>"Perry," I confided to the old man, "if I have to search + every inch of this diminutive world I am going to find Dian the + Beautiful and right the wrong I unintentionally did her." That + was the excuse I made for Perry's benefit.</p> + + <p>"Diminutive world!" he scoffed. "You don't know what you are + talking about, my boy," and then he showed me a map of + Pellucidar which he had recently discovered among the + manuscript he was arranging.</p> + + <p>"Look," he cried, pointing to it, "this is evidently water, + and all this land. Do you notice the general configuration of + the two areas? Where the oceans are upon the outer crust, is + land here. These relatively small areas of ocean follow the + general lines of the continents of the outer world.</p> + + <p>"We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in + thickness; then the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be 7,000 + miles, and the superficial area 165,480,000 square miles. + Three-fourths of this is land. Think of it! A land area of + 124,110,000 square miles! Our own world contains but 53,000,000 + square miles of land, the balance of its surface being covered + by water. Just as we often compare nations by their relative + land areas, so if we compare these two worlds in the same way + we have the strange anomaly of a larger world within a smaller + one!</p> + + <p>"Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your + Dian? Without stars, or moon, or changing sun how could you + find her even though you knew where she might be found?"</p> + + <p>The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; + but I found that it left me all the more determined to attempt + it.</p> + + <p>"If Ghak will accompany us we may be able to do it," I + suggested.</p> + + <p>Perry and I sought him out and put the question straight to + him.</p> + + <p>"Ghak," I said, "we are determined to escape from this + bondage. Will you accompany us?"</p> + + <p>"They will set the thipdars upon us," he said, "and then we + shall be killed; but—" he hesitated—"I would take + the chance if I thought that I might possibly escape and return + to my own people."</p> + + <p>"Could you find your way back to your own land?" asked + Perry. "And could you aid David in his search for Dian?"</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"But how," persisted Perry, "could you travel to strange + country without heavenly bodies or a compass to guide you?"</p> + + <p>Ghak didn't know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a + compass, but he assured us that you might blindfold any man of + Pellucidar and carry him to the farthermost corner of the + world, yet he would be able to come directly to his own home + again by the shortest route. He seemed surprised to think that + we found anything wonderful in it. Perry said it must be some + sort of homing instinct such as is possessed by certain breeds + of earthly pigeons. I didn't know, of course, but it gave me an + idea.</p> + + <p>"Then Dian could have found her way directly to her own + people?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"Surely," replied Ghak, "unless some mighty beast of prey + killed her."</p> + + <p>I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both + Perry and Ghak counseled waiting for some propitious accident + which would insure us some small degree of success. I didn't + see what accident could befall a whole community in a land of + perpetual daylight where the inhabitants had no fixed habits of + sleep. Why, I am sure that some of the Mahars never sleep, + while others may, at long intervals, crawl into the dark + recesses beneath their dwellings and curl up in protracted + slumber. Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for three years + he will make up all his lost sleep in a long year's snooze. + That may be all true, but I never saw but three of them asleep, + and it was the sight of these three that gave me a suggestion + for our means of escape.</p> + + <p>I had been searching about far below the levels that we + slaves were supposed to frequent—possibly fifty feet + beneath the main floor of the building—among a network of + corridors and apartments, when I came suddenly upon three + Mahars curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I thought they + were dead, but later their regular breathing convinced me of my + error. Like a flash the thought came to me of the marvelous + opportunity these sleeping reptiles offered as a means of + eluding the watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth + guards.</p> + + <p>Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, + to me, meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. + To my surprise he was horrified.</p> + + <p>"It would be murder, David," he cried.</p> + + <p>"Murder to kill a reptilian monster?" I asked in + astonishment.</p> + + <p>"Here they are not monsters, David," he replied. "Here they + are the dominant race—we are the 'monsters'—the + lower orders. In Pellucidar evolution has progressed along + different lines than upon the outer earth. These terrible + convulsions of nature time and time again wiped out the + existing species—but for this fact some monster of the + Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own world. We see + here what might well have occurred in our own history had + conditions been what they have been here.</p> + + <p>"Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer + crust. Here man has but reached a stage analogous to the Stone + Age of our own world's history, but for countless millions of + years these reptiles have been progressing. Possibly it is the + sixth sense which I am sure they possess that has given them an + advantage over the other and more frightfully armed of their + fellows; but this we may never know. They look upon us as we + look upon the beasts of our fields, and I learn from their + written records that other races of Mahars feed upon + men—they keep them in great droves, as we keep cattle. + They breed them most carefully, and when they are quite fat, + they kill and eat them."</p> + + <p>I shuddered.</p> + + <p>"What is there horrible about it, David?" the old man asked. + "They understand us no better than we understand the lower + animals of our own world. Why, I have come across here very + learned discussions of the question as to whether gilaks, that + is men, have any means of communication. One writer claims that + we do not even reason—that our every act is mechanical, + or instinctive. The dominant race of Pellucidar, David, have + not yet learned that men converse among themselves, or reason. + Because we do not converse as they do it is beyond them to + imagine that we converse at all. It is thus that we reason in + relation to the brutes of our own world. They know that the + Sagoths have a spoken language, but they cannot comprehend it, + or how it manifests itself, since they have no auditory + apparatus. They believe that the motions of the lips alone + convey the meaning. That the Sagoths can communicate with us is + incomprehensible to them.</p> + + <p>"Yes, David," he concluded, "it would entail murder to carry + out your plan."</p> + + <p>"Very well then, Perry." I replied. "I shall become a + murderer."</p> + + <p>He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for + some reason which was not at the time clear to me insisted upon + a very careful description of the apartments and corridors I + had just explored.</p> + + <p>"I wonder, David," he said at length, "as you are determined + to carry out your wild scheme, if we could not accomplish + something of very real and lasting benefit for the human race + of Pellucidar at the same time. Listen, I have learned much of + a most surprising nature from these archives of the Mahars. + That you may not appreciate my plan I shall briefly outline the + history of the race.</p> + + <p>"Once the males were all-powerful, but ages ago the females, + little by little, assumed the mastery. For other ages no + noticeable change took place in the race of Mahars. It + continued to progress under the intelligent and beneficent rule + of the ladies. Science took vast strides. This was especially + true of the sciences which we know as biology and eugenics. + Finally a certain female scientist announced the fact that she + had discovered a method whereby eggs might be fertilized by + chemical means after they were laid—all true reptiles, + you know, are hatched from eggs.</p> + + <p>"What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased + to exist—the race was no longer dependent upon them. More + ages elapsed until at the present time we find a race + consisting exclusively of females. But here is the point. The + secret of this chemical formula is kept by a single race of + Mahars. It is in the city of Phutra, and unless I am greatly in + error I judge from your description of the vaults through which + you passed today that it lies hidden in the cellar of this + building.</p> + + <p>"For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. + First, because upon it depends the very life of the race of + Mahars, and second, owing to the fact that when it was public + property as at first so many were experimenting with it that + the danger of over-population became very grave.</p> + + <p>"David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us + this great secret what will we not have accomplished for the + human race within Pellucidar!" The very thought of it fairly + overpowered me. Why, we two would be the means of placing the + men of the inner world in their rightful place among created + things. Only the Sagoths would then stand between them and + absolute supremacy, and I was not quite sure but that the + Sagoths owed all their power to the greater intelligence of the + Mahars—I could not believe that these gorilla-like beasts + were the mental superiors of the human race of Pellucidar.</p> + + <p>"Why, Perry," I exclaimed, "you and I may reclaim a whole + world! Together we can lead the races of men out of the + darkness of ignorance into the light of advancement and + civilization. At one step we may carry them from the Age of + Stone to the twentieth century. It's marvelous—absolutely + marvelous just to think about it."</p> + + <p>"David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us here + for just that purpose—it shall be my life work to teach + them His word—to lead them into the light of His mercy + while we are training their hearts and hands in the ways of + culture and civilization."</p> + + <p>"You are right, Perry," I said, "and while you are teaching + them to pray I'll be teaching them to fight, and between us + we'll make a race of men that will be an honor to us both."</p> + + <p>Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded + our conversation, and now he wanted to know what we were so + excited about. Perry thought we had best not tell him too much, + and so I only explained that I had a plan for escape. When I + had outlined it to him, he seemed about as horror-struck as + Perry had been; but for a different reason. The Hairy One only + considered the horrible fate that would be ours were we + discovered; but at last I prevailed upon him to accept my plan + as the only feasible one, and when I had assured him that I + would take all the responsibility for it were we captured, he + accorded a reluctant assent.</p> + + <h2>VI</h2> + + <h3>THE BEGINNING OF HORROR</h3> + + <p>WITHIN PELLUCIDAR ONE TIME IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER. There were + no nights to mask our attempted escape. All must be done in + broad daylight—all but the work I had to do in the + apartment beneath the building. So we determined to put our + plan to an immediate test lest the Mahars who made it possible + should awake before I reached them; but we were doomed to + disappointment, for no sooner had we reached the main floor of + the building on our way to the pits beneath, than we + encountered hurrying bands of slaves being hastened under + strong Sagoth guard out of the edifice to the avenue + beyond.</p> + + <p>Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of + other slaves, and the moment that we appeared we were pounced + upon and hustled into the line of marching humans.</p> + + <p>What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not + know, but presently through the line of captives ran the rumor + that two escaped slaves had been recaptured—a man and a + woman—and that we were marching to witness their + punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth of the detachment + that had pursued and overtaken them.</p> + + <p>At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was + sure that the two were of those who escaped in the dark grotto + with Hooja the Sly One, and that Dian must be the woman. Ghak + thought so too, as did Perry.</p> + + <p>"Is there naught that we may do to save her?" I asked + Ghak.</p> + + <p>"Naught," he replied.</p> + + <p>Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing + unusual cruelty toward us, as though we, too, had been + implicated in the murder of their fellow. The occasion was to + serve as an object-lesson to all other slaves of the danger and + futility of attempted escape, and the fatal consequences of + taking the life of a superior being, and so I imagine that + Sagoths felt amply justified in making the entire proceeding as + uncomfortable and painful to us as possible.</p> + + <p>They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the + hatchets at the least provocation, and at no provocation at + all. It was a most uncomfortable half-hour that we spent before + we were finally herded through a low entrance into a huge + building the center of which was given up to a good-sized + arena. Benches surrounded this open space upon three sides, and + along the fourth were heaped huge bowlders which rose in + receding tiers toward the roof.</p> + + <p>At first I couldn't make out the purpose of this mighty pile + of rock, unless it were intended as a rough and picturesque + background for the scenes which were enacted in the arena + before it, but presently, after the wooden benches had been + pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, I discovered the + purpose of the bowlders, for then the Mahars began to file into + the enclosure.</p> + + <p>They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon + the opposite side, where, spreading their bat-like wings, they + rose above the high wall of the pit, settling down upon the + bowlders above. These were the reserved seats, the boxes of the + elect.</p> + + <p>Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone + is to them as plush as upholstery to us. Here they lolled, + blinking their hideous eyes, and doubtless conversing with one + another in their sixth-sense-fourth-dimension language.</p> + + <p>For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from + the others in no feature that was appreciable to my earthly + eyes, in fact all Mahars look alike to me: but when she crossed + the arena after the balance of her female subjects had found + their bowlders, she was preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, + the largest I ever had seen, and on either side of her waddled + a huge thipdar, while behind came another score of Sagoth + guardsmen.</p> + + <p>At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with + truly apelike agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose + upon her wings with her two frightful dragons close beside her, + and settled down upon the largest bowlder of them all in the + exact center of that side of the amphitheater which is reserved + for the dominant race. Here she squatted, a most repulsive and + uninteresting queen; though doubtless quite as well assured of + her beauty and divine right to rule as the proudest monarch of + the outer world.</p> + + <p>And then the music started—music without sound! The + Mahars cannot hear, so the drums and fifes and horns of earthly + bands are unknown among them. The "band" consists of a score or + more Mahars. It filed out in the center of the arena where the + creatures upon the rocks might see it, and there it performed + for fifteen or twenty minutes.</p> + + <p>Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving + their heads in a regular succession of measured movements + resulting in a cadence which evidently pleased the eye of the + Mahar as the cadence of our own instrumental music pleases our + ears. Sometimes the band took measured steps in unison to one + side or the other, or backward and again forward—it all + seemed very silly and meaningless to me, but at the end of the + first piece the Mahars upon the rocks showed the first + indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by the + dominant race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up and + down, and smote their rocky perches with their mighty tails + until the ground shook. Then the band started another piece, + and all was again as silent as the grave. That was one great + beauty about Mahar music—if you didn't happen to like a + piece that was being played all you had to do was shut your + eyes.</p> + + <p>When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and + settled upon the rocks above and behind the queen. Then the + business of the day was on. A man and woman were pushed into + the arena by a couple of Sagoth guardsmen. I leaned forward in + my seat to scrutinize the female—hoping against hope that + she might prove to be another than Dian the Beautiful. Her back + was toward me for a while, and the sight of the great mass of + raven hair piled high upon her head filled me with alarm.</p> + + <p>Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to + admit a huge, shaggy, bull-like creature.</p> + + <p>"A Bos," whispered Perry, excitedly. "His kind roamed the + outer crust with the cave bear and the mammoth ages and ages + ago. We have been carried back a million years, David, to the + childhood of a planet—is it not wondrous?"</p> + + <p>But I saw only the raven hair of a half-naked girl, and my + heart stood still in dumb misery at the sight of her, nor had I + any eyes for the wonders of natural history. But for Perry and + Ghak I should have leaped to the floor of the arena and shared + whatever fate lay in store for this priceless treasure of the + Stone Age.</p> + + <p>With the advent of the Bos—they call the thing a thag + within Pellucidar—two spears were tossed into the arena + at the feet of the prisoners. It seemed to me that a bean + shooter would have been as effective against the mighty monster + as these pitiful weapons.</p> + + <p>As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the + ground with the strength of many earthly bulls, another door + directly beneath us was opened, and from it issued the most + terrific roar that ever had fallen upon my outraged ears. I + could not at first see the beast from which emanated this + fearsome challenge, but the sound had the effect of bringing + the two victims around with a sudden start, and then I saw the + girl's face—she was not Dian! I could have wept for + relief.</p> + + <p>And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author + of that fearsome sound creeping stealthily into view. It was a + huge tiger—such as hunted the great Bos through the + jungles primeval when the world was young. In contour and + markings it was not unlike the noblest of the Bengals of our + own world, but as its dimensions were exaggerated to colossal + proportions so too were its colorings exaggerated. Its vivid + yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites were as eider down; + its blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its coat + long and shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful + animal there is no gainsaying, but if its size and colors are + magnified here within Pellucidar, so is the ferocity of its + disposition. It is not the occasional member of its species + that is a man hunter—all are man hunters; but they do not + confine their foraging to man alone, for there is no flesh or + fish within Pellucidar that they will not eat with relish in + the constant efforts which they make to furnish their huge + carcasses with sufficient sustenance to maintain their mighty + thews.</p> + + <p>Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and + advanced, and upon the other tarag, the frightful, crept toward + them with gaping mouth and dripping fangs.</p> + + <p>The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. + At the sound of the roaring of the tiger the bull's bellowing + became a veritable frenzy of rageful noise. Never in my life + had I heard such an infernal din as the two brutes made, and to + think it was all lost upon the hideous reptiles for whom the + show was staged!</p> + + <p>The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from + the other. The two puny things standing between them seemed + already lost, but at the very moment that the beasts were upon + them the man grasped his companion by the arm and together they + leaped to one side, while the frenzied creatures came together + like locomotives in collision.</p> + + <p>There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and + frightful ferocity transcends the power of imagination or + description. Time and again the colossal bull tossed the + enormous tiger high into the air, but each time that the huge + cat touched the ground he returned to the encounter with + apparently undiminished strength, and seemingly increased + ire.</p> + + <p>For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with + keeping out of the way of the two creatures, but finally I saw + them separate and each creep stealthily toward one of the + combatants. The tiger was now upon the bull's broad back, + clinging to the huge neck with powerful fangs while its long, + strong talons ripped the heavy hide into shreds and + ribbons.</p> + + <p>For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with + pain and rage, its cloven hoofs widespread, its tail lashing + viciously from side to side, and then, in a mad orgy of bucking + it went careening about the arena in frenzied attempt to unseat + its rending rider. It was with difficulty that the girl avoided + the first mad rush of the wounded animal.</p> + + <p>All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, + until in desperation it threw itself upon the ground, rolling + over and over. A little of this so disconcerted the tiger, + knocking its breath from it I imagine, that it lost its hold + and then, quick as a cat, the great thag was up again and had + buried those mighty horns deep in the tarag's abdomen, pinning + him to the floor of the arena.</p> + + <p>The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears + were gone, and naught but a few strips of ragged, bloody flesh + remained upon the skull. Yet through all the agony of that + fearful punishment the thag still stood motionless pinning down + his adversary, and then the man leaped in, seeing that the + blind bull would be the least formidable enemy, and ran his + spear through the tarag's heart.</p> + + <p>As the animal's fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his + gory, sightless head, and with a horrid roar ran headlong + across the arena. With great leaps and bounds he came, straight + toward the arena wall directly beneath where we sat, and then + accident carried him, in one of his mighty springs, completely + over the barrier into the midst of the slaves and Sagoths just + in front of us. Swinging his bloody horns from side to side the + beast cut a wide swath before him straight upward toward our + seats. Before him slaves and gorilla-men fought in mad stampede + to escape the menace of the creature's death agonies, for such + only could that frightful charge have been.</p> + + <p>Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for + the exits, many of which pierced the wall of the amphitheater + behind us. Perry, Ghak, and I became separated in the chaos + which reigned for a few moments after the beast cleared the + wall of the arena, each intent upon saving his own hide.</p> + + <p>I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the + fear mad mob that were battling to escape. One would have + thought that an entire herd of thags was loose behind them, + rather than a single blinded, dying beast; but such is the + effect of panic upon a crowd.</p> + + <h2>VII</h2> + + <h3>FREEDOM</h3> + + <p>ONCE OUT OF THE DIRECT PATH OF THE ANIMAL, fear of it left + me, but another emotion as quickly gripped me—hope of + escape that the demoralized condition of the guards made + possible for the instant.</p> + + <p>I thought of Perry, but for the hope that I might better + encompass his release if myself free I should have put the + thought of freedom from me at once. As it was I hastened on + toward the right searching for an exit toward which no Sagoths + were fleeing, and at last I found it—a low, narrow + aperture leading into a dark corridor.</p> + + <p>Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into + the shadows of the tunnel, feeling my way along through the + gloom for some distance. The noises of the amphitheater had + grown fainter and fainter until now all was as silent as the + tomb about me. Faint light filtered from above through + occasional ventilating and lighting tubes, but it was scarce + sufficient to enable my human eyes to cope with the darkness, + and so I was forced to move with extreme care, feeling my way + along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside me.</p> + + <p>Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my + delight, I came upon a flight of steps leading upward, at the + top of which the brilliant light of the noonday sun shone + through an opening in the ground.</p> + + <p>Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel's end, and + peering out saw the broad plain of Phutra before me. The + numerous lofty, granite towers which mark the several entrances + to the subterranean city were all in front of me—behind, + the plain stretched level and unbroken to the nearby foothills. + I had come to the surface, then, beyond the city, and my + chances for escape seemed much enhanced.</p> + + <p>My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to + cross the plain, so deeply implanted are habits of thought; but + of a sudden I recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance + which envelopes Pellucidar, and with a smile I stepped forth + into the day-light.</p> + + <p>Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of + Phutra—the gorgeous flowering grass of the inner world, + each particular blade of which is tipped with a tiny, + five-pointed blossom—brilliant little stars of varying + colors that twinkle in the green foliage to add still another + charm to the weird, yet lovely, land-scape.</p> + + <p>But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant + hills in which I hoped to find sanctuary, and so I hastened on, + trampling the myriad beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry + says that the force of gravity is less upon the surface of the + inner world than upon that of the outer. He explained it all to + me once, but I was never particularly brilliant in such matters + and so most of it has escaped me. As I recall it the difference + is due in some part to the counter-attraction of that portion + of the earth's crust directly opposite the spot upon the face + of Pellucidar at which one's calculations are being made. Be + that as it may, it always seemed to me that I moved with + greater speed and agility within Pellucidar than upon the outer + surface—there was a certain airy lightness of step that + was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily detachment which I + can only compare with that occasionally experienced in + dreams.</p> + + <p>And as I crossed Phutra's flower-bespangled plain that time + I seemed almost to fly, though how much of the sensation was + due to Perry's suggestion and how much to actuality I am sure I + do not know. The more I thought of Perry the less pleasure I + took in my new-found freedom. There could be no liberty for me + within Pellucidar unless the old man shared it with me, and + only the hope that I might find some way to encompass his + release kept me from turning back to Phutra.</p> + + <p>Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I + hoped that some fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem + for me. It was quite evident however that little less than a + miracle could aid me, for what could I accomplish in this + strange world, naked and unarmed? It was even doubtful that I + could retrace my steps to Phutra should I once pass beyond view + of the plain, and even were that possible, what aid could I + bring to Perry no matter how far I wandered?</p> + + <p>The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed + it, yet with a stubborn persistency I forged ahead toward the + foothills. Behind me no sign of pursuit developed, before me I + saw no living thing. It was as though I moved through a dead + and forgotten world.</p> + + <p>I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the + limit of the plain, but at last I entered the foothills, + following a pretty little canyon upward toward the mountains. + Beside me frolicked a laughing brooklet, hurrying upon its + noisy way down to the silent sea. In its quieter pools I + discovered many small fish, of four-or five-pound weight I + should imagine. In appearance, except as to size and color, + they were not unlike the whale of our own seas. As I watched + them playing about I discovered, not only that they suckled + their young, but that at intervals they rose to the surface to + breathe as well as to feed upon certain grasses and a strange, + scarlet lichen which grew upon the rocks just above the water + line.</p> + + <p>It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved + to capture one of these herbivorous cetaceans—that is + what Perry calls them—and make as good a meal as one can + on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had become rather used, by + this time, to the eating of food in its natural state, though I + still balked on the eyes and entrails, much to the amusement of + Ghak, to whom I always passed these delicacies.</p> + + <p>Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the + diminutive purple whales rose to nibble at the long grasses + which overhung the water, and then, like the beast of prey that + man really is, I sprang upon my victim, appeasing my hunger + while he yet wriggled to escape.</p> + + <p>Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands + and face continued my flight. Above the source of the brook I + encountered a rugged climb to the summit of a long ridge. + Beyond was a steep declivity to the shore of a placid, inland + sea, upon the quiet surface of which lay several beautiful + islands.</p> + + <p>The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast + was to be seen that might threaten my new-found liberty, I slid + over the edge of the bluff, and half sliding, half falling, + dropped into the delightful valley, the very aspect of which + seemed to offer a haven of peace and security.</p> + + <p>The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly + strewn with strangely shaped, colored shells; some empty, + others still housing as varied a multitude of mollusks as ever + might have drawn out their sluggish lives along the silent + shores of the antediluvian seas of the outer crust. As I walked + I could not but compare myself with the first man of that other + world, so complete the solitude which surrounded me, so primal + and untouched the virgin wonders and beauties of adolescent + nature. I felt myself a second Adam wending my lonely way + through the childhood of a world, searching for my Eve, and at + the thought there rose before my mind's eye the exquisite + outlines of a perfect face surmounted by a loose pile of + wondrous, raven hair.</p> + + <p>As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was + not until I had come quite upon it that I discovered that which + shattered all my beautiful dream of solitude and safety and + peace and primal overlordship. The thing was a hollowed log + drawn upon the sands, and in the bottom of it lay a crude + paddle.</p> + + <p>The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove + some new form of danger was still upon me when I heard a + rattling of loose stones from the direction of the bluff, and + turning my eyes in that direction I beheld the author of the + disturbance, a great copper-colored man, running rapidly toward + me.</p> + + <p>There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed + quite sufficiently menacing, so that I did not need the added + evidence of brandishing spear and scowling face to warn me that + I was in no safe position, but whither to flee was indeed a + momentous question.</p> + + <p>The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility + of escaping him upon the open beach. There was but a single + alternative—the rude skiff—and with a celerity + which equaled his, I pushed the thing into the sea and as it + floated gave a final shove and clambered in over the end.</p> + + <p>A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, + and an instant later his heavy, stone-tipped spear grazed my + shoulder and buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. Then + I grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste urged the + awkward, wobbly thing out upon the surface of the sea.</p> + + <p>A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored + one had plunged in after me and was swimming rapidly in + pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to close up the distance + between us in short order, for at best I could make but slow + progress with my unfamiliar craft, which nosed stubbornly in + every direction but that which I desired to follow, so that + fully half my energy was expended in turning its blunt prow + back into the course.</p> + + <p>I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became + evident that my pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff + within the next half-dozen strokes. In a frenzy of despair, I + bent to the grandfather of all paddles in a hopeless effort to + escape, and still the copper giant behind me gained and + gained.</p> + + <p>His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a + sleek, sinuous body shoot from the depths below. The man saw it + too, and the look of terror that overspread his face assured me + that I need have no further concern as to him, for the fear of + certain death was in his look.</p> + + <p>And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a + hideous monster of that prehistoric deep—a mighty serpent + of the sea, with fanged jaws, and darting forked tongue, with + bulging eyes, and bony protuberances upon head and snout that + formed short, stout horns.</p> + + <p>As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of + the doomed man, and I could have sworn that in his I saw an + expression of hopeless appeal. But whether I did or not there + swept through me a sudden compassion for the fellow. He was + indeed a brother-man, and that he might have killed me with + pleasure had he caught me was forgotten in the extremity of his + danger.</p> + + <p>Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to + engage my pursuer, so now the skiff still drifted close beside + the two. The monster seemed to be but playing with his victim + before he closed his awful jaws upon him and dragged him down + to his dark den beneath the surface to devour him. The huge, + snakelike body coiled and uncoiled about its prey. The hideous, + gaping jaws snapped in the victim's face. The forked tongue, + lightning-like, ran in and out upon the copper skin.</p> + + <p>Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone + hatchet against the bony armor that covered that frightful + carcass; but for all the damage he inflicted he might as well + have struck with his open palm.</p> + + <p>At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a + fellowman was dragged down to a horrible death by that + repulsive reptile. Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the + spear that had been cast after me by him whom I suddenly + desired to save. With a wrench I tore it loose, and standing + upright in the wobbly log drove it with all the strength of my + two arms straight into the gaping jaws of the hydrophidian.</p> + + <p>With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn + upon me, but the spear, imbedded in its throat, prevented it + from seizing me though it came near to overturning the skiff in + its mad efforts to reach me.</p> + + <h2>VIII</h2> + + <h3>THE MAHAR TEMPLE</h3> + + <p>THE ABORIGINE, APPARENTLY UNINJURED, CLIMBED quickly into + the skiff, and seizing the spear with me helped to hold off the + infuriated creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now + crimsoning the waters about us and soon from the weakening + struggles it became evident that I had inflicted a death wound + upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us ceased entirely, and + with a few convulsive movements it turned upon its back quite + dead.</p> + + <p>And then there came to me a sudden realization of the + predicament in which I had placed myself. I was entirely within + the power of the savage man whose skiff I had stolen. Still + clinging to the spear I looked into his face to find him + scrutinizing me intently, and there we stood for some several + minutes, each clinging tenaciously to the weapon the while we + gazed in stupid wonderment at each other.</p> + + <p>What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely + the question as to how soon the fellow would recommence + hostilities.</p> + + <p>Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable + to translate. I shook my head in an effort to indicate my + ignorance of his language, at the same time addressing him in + the bastard tongue that the Sagoths use to converse with the + human slaves of the Mahars.</p> + + <p>To my delight he understood and answered me in the same + jargon.</p> + + <p>"What do you want of my spear?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"Only to keep you from running it through me," I + replied.</p> + + <p>"I would not do that," he said, "for you have just saved my + life," and with that he released his hold upon it and squatted + down in the bottom of the skiff.</p> + + <p>"Who are you," he continued, "and from what country do you + come?"</p> + + <p>I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to + explain how I came to Pellucidar, and wherefrom, but it was as + impossible for him to grasp or believe the strange tale I told + him as I fear it is for you upon the outer crust to believe in + the existence of the inner world. To him it seemed quite + ridiculous to imagine that there was another world far beneath + his feet peopled by beings similar to himself, and he laughed + uproariously the more he thought upon it. But it was ever thus. + That which has never come within the scope of our really + pitifully meager world-experience cannot be—our finite + minds cannot grasp that which may not exist in accordance with + the conditions which obtain about us upon the outside of the + insignificant grain of dust which wends its tiny way among the + bowlders of the universe—the speck of moist dirt we so + proudly call the World.</p> + + <p>So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was + a Mezop, and that his name was Ja.</p> + + <p>"Who are the Mezops?" I asked. "Where do they live?"</p> + + <p>He looked at me in surprise.</p> + + <p>"I might indeed believe that you were from another world," + he said, "for who of Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The + Mezops live upon the islands of the seas. In so far as I ever + have heard no Mezop lives elsewhere, and no others than Mezops + dwell upon islands, but of course it may be different in other + far-distant lands. I do not know. At any rate in this sea and + those near by it is true that only people of my race inhabit + the islands.</p> + + <p>"We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often + going to the mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon + all but the larger islands. And we are warriors also," he added + proudly. "Even the Sagoths of the Mahars fear us. Once, when + Pellucidar was young, the Sagoths were wont to capture us for + slaves as they do the other men of Pellucidar, it is handed + down from father to son among us that this is so; but we fought + so desperately and slew so many Sagoths, and those of us that + were captured killed so many Mahars in their own cities that at + last they learned that it were better to leave us alone, and + later came the time that the Mahars became too indolent even to + catch their own fish, except for amusement, and then they + needed us to supply their wants, and so a truce was made + between the races. Now they give us certain things which we are + unable to produce in return for the fish that we catch, and the + Mezops and the Mahars live in peace.</p> + + <p>"The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far + from the prying eyes of their own Sagoths, that they practice + their religious rites in the temples they have builded there + with our assistance. If you live among us you will doubtless + see the manner of their worship, which is strange indeed, and + most unpleasant for the poor slaves they bring to take part in + it."</p> + + <p>As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him + more closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I should say six + feet six or seven inches, well developed and of a coppery red + not unlike that of our own North American Indian, nor were his + features dissimilar to theirs. He had the aquiline nose found + among many of the higher tribes, the prominent cheek bones, and + black hair and eyes, but his mouth and lips were better molded. + All in all, Ja was an impressive and handsome creature, and he + talked well too, even in the miserable makeshift language we + were compelled to use.</p> + + <p>During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was + propelling the skiff with vigorous strokes toward a large + island that lay some half-mile from the mainland. The skill + with which he handled his crude and awkward craft elicited my + deepest admiration, since it had been so short a time before + that I had made such pitiful work of it.</p> + + <p>As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I + followed him. Together we dragged the skiff far up into the + bushes that grew beyond the sand.</p> + + <p>"We must hide our canoes," explained Ja, "for the Mezops of + Luana are always at war with us and would steal them if they + found them," he nodded toward an island farther out at sea, and + at so great a distance that it seemed but a blur hanging in the + distant sky. The upward curve of the surface of Pellucidar was + constantly revealing the impossible to the surprised eyes of + the outer-earthly. To see land and water curving upward in the + distance until it seemed to stand on edge where it melted into + the distant sky, and to feel that seas and mountains hung + suspended directly above one's head required such a complete + reversal of the perceptive and reasoning faculties as almost to + stupefy one.</p> + + <p>No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the + jungle, presently emerging into a narrow but well-defined trail + which wound hither and thither much after the manner of the + highways of all primitive folk, but there was one peculiarity + about this Mezop trail which I was later to find distinguished + them from all other trails that I ever have seen within or + without the earth.</p> + + <p>It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end + suddenly in the midst of a tangle of matted jungle, then Ja + would turn directly back in his tracks for a little distance, + spring into a tree, climb through it to the other side, drop + onto a fallen log, leap over a low bush and alight once more + upon a distinct trail which he would follow back for a short + distance only to turn directly about and retrace his steps + until after a mile or less this new pathway ended as suddenly + and mysteriously as the former section. Then he would pass + again across some media which would reveal no spoor, to take up + the broken thread of the trail beyond.</p> + + <p>As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I + could not but admire the native shrewdness of the ancient + progenitor of the Mezops who hit upon this novel plan to throw + his enemies from his track and delay or thwart them in their + attempts to follow him to his deep-buried cities.</p> + + <p>To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous + method of traveling through the jungle, but were you of + Pellucidar you would realize that time is no factor where time + does not exist. So labyrinthine are the windings of these + trails, so varied the connecting links and the distances which + one must retrace one's steps from the paths' ends to find them + that a Mezop often reaches man's estate before he is familiar + even with those which lead from his own city to the sea.</p> + + <p>In fact three-fourths of the education of the young male + Mezop consists in familiarizing himself with these jungle + avenues, and the status of an adult is largely determined by + the number of trails which he can follow upon his own island. + The females never learn them, since from birth to death they + never leave the clearing in which the village of their nativity + is situated except they be taken to mate by a male from another + village, or captured in war by the enemies of their tribe.</p> + + <p>After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been + upward of five miles we emerged suddenly into a large clearing + in the exact center of which stood as strange an appearing + village as one might well imagine.</p> + + <p>Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet + above the ground, and upon the tops of them spherical + habitations of woven twigs, mud covered, had been built. Each + ball-like house was surmounted by some manner of carven image, + which Ja told me indicated the identity of the owner.</p> + + <p>Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet + wide, served to admit light and ventilation. The entrances to + the house were through small apertures in the bases of the + trees and thence upward by rude ladders through the hollow + trunks to the rooms above. The houses varied in size from two + to several rooms. The largest that I entered was divided into + two floors and eight apartments.</p> + + <p>All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay + beautifully cultivated fields in which the Mezops raised such + cereals, fruits, and vegetables as they required. Women and + children were working in these gardens as we crossed toward the + village. At sight of Ja they saluted deferentially, but to me + they paid not the slightest attention. Among them and about the + outer verge of the cultivated area were many warriors. These + too saluted Ja, by touching the points of their spears to the + ground directly before them.</p> + + <p>Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the + village—the house with eight rooms—and taking me up + into it gave me food and drink. There I met his mate, a comely + girl with a nursing baby in her arms. Ja told her of how I had + saved his life, and she was thereafter most kind and hospitable + toward me, even permitting me to hold and amuse the tiny bundle + of humanity whom Ja told me would one day rule the tribe, for + Ja, it seemed, was the chief of the community.</p> + + <p>We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja's + amusement, for it seemed that he seldom if ever did so, and + then the red man proposed that I accompany him to the temple of + the Mahars which lay not far from his village. "We are not + supposed to visit it," he said; "but the great ones cannot hear + and if we keep well out of sight they need never know that we + have been there. For my part I hate them and always have, but + the other chieftains of the island think it best that we + continue to maintain the amicable relations which exist between + the two races; otherwise I should like nothing better than to + lead my warriors amongst the hideous creatures and exterminate + them—Pellucidar would be a better place to live were + there none of them."</p> + + <p>I wholly concurred in Ja's belief, but it seemed that it + might be a difficult matter to exterminate the dominant race of + Pellucidar. Thus conversing we followed the intricate trail + toward the temple, which we came upon in a small clearing + surrounded by enormous trees similar to those which must have + flourished upon the outer crust during the carboniferous + age.</p> + + <p>Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of + a rough oval with rounded roof in which were several large + openings. No doors or windows were visible in the sides of the + structure, nor was there need of any, except one entrance for + the slaves, since, as Ja explained, the Mahars flew to and from + their place of ceremonial, entering and leaving the building by + means of the apertures in the roof.</p> + + <p>"But," added Ja, "there is an entrance near the base of + which even the Mahars know nothing. Come," and he led me across + the clearing and about the end to a pile of loose rock which + lay against the foot of the wall. Here he removed a couple of + large bowlders, revealing a small opening which led straight + within the building, or so it seemed, though as I entered after + Ja I discovered myself in a narrow place of extreme + darkness.</p> + + <p>"We are within the outer wall," said Ja. "It is hollow. + Follow me closely."</p> + + <p>The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to + ascend a primitive ladder similar to that which leads from the + ground to the upper stories of his house. We ascended for some + forty feet when the interior of the space between the walls + commenced to grow lighter and presently we came opposite an + opening in the inner wall which gave us an unobstructed view of + the entire interior of the temple.</p> + + <p>The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which + numerous hideous Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial + islands of granite rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon + several of them I saw men and women like myself.</p> + + <p>"What are the human beings doing here?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"Wait and you shall see," replied Ja. "They are to take a + leading part in the ceremonies which will follow the advent of + the queen. You may be thankful that you are not upon the same + side of the wall as they."</p> + + <p>Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of + wings above and a moment later a long procession of the + frightful reptiles of Pellucidar winged slowly and majestically + through the large central opening in the roof and circled in + stately manner about the temple.</p> + + <p>There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty + awe-inspiring pterodactyls—thipdars, they are called + within Pellucidar. Behind these came the queen, flanked by + other thipdars as she had been when she entered the + amphitheater at Phutra.</p> + + <p>Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval + chamber, to settle finally upon the damp, cold bowlders that + fringe the outer edge of the pool. In the center of one side + the largest rock was reserved for the queen, and here she took + her place surrounded by her terrible guard.</p> + + <p>All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their + places. One might have imagined them in silent prayer. The poor + slaves upon the diminutive islands watched the horrid creatures + with wide eyes. The men, for the most part, stood erect and + stately with folded arms, awaiting their doom; but the women + and children clung to one another, hiding behind the males. + They are a noble-looking race, these cave men of Pellucidar, + and if our progenitors were as they, the human race of the + outer crust has deteriorated rather than improved with the + march of the ages. All they lack is opportunity. We have + opportunity, and little else.</p> + + <p>Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking + about; then very slowly she crawled to the edge of her throne + and slid noiselessly into the water. Up and down the long tank + she swam, turning at the ends as you have seen captive seals + turn in their tiny tanks, turning upon their backs and diving + below the surface.</p> + + <p>Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she + remained at rest before the largest, which was directly + opposite her throne. Raising her hideous head from the water + she fixed her great, round eyes upon the slaves. They were fat + and sleek, for they had been brought from a distant Mahar city + where human beings are kept in droves, and bred and fattened, + as we breed and fatten beef cattle.</p> + + <p>The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her + victim tried to turn away, hiding her face in her hands and + kneeling behind a woman; but the reptile, with unblinking eyes, + stared on with such fixity that I could have sworn her vision + penetrated the woman, and the girl's arms to reach at last the + very center of her brain.</p> + + <p>Slowly the reptile's head commenced to move to and fro, but + the eyes never ceased to bore toward the frightened girl, and + then the victim responded. She turned wide, fear-haunted eyes + toward the Mahar queen, slowly she rose to her feet, and then + as though dragged by some unseen power she moved as one in a + trance straight toward the reptile, her glassy eyes fixed upon + those of her captor. To the water's edge she came, nor did she + even pause, but stepped into the shallows beside the little + island. On she moved toward the Mahar, who now slowly retreated + as though leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl's + knees, and still she advanced, chained by that clammy eye. Now + the water was at her waist; now her armpits. Her fellows upon + the island looked on in horror, helpless to avert her doom in + which they saw a forecast of their own.</p> + + <p>The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes + were exposed above the surface of the water, and the girl had + advanced until the end of that repulsive beak was but an inch + or two from her face, her horror-filled eyes riveted upon those + of the reptile.</p> + + <p>Now the water passed above the girl's mouth and + nose—her eyes and forehead all that showed—yet + still she walked on after the retreating Mahar. The queen's + head slowly disappeared beneath the surface and after it went + the eyes of her victim—only a slow ripple widened toward + the shores to mark where the two vanished.</p> + + <p>For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves + were motionless in terror. The Mahars watched the surface of + the water for the reappearance of their queen, and presently at + one end of the tank her head rose slowly into view. She was + backing toward the surface, her eyes fixed before her as they + had been when she dragged the helpless girl to her doom.</p> + + <p>And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes + of the maiden come slowly out of the depths, following the gaze + of the reptile just as when she had disappeared beneath the + surface. On and on came the girl until she stood in water that + reached barely to her knees, and though she had been beneath + the surface sufficient time to have drowned her thrice over + there was no indication, other than her dripping hair and + glistening body, that she had been submerged at all.</p> + + <p>Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and + out again, until the uncanny weirdness of the thing got on my + nerves so that I could have leaped into the tank to the child's + rescue had I not taken a firm hold of myself.</p> + + <p>Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they + came to the surface I was horrified to see that one of the + girl's arms was gone—gnawed completely off at the + shoulder—but the poor thing gave no indication of + realizing pain, only the horror in her set eyes seemed + intensified.</p> + + <p>The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then + the breasts, and then a part of the face—it was awful. + The poor creatures on the islands awaiting their fate tried to + cover their eyes with their hands to hide the fearful sight, + but now I saw that they too were under the hypnotic spell of + the reptiles, so that they could only crouch in terror with + their eyes fixed upon the terrible thing that was transpiring + before them.</p> + + <p>Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, + and when she rose she came alone and swam sleepily toward her + bowlder. The moment she mounted it seemed to be the signal for + the other Mahars to enter the tank, and then commenced, upon a + larger scale, a repetition of the uncanny performance through + which the queen had led her victim.</p> + + <p>Only the women and children fell prey to the + Mahars—they being the weakest and most tender—and + when they had satisfied their appetite for human flesh, some of + them devouring two and three of the slaves, there were only a + score of full-grown men left, and I thought that for some + reason these were to be spared, but such was far from the case, + for as the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen's thipdars + darted into the air, circled the temple once and then, hissing + like steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining slaves.</p> + + <p>There was no hypnotism here—just the plain, brutal + ferocity of the beast of prey, tearing, rending, and gulping + its meat, but at that it was less horrible than the uncanny + method of the Mahars. By the time the thipdars had disposed of + the last of the slaves the Mahars were all asleep upon their + rocks, and a moment later the great pterodactyls swung back to + their posts beside the queen, and themselves dropped into + slumber.</p> + + <p>"I thought the Mahars seldom, if ever, slept," I said to + Ja.</p> + + <p>"They do many things in this temple which they do not do + elsewhere," he replied. "The Mahars of Phutra are not supposed + to eat human flesh, yet slaves are brought here by thousands + and almost always you will find Mahars on hand to consume them. + I imagine that they do not bring their Sagoths here, because + they are ashamed of the practice, which is supposed to obtain + only among the least advanced of their race; but I would wager + my canoe against a broken paddle that there is no Mahar but + eats human flesh whenever she can get it."</p> + + <p>"Why should they object to eating human flesh," I asked, "if + it is true that they look upon us as lower animals?"</p> + + <p>"It is not because they consider us their equals that they + are supposed to look with abhorrence upon those who eat our + flesh," replied Ja; "it is merely that we are warm-blooded + animals. They would not think of eating the meat of a thag, + which we consider such a delicacy, any more than I would think + of eating a snake. As a matter of fact it is difficult to + explain just why this sentiment should exist among them."</p> + + <p>"I wonder if they left a single victim," I remarked, leaning + far out of the opening in the rocky wall to inspect the temple + better. Directly below me the water lapped the very side of the + wall, there being a break in the bowlders at this point as + there was at several other places about the side of the + temple.</p> + + <p>My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which + formed a part of the wall, and all my weight upon it proved too + much for it. It slipped and I lunged forward. There was nothing + to save myself and I plunged headforemost into the water + below.</p> + + <p>Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered + no injury from the fall, but as I was rising to the surface my + mind filled with the horrors of my position as I thought of the + terrible doom which awaited me the moment the eyes of the + reptiles fell upon the creature that had disturbed their + slumber.</p> + + <p>As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming + rapidly in the direction of the islands that I might prolong my + life to the utmost. At last I was forced to rise for air, and + as I cast a terrified glance in the direction of the Mahars and + the thipdars I was almost stunned to see that not a single one + remained upon the rocks where I had last seen them, nor as I + searched the temple with my eyes could I discern any within + it.</p> + + <p>For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I + realized that the reptiles, being deaf, could not have been + disturbed by the noise my body made when it hit the water, and + that as there is no such thing as time within Pellucidar there + was no telling how long I had been beneath the surface. It was + a difficult thing to attempt to figure out by earthly + standards—this matter of elapsed time—but when I + set myself to it I began to realize that I might have been + submerged a second or a month or not at all. You have no + conception of the strange contradictions and impossibilities + which arise when all methods of measuring time, as we know them + upon earth, are non-existent.</p> + + <p>I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which + had saved me for the moment, when the memory of the hypnotic + powers of the Mahars filled me with apprehension lest they be + practicing their uncanny art upon me to the end that I merely + imagined that I was alone in the temple. At the thought cold + sweat broke out upon me from every pore, and as I crawled from + the water onto one of the tiny islands I was trembling like a + leaf—you cannot imagine the awful horror which even the + simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of Pellucidar induces in + the human mind, and to feel that you are in their + power—that they are crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to + drag you down beneath the waters and devour you! It is + frightful.</p> + + <p>But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion + that I was indeed alone within the temple. How long I should be + alone was the next question to assail me as I swam frantically + about once more in search of a means to escape.</p> + + <p>Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I + tumbled into the tank, for I received no response to my cries. + Doubtless he had felt as certain of my doom when he saw me + topple from our hiding place as I had, and lest he too should + be discovered, had hastened from the temple and back to his + village.</p> + + <p>I knew that there must be some entrance to the building + beside the doorways in the roof, for it did not seem reasonable + to believe that the thousands of slaves which were brought here + to feed the Mahars the human flesh they craved would all be + carried through the air, and so I continued my search until at + last it was rewarded by the discovery of several loose granite + blocks in the masonry at one end of the temple.</p> + + <p>A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of + these stones to permit me to crawl through into the clearing, + and a moment later I had scurried across the intervening space + to the dense jungle beyond.</p> + + <p>Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses + beneath the giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the + grinning fangs of death out of the depths of my own grave. + Whatever dangers lay hidden in this island jungle, there could + be none so fearsome as those which I had just escaped. I knew + that I could meet death bravely enough if it but came in the + form of some familiar beast or man—anything other than + the hideous and uncanny Mahars.</p> + + <h2>IX</h2> + + <h3>THE FACE OF DEATH</h3> + + <p>I MUST HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP FROM EXHAUSTION. When I awoke I + was very hungry, and after busying myself searching for fruit + for a while, I set off through the jungle to find the beach. I + knew that the island was not so large but that I could easily + find the sea if I did but move in a straight line, but there + came the difficulty as there was no way in which I could direct + my course and hold it, the sun, of course, being always + directly above my head, and the trees so thickly set that I + could see no distant object which might serve to guide me in a + straight line.</p> + + <p>As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I + ate four times and slept twice before I reached the sea, but at + last I did so, and my pleasure at the sight of it was greatly + enhanced by the chance discovery of a hidden canoe among the + bushes through which I had stumbled just prior to coming upon + the beach.</p> + + <p>I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that + awkward craft down to the water and shove it far out from + shore. My experience with Ja had taught me that if I were to + steal another canoe I must be quick about it and get far beyond + the owner's reach as soon as possible.</p> + + <p>I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island + from that at which Ja and I had entered it, for the mainland + was nowhere in sight. For a long time I paddled around the + shore, though well out, before I saw the mainland in the + distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in directing my + course toward it, for I had long since made up my mind to + return to Phutra and give myself up that I might be once more + with Perry and Ghak the Hairy One.</p> + + <p>I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape + alone, especially in view of the fact that our plans were + already well formulated to make a break for freedom together. + Of course I realized that the chances of the success of our + proposed venture were slim indeed, but I knew that I never + could enjoy freedom without Perry so long as the old man lived, + and I had learned that the probability that I might find him + was less than slight.</p> + + <p>Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength + and wit against the savage and primordial world in which I + found myself. I could have lived in seclusion within some rocky + cave until I had found the means to outfit myself with the + crude weapons of the Stone Age, and then set out in search of + her whose image had now become the constant companion of my + waking hours, and the central and beloved figure of my + dreams.</p> + + <p>But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it + was my duty and wish to be again with him, that we might share + the dangers and vicissitudes of the strange world we had + discovered. And Ghak, too; the great, shaggy man had found a + place in the hearts of us both, for he was indeed every inch a + man and king. Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, too, if judged too + harshly by the standards of effete twentieth-century + civilization, but withal noble, dignified, chivalrous, and + loveable.</p> + + <p>Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had + discovered Ja's canoe, and a short time later I was scrambling + up the steep bank to retrace my steps from the plain of Phutra. + But my troubles came when I entered the canyon beyond the + summit, for here I found that several of them centered at the + point where I crossed the divide, and which one I had traversed + to reach the pass I could not for the life of me remember.</p> + + <p>It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that + which seemed the easiest going, and in this I made the same + mistake that many of us do in selecting the path along which we + shall follow out the course of our lives, and again learned + that it is not always best to follow the line of least + resistance.</p> + + <p>By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was + convinced that I was upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra + and the inland sea I had not slept at all, and had eaten but + once. To retrace my steps to the summit of the divide and + explore another canyon seemed the only solution of my problem, + but a sudden widening and levelness of the canyon just before + me seemed to suggest that it was about to open into a level + country, and with the lure of discovery strong upon me I + decided to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned + back.</p> + + <p>The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and + before me I saw a narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my + right the side of the canyon continued to the water's edge, the + valley lying to my left, and the foot of it running gradually + into the sea, where it formed a broad level beach.</p> + + <p>Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there + almost to the water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. + From the nature of the vegetation I was convinced that the land + between the ocean and the foothills was swampy, though directly + before me it seemed dry enough all the way to the sandy strip + along which the restless waters advanced and retreated.</p> + + <p>Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the + scene was very beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and + tangled vegetation of the swamp I thought that I saw a movement + of the ferns at my left, but though I stopped a moment to look + it was not repeated, and if anything lay hid there my eyes + could not penetrate the dense foliage to discern it.</p> + + <p>Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide + and lonely sea across whose forbidding bosom no human being had + yet ventured, to discover what strange and mysterious lands lay + beyond, or what its invisible islands held of riches, wonders, + or adventure. What savage faces, what fierce and formidable + beasts were this very instant watching the lapping of the waves + upon its farther shore! How far did it extend? Perry had told + me that the seas of Pellucidar were small in comparison with + those of the outer crust, but even so this great ocean might + stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For countless + ages it had rolled up and down its countless miles of shore, + and yet today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip + that was visible from its beaches.</p> + + <p>The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as + though I had been carried back to the birth time of our own + outer world to look upon its lands and seas ages before man had + traversed either. Here was a new world, all untouched. It + called to me to explore it. I was dreaming of the excitement + and adventure which lay before us could Perry and I but escape + the Mahars, when something, a slight noise I imagine, drew my + attention behind me.</p> + + <p>As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the + abstract took wing before the terrible embodiment of all three + in concrete form that I beheld advancing upon me.</p> + + <p>A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toad-like body and the + mighty jaws of an alligator. Its immense carcass must have + weighed tons, and yet it moved swiftly and silently toward me. + Upon one hand was the bluff that ran from the canyon to the + sea, on the other the fearsome swamp from which the creature + had sneaked upon me, behind lay the mighty untracked sea, and + before me in the center of the narrow way that led to safety + stood this huge mountain of terrible and menacing flesh.</p> + + <p>A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me + that I was facing one of those long-extinct, prehistoric + creatures whose fossilized remains are found within the outer + crust as far back as the Triassic formation, a gigantic + labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, and, with the + exception of a loin cloth, as naked as I had come into the + world. I could imagine how my first ancestor felt that distant, + prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first time the + terrifying progenitor of the thing that had me cornered now + beside the restless, mysterious sea.</p> + + <p>Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been + within Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at that moment + that he had handed down to me with the various attributes that + I presumed I have inherited from him, the specific application + of the instinct of self-preservation which saved him from the + fate which loomed so close before me today.</p> + + <p>To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been + similar to jumping into a den of lions to escape one upon the + outside. The sea and swamp both were doubtless alive with these + mighty, carnivorous amphibians, and if not, the individual that + menaced me would pursue me into either the sea or the swamp + with equal facility.</p> + + <p>There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my + end. I thought of Perry—how he would wonder what had + become of me. I thought of my friends of the outer world, and + of how they all would go on living their lives in total + ignorance of the strange and terrible fate that had overtaken + me, or unguessing the weird surroundings which had witnessed + the last frightful agony of my extinction. And with these + thoughts came a realization of how unimportant to the life and + happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We + may be snuffed out without an instant's warning, and for a + brief day our friends speak of us with subdued voices. The + following morning, while the first worm is busily engaged in + testing the construction of our coffin, they are teeing up for + the first hole to suffer more acute sorrow over a sliced ball + than they did over our, to us, untimely demise. The + labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. He seemed to realize + that escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn that + his huge, fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation of my + predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy morsel + which would so soon be pulp between those formidable teeth?</p> + + <p>He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling + to me from the direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and + could have shouted in delight at the sight that met my eyes, + for there stood Ja, waving frantically to me, and urging me to + run for it to the cliff's base.</p> + + <p>I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had + marked me for his breakfast, but at least I should not die + alone. Human eyes would watch me end. It was cold comfort I + presume, but yet I derived some slight peace of mind from the + contemplation of it.</p> + + <p>To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and + unscalable cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, + agile as a monkey, crawl down the precipitous face of the + rocks, clinging to small projections, and the tough creepers + that had found root-hold here and there.</p> + + <p>The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to + double his portion of human flesh, so he was in no haste to + pursue me to the cliff and frighten away this other tidbit. + Instead he merely trotted along behind me.</p> + + <p>As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended + doing, but I doubted if the thing would prove successful. He + had come down to within twenty feet of the bottom, and there, + clinging with one hand to a small ledge, and with his feet + resting, precariously upon tiny bushes that grew from the solid + face of the rock, he lowered the point of his long spear until + it hung some six feet above the ground.</p> + + <p>To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and + precipitating both to the same doom from which the + copper-colored one was attempting to save me seemed utterly + impossible, and as I came near the spear I told Ja so, and that + I could not risk him to try to save myself.</p> + + <p>But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no + danger himself.</p> + + <p>"The danger is still yours," he called, "for unless you move + much more rapidly than you are now, the sithic will be upon you + and drag you back before ever you are halfway up the + spear—he can rear up and reach you with ease anywhere + below where I stand."</p> + + <p>Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I + grasped the spear and clambered up toward the red man as + rapidly as I could—being so far removed from my simian + ancestors as I am. I imagine the slow-witted sithic, as Ja + called him, suddenly realized our intentions and that he was + quite likely to lose all his meal instead of having it doubled + as he had hoped.</p> + + <p>When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss + that fairly shook the ground, and came charging after me at a + terrific rate. I had reached the top of the spear by this time, + or almost; another six inches would give me a hold on Ja's + hand, when I felt a sudden wrench from below and glancing + fearfully downward saw the mighty jaws of the monster close on + the sharp point of the weapon.</p> + + <p>I made a frantic effort to reach Ja's hand, the sithic gave + a tremendous tug that came near to jerking Ja from his frail + hold on the surface of the rock, the spear slipped from his + fingers, and still clinging to it I plunged feet foremost + toward my executioner.</p> + + <p>At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja's + hand the creature must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, + for when I came down, still clinging to the butt end of the + weapon, the point yet rested in his mouth and the result was + that the sharpened end transfixed his lower jaw.</p> + + <p>With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his + snout, lost my hold upon the spear, rolled the length of his + face and head, across his short neck onto his broad back and + from there to the ground.</p> + + <p>Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, + dashing madly for the path by which I had entered this horrible + valley. A glance over my shoulder showed me the sithic engaged + in pawing at the spear stuck through his lower jaw, and so + busily engaged did he remain in this occupation that I had + gained the safety of the cliff top before he was ready to take + up the pursuit. When he did not discover me in sight within the + valley he dashed, hissing into the rank vegetation of the swamp + and that was the last I saw of him.</p> + + <h2>X</h2> + + <h3>PHUTRA AGAIN</h3> + + <p>I HASTENED TO THE CLIFF EDGE ABOVE JA AND helped him to a + secure footing. He would not listen to any thanks for his + attempt to save me, which had come so near miscarrying.</p> + + <p>"I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar + temple," he said, "for not even I could save you from their + clutches, and you may imagine my surprise when on seeing a + canoe dragged up upon the beach of the mainland I discovered + your own footprints in the sand beside it.</p> + + <p>"I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did + that you must be entirely unarmed and defenseless against the + many dangers which lurk upon the mainland both in the form of + savage beasts and reptiles, and men as well. I had no + difficulty in tracking you to this point. It is well that I + arrived when I did."</p> + + <p>"But why did you do it?" I asked, puzzled at this show of + friendship on the part of a man of another world and a + different race and color.</p> + + <p>"You saved my life," he replied; "from that moment it became + my duty to protect and befriend you. I would have been no true + Mezop had I evaded my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this + instance for I like you. I wish that you would come and live + with me. You shall become a member of my tribe. Among us there + is the best of hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to + choose a mate from, the most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. + Will you come?"</p> + + <p>I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how + my duty was to them first. Afterward I should return and visit + him—if I could ever find his island.</p> + + <p>"Oh, that is easy, my friend," he said. "You need merely to + come to the foot of the highest peak of the Mountains of the + Clouds. There you will find a river which flows into the Lural + Az. Directly opposite the mouth of the river you will see three + large islands far out, so far that they are barely discernible, + the one to the extreme left as you face them from the mouth of + the river is Anoroc, where I rule the tribe of Anoroc."</p> + + <p>"But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?" I asked. + "Men say that they are visible from half Pellucidar," he + replied.</p> + + <p>"How large is Pellucidar?" I asked, wondering what sort of + theory these primitive men had concerning the form and + substance of their world.</p> + + <p>"The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola + shell," he answered, "but that is ridiculous, since, were it + true, we should fall back were we to travel far in any + direction, and all the waters of Pellucidar would run to one + spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite flat and extends no + man knows how far in all directions. At the edges, so my + ancestors have reported and handed down to me, is a great wall + that prevents the earth and waters from escaping over into the + burning sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never have been so + far from Anoroc as to have seen this wall with my own eyes. + However, it is quite reasonable to believe that this is true, + whereas there is no reason at all in the foolish belief of the + Mahars. According to them Pellucidarians who live upon the + opposite side walk always with their heads pointed downward!" + and Ja laughed uproariously at the very thought.</p> + + <p>It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world + had not advanced far in learning, and the thought that the ugly + Mahars had so outstripped them was a very pathetic one indeed. + I wondered how many ages it would take to lift these people out + of their ignorance even were it given to Perry and me to + attempt it. Possibly we would be killed for our pains as were + those men of the outer world who dared challenge the dense + ignorance and superstitions of the earth's younger days. But it + was worth the effort if the opportunity ever presented + itself.</p> + + <p>And then it occurred to me that here was an + opportunity—that I might make a small beginning upon Ja, + who was my friend, and thus note the effect of my teaching upon + a Pellucidarian.</p> + + <p>"Ja," I said, "what would you say were I to tell you that in + so far as the Mahars' theory of the shape of Pellucidar is + concerned it is correct?"</p> + + <p>"I would say," he replied, "that either you are a fool, or + took me for one."</p> + + <p>"But, Ja," I insisted, "if their theory is incorrect how do + you account for the fact that I was able to pass through the + earth from the outer crust to Pellucidar. If your theory is + correct all is a sea of flame beneath us, where in no peoples + could exist, and yet I come from a great world that is covered + with human beings, and beasts, and birds, and fishes in mighty + oceans."</p> + + <p>"You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always + with your head pointed downward?" he scoffed. "And were I to + believe that, my friend, I should indeed be mad."</p> + + <p>I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by + the means of the dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it + would be for a body to fall off the earth under any + circumstances. He listened so intently that I thought I had + made an impression, and started the train of thought that would + lead him to a partial understanding of the truth. But I was + mistaken.</p> + + <p>"Your own illustration," he said finally, "proves the + falsity of your theory." He dropped a fruit from his hand to + the ground. "See," he said, "without support even this tiny + fruit falls until it strikes something that stops it. If + Pellucidar were not supported upon the flaming sea it too would + fall as the fruit falls—you have proven it yourself!" He + had me, that time—you could see it in his eye.</p> + + <p>It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at + least, for when I contemplated the necessity explanation of our + solar system and the universe I realized how futile it would be + to attempt to picture to Ja or any other Pellucidarian the sun, + the moon, the planets, and the countless stars. Those born + within the inner world could no more conceive of such things + than can we of the outer crust reduce to factors appreciable to + our finite minds such terms as space and eternity.</p> + + <p>"Well, Ja," I laughed, "whether we be walking with our feet + up or down, here we are, and the question of greatest + importance is not so much where we came from as where we are + going now. For my part I wish that you could guide me to Phutra + where I may give myself up to the Mahars once more that my + friends and I may work out the plan of escape which the Sagoths + interrupted when they gathered us together and drove us to the + arena to witness the punishment of the slaves who killed the + guardsman. I wish now that I had not left the arena for by this + time my friends and I might have made good our escape, whereas + this delay may mean the wrecking of all our plans, which + depended for their consummation upon the continued sleep of the + three Mahars who lay in the pit beneath the building in which + we were confined."</p> + + <p>"You would return to captivity?" cried Ja.</p> + + <p>"My friends are there," I replied, "the only friends I have + in Pellucidar, except yourself. What else may I do under the + circumstances?"</p> + + <p>He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head + sorrowfully.</p> + + <p>"It is what a brave man and a good friend should do," he + said; "yet it seems most foolish, for the Mahars will most + certainly condemn you to death for running away, and so you + will be accomplishing nothing for your friends by returning. + Never in all my life have I heard of a prisoner returning to + the Mahars of his own free will. There are but few who escape + them, though some do, and these would rather die than be + recaptured."</p> + + <p>"I see no other way, Ja," I said, "though I can assure you + that I would rather go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. + However, Perry is much too pious to make the probability at all + great that I should ever be called upon to rescue him from the + former locality."</p> + + <p>Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I + could, he said, "You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea + upon which Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried in + the ground go there. Piece by piece they are carried down to + Molop Az by the little demons who dwell there. We know this + because when graves are opened we find that the bodies have + been partially or entirely borne off. That is why we of Anoroc + place our dead in high trees where the birds may find them and + bear them bit by bit to the Dead World above the Land of Awful + Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground + that it may go to Molop Az."</p> + + <p>As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I + had come to the great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to + dissuade me from returning to Phutra, but when he saw that I + was determined to do so, he consented to guide me to a point + from which I could see the plain where lay the city. To my + surprise the distance was but short from the beach where I had + again met Ja. It was evident that I had spent much time + following the windings of a tortuous canon, while just beyond + the ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which I must have come + several times.</p> + + <p>As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers + dotting the flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final effort + to persuade me to abandon my mad purpose and return with him to + Anoroc, but I was firm in my resolve, and at last he bid me + good-bye, assured in his own mind that he was looking upon me + for the last time.</p> + + <p>I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very + much indeed. With his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as + a base, and his savage warriors as escort Perry and I could + have accomplished much in the line of exploration, and I hoped + that were we successful in our effort to escape we might return + to Anoroc later.</p> + + <p>There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished + first—at least it was the great thing to me—the + finding of Dian the Beautiful. I wanted to make amends for the + affront I had put upon her in my ignorance, and I wanted + to—well, I wanted to see her again, and to be with + her.</p> + + <p>Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of + flowers, and then across the rolling land toward the shadowless + columns that guard the ways to buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile + from the nearest entrance I was discovered by the Sagoth guard, + and in an instant four of the gorilla-men were dashing toward + me.</p> + + <p>Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like + wild Comanches I paid not the slightest attention to them, + walking quietly toward them as though unaware of their + existence. My manner had the effect upon them that I had hoped, + and as we came quite near together they ceased their savage + shouting. It was evident that they had expected me to turn and + flee at sight of them, thus presenting that which they most + enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast their + spears.</p> + + <p>"What do you here?" shouted one, and then as he recognized + me, "Ho! It is the slave who claims to be from another + world—he who escaped when the thag ran amuck within the + amphitheater. But why do you return, having once made good your + escape?"</p> + + <p>"I did not 'escape'," I replied. "I but ran away to avoid + the thag, as did others, and coming into a long passage I + became confused and lost my way in the foothills beyond Phutra. + Only now have I found my way back."</p> + + <p>"And you come of your free will back to Phutra!" exclaimed + one of the guardsmen.</p> + + <p>"Where else might I go?" I asked. "I am a stranger within + Pellucidar and know no other where than Phutra. Why should I + not desire to be in Phutra? Am I not well fed and well treated? + Am I not happy? What better lot could man desire?"</p> + + <p>The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on + them, and so being stupid brutes they took me to their masters + whom they felt would be better fitted to solve the riddle of my + return, for riddle they still considered it.</p> + + <p>I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of + throwing them off the scent of my purposed attempt at escape. + If they thought that I was so satisfied with my lot within + Phutra that I would voluntarily return when I had once had so + excellent an opportunity to escape, they would never for an + instant imagine that I could be occupied in arranging another + escape immediately upon my return to the city.</p> + + <p>So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy + rock within the large room that was the thing's office. With + cold, reptilian eyes the creature seemed to bore through the + thin veneer of my deceit and read my inmost thoughts. It heeded + the story which the Sagoths told of my return to Phutra, + watching the gorilla-men's lips and fingers during the recital. + Then it questioned me through one of the Sagoths.</p> + + <p>"You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, + because you think yourself better off here than + elsewhere—do you not know that you may be the next chosen + to give up your life in the interests of the wonderful + scientific investigations that our learned ones are continually + occupied with?"</p> + + <p>I hadn't heard of anything of that nature, but I thought + best not to admit it.</p> + + <p>"I could be in no more danger here," I said, "than naked and + unarmed in the savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of + Pellucidar. I was fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at + all. As it was I barely escaped death within the jaws of a huge + sithic. No, I am sure that I am safer in the hands of + intelligent creatures such as rule Phutra. At least such would + be the case in my own world, where human beings like myself + rule supreme. There the higher races of man extend protection + and hospitality to the stranger within their gates, and being a + stranger here I naturally assumed that a like courtesy would be + accorded me."</p> + + <p>The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I + ceased speaking and the Sagoth had translated my words to his + master. The creature seemed deep in thought. Presently he + communicated some message to the Sagoth. The latter turned, and + motioning me to follow him, left the presence of the reptile. + Behind and on either side of me marched the balance of the + guard.</p> + + <p>"What are they going to do with me?" I asked the fellow at + my right.</p> + + <p>"You are to appear before the learned ones who will question + you regarding this strange world from which you say you + come."</p> + + <p>After a moment's silence he turned to me again.</p> + + <p>"Do you happen to know," he asked, "what the Mahars do to + slaves who lie to them?"</p> + + <p>"No," I replied, "nor does it interest me, as I have no + intention of lying to the Mahars."</p> + + <p>"Then be careful that you don't repeat the impossible tale + you told Sol-to-to just now—another world, indeed, where + human beings rule!" he concluded in fine scorn.</p> + + <p>"But it is the truth," I insisted. "From where else then did + I come? I am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could + see that."</p> + + <p>"It is your misfortune then," he remarked dryly, "that you + may not be judged by one with but half an eye."</p> + + <p>"What will they do with me," I asked, "if they do not have a + mind to believe me?"</p> + + <p>"You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be + used in research work by the learned ones," he replied.</p> + + <p>"And what will they do with me there?" I persisted.</p> + + <p>"No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits + with them, but as the latter never return, their knowledge does + them but little good. It is said that the learned ones cut up + their subjects while they are yet alive, thus learning many + useful things. However I should not imagine that it would prove + very useful to him who was being cut up; but of course this is + all but conjecture. The chances are that ere long you will know + much more about it than I," and he grinned as he spoke. The + Sagoths have a well-developed sense of humor.</p> + + <p>"And suppose it is the arena," I continued; "what then?"</p> + + <p>"You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time + that you escaped?" he said.</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended + for them," he explained, "though of course the same kinds of + animals might not be employed."</p> + + <p>"It is sure death in either event?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I + do not know, nor does any other," he replied; "but those who go + to the arena may come out alive and thus regain their liberty, + as did the two whom you saw."</p> + + <p>"They gained their liberty? And how?"</p> + + <p>"It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain + alive within the arena after the beasts depart or are killed. + Thus it has happened that several mighty warriors from far + distant lands, whom we have captured on our slave raids, have + battled the brutes turned in upon them and slain them, thereby + winning their freedom. In the instance which you witnessed the + beasts killed each other, but the result was the same—the + man and woman were liberated, furnished with weapons, and + started on their homeward journey. Upon the left shoulder of + each a mark was burned—the mark of the Mahars—which + will forever protect these two from slaving parties."</p> + + <p>"There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the + arena, and none at all if the learned ones drag me to the + pits?"</p> + + <p>"You are quite right," he replied; "but do not felicitate + yourself too quickly should you be sent to the arena, for there + is scarce one in a thousand who comes out alive."</p> + + <p>To my surprise they returned me to the same building in + which I had been confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. + At the doorway I was turned over to the guards there.</p> + + <p>"He will doubtless be called before the investigators + shortly," said he who had brought me back, "so have him in + readiness."</p> + + <p>The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing + that I had returned of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt + that it would be safe to give me liberty within the building as + had been the custom before I had escaped, and so I was told to + return to whatever duty had been mine formerly.</p> + + <p>My first act was to hunt up Perry; whom I found poring as + usual over the great tomes that he was supposed to be merely + dusting and rearranging upon new shelves.</p> + + <p>As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to + me, only to resume his work as though I had never been away at + all. I was both astonished and hurt at his indifference. And to + think that I was risking death to return to him purely from a + sense of duty and affection!</p> + + <p>"Why, Perry!" I exclaimed, "haven't you a word for me after + my long absence?"</p> + + <p>"Long absence!" he repeated in evident astonishment. "What + do you mean?"</p> + + <p>"Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not + missed me since that time we were separated by the charging + thag within the arena?"</p> + + <p>"'That time'," he repeated. "Why man, I have but just + returned from the arena! You reached here almost as soon as I. + Had you been much later I should indeed have been worried, and + as it is I had intended asking you about how you escaped the + beast as soon as I had completed the translation of this most + interesting passage."</p> + + <p>"Perry, you ARE mad," I exclaimed. "Why, the Lord only knows + how long I have been away. I have been to other lands, + discovered a new race of humans within Pellucidar, seen the + Mahars at their worship in their hidden temple, and barely + escaped with my life from them and from a great labyrinthodon + that I met afterward, following my long and tedious wanderings + across an unknown world. I must have been away for months, + Perry, and now you barely look up from your work when I return + and insist that we have been separated but a moment. Is that + any way to treat a friend? I'm surprised at you, Perry, and if + I'd thought for a moment that you cared no more for me than + this I should not have returned to chance death at the hands of + the Mahars for your sake."</p> + + <p>The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. + There was a puzzled expression upon his wrinkled face, and a + look of hurt sorrow in his eyes.</p> + + <p>"David, my boy," he said, "how could you for a moment doubt + my love for you? There is something strange here that I cannot + understand. I know that I am not mad, and I am equally sure + that you are not; but how in the world are we to account for + the strange hallucinations that each of us seems to harbor + relative to the passage of time since last we saw each other. + You are positive that months have gone by, while to me it seems + equally certain that not more than an hour ago I sat beside you + in the amphitheater. Can it be that both of us are right and at + the same time both are wrong? First tell me what time is, and + then maybe I can solve our problem. Do you catch my + meaning?"</p> + + <p>I didn't and said so.</p> + + <p>"Yes," continued the old man, "we are both right. To me, + bent over my book here, there has been no lapse of time. I have + done little or nothing to waste my energies and so have + required neither food nor sleep, but you, on the contrary, have + walked and fought and wasted strength and tissue which must + needs be rebuilt by nutriment and food, and so, having eaten + and slept many times since last you saw me you naturally + measure the lapse of time largely by these acts. As a matter of + fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction that there + is no such thing as time—surely there can be no time here + within Pellucidar, where there are no means for measuring or + recording time. Why, the Mahars themselves take no account of + such a thing as time. I find here in all their literary works + but a single tense, the present. There seems to be neither past + nor future with them. Of course it is impossible for our + outer-earthly minds to grasp such a condition, but our recent + experiences seem to demonstrate its existence."</p> + + <p>It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry + seemed to enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it, and + after listening with interest to my account of the adventures + through which I had passed he returned once more to the + subject, which he was enlarging upon with considerable fluency + when he was interrupted by the entrance of a Sagoth.</p> + + <p>"Come!" commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. "The + investigators would speak with you."</p> + + <p>"Good-bye, Perry!" I said, clasping the old man's hand. + "There may be nothing but the present and no such thing as + time, but I feel that I am about to take a trip into the + hereafter from which I shall never return. If you and Ghak + should manage to escape I want you to promise me that you will + find Dian the Beautiful and tell her that with my last words I + asked her forgiveness for the unintentional affront I put upon + her, and that my one wish was to be spared long enough to right + the wrong that I had done her."</p> + + <p>Tears came to Perry's eyes.</p> + + <p>"I cannot believe but that you will return, David," he said. + "It would be awful to think of living out the balance of my + life without you among these hateful and repulsive creatures. + If you are taken away I shall never escape, for I feel that I + am as well off here as I should be anywhere within this buried + world. Good-bye, my boy, good-bye!" and then his old voice + faltered and broke, and as he hid his face in his hands the + Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by the shoulder and hustled + me from the chamber.</p> + + <h2>XI</h2> + + <h3>FOUR DEAD MAHARS</h3> + + <p>A MOMENT LATER I WAS STANDING BEFORE A DOZEN + Mahars—the social investigators of Phutra. They asked me + many questions, through a Sagoth interpreter. I answered them + all truthfully. They seemed particularly interested in my + account of the outer earth and the strange vehicle which had + brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. I thought that I had + convinced them, and after they had sat in silence for a long + time following my examination, I expected to be ordered + returned to my quarters.</p> + + <p>During this apparent silence they were debating through the + medium of strange, unspoken language the merits of my tale. At + last the head of the tribunal communicated the result of their + conference to the officer in charge of the Sagoth guard.</p> + + <p>"Come," he said to me, "you are sentenced to the + experimental pits for having dared to insult the intelligence + of the mighty ones with the ridiculous tale you have had the + temerity to unfold to them."</p> + + <p>"Do you mean that they do not believe me?" I asked, totally + astonished.</p> + + <p>"Believe you!" he laughed. "Do you mean to say that you + expected any one to believe so impossible a lie?"</p> + + <p>It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard + down through the dark corridors and runways toward my awful + doom. At a low level we came upon a number of lighted chambers + in which we saw many Mahars engaged in various occupations. To + one of these chambers my guard escorted me, and before leaving + they chained me to a side wall. There were other humans + similarly chained. Upon a long table lay a victim even as I was + ushered into the room. Several Mahars stood about the poor + creature holding him down so that he could not move. Another, + grasping a sharp knife with her three-toed fore foot, was + laying open the victim's chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had + been administered and the shrieks and groans of the tortured + man were terrible to hear. This, indeed, was vivisection with a + vengeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me as I realized that soon + my turn would come. And to think that where there was no such + thing as time I might easily imagine that my suffering was + enduring for months before death finally released me!</p> + + <p>The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I + had been brought into the room. So deeply immersed were they in + their work that I am sure they did not even know that the + Sagoths had entered with me. The door was close by. Would that + I could reach it! But those heavy chains precluded any such + possibility. I looked about for some means of escape from my + bonds. Upon the floor between me and the Mahars lay a tiny + surgical instrument which one of them must have dropped. It + looked not unlike a button-hook, but was much smaller, and its + point was sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood days had I + picked locks with a buttonhook. Could I but reach that little + bit of polished steel I might yet effect at least a temporary + escape.</p> + + <p>Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching + one hand as far out as I could my fingers still fell an inch + short of the coveted instrument. It was tantalizing! Stretch + every fiber of my being as I would, I could not quite make + it.</p> + + <p>At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the + object. My heart came to my throat! I could just touch the + thing! But suppose that in my effort to drag it toward me I + should accidentally shove it still farther away and thus + entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke out upon me from every + pore. Slowly and cautiously I made the effort. My toes dropped + upon the cold metal. Gradually I worked it toward me until I + felt that it was within reach of my hand and a moment later I + had turned about and the precious thing was in my grasp.</p> + + <p>Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my + chain. It was pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, + and a moment later I was free. The Mahars were now evidently + completing their work at the table. One already turned away and + was examining other victims, evidently with the intention of + selecting the next subject.</p> + + <p>Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the + creature walking toward us I might have escaped that moment. + Slowly the thing approached me, when its attention was + attracted by a huge slave chained a few yards to my right. Here + the reptile stopped and commenced to go over the poor devil + carefully, and as it did so its back turned toward me for an + instant, and in that instant I gave two mighty leaps that + carried me out of the chamber into the corridor beyond, down + which I raced with all the speed I could command.</p> + + <p>Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only + thought was to place as much distance as possible between me + and that frightful chamber of torture.</p> + + <p>Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later + realizing the danger of running into some new predicament, were + I not careful, I moved still more slowly and cautiously. After + a time I came to a passage that seemed in some mysterious way + familiar to me, and presently, chancing to glance within a + chamber which led from the corridor I saw three Mahars curled + up in slumber upon a bed of skins. I could have shouted aloud + in joy and relief. It was the same corridor and the same Mahars + that I had intended to have lead so important a role in our + escape from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, for + the reptiles still slept.</p> + + <p>My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels + in search of Perry and Ghak, but there was nothing else to be + done, and so I hastened upward. When I came to the frequented + portions of the building, I found a large burden of skins in a + corner and these I lifted to my head, carrying them in such a + way that ends and corners fell down about my shoulders + completely hiding my face. Thus disguised I found Perry and + Ghak together in the chamber where we had been wont to eat and + sleep.</p> + + <p>Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of + course they had known nothing of the fate that had been meted + out to me by my judges. It was decided that no time should now + be lost before attempting to put our plan of escape to the + test, as I could not hope to remain hidden from the Sagoths + long, nor could I forever carry that bale of skins about upon + my head without arousing suspicion. However it seemed likely + that it would carry me once more safely through the crowded + passages and chambers of the upper levels, and so I set out + with Perry and Ghak—the stench of the illy cured pelts + fairly choking me.</p> + + <p>Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath + the main floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak halted + to await me. The buildings are cut out of the solid limestone + formation. There is nothing at all remarkable about their + architecture. The rooms are sometimes rectangular, sometimes + circular, and again oval in shape. The corridors which connect + them are narrow and not always straight. The chambers are + lighted by diffused sunlight reflected through tubes similar to + those by which the avenues are lighted. The lower the tiers of + chambers, the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely + unlighted. The Mahars can see quite well in semidarkness.</p> + + <p>Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, + and slaves; but no attention was paid to us as we had become a + part of the domestic life of the building. There was but a + single entrance leading from the place into the avenue and this + was well guarded by Sagoths—this doorway alone were we + forbidden to pass. It is true that we were not supposed to + enter the deeper corridors and apartments except on special + occasions when we were instructed to do so; but as we were + considered a lower order without intelligence there was little + reason to fear that we could accomplish any harm by so doing, + and so we were not hindered as we entered the corridor which + led below.</p> + + <p>Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, + and the arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. As many slaves + bore skin-wrapped burdens to and fro my load attracted no + comment. Where I left Ghak and Perry there were no other + creatures in sight, and so I withdrew one sword from the + package, and leaving the balance of the weapons with Perry, + started on alone toward the lower levels.</p> + + <p>Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept + I entered silently on tiptoe, forgetting that the creatures + were without the sense of hearing. With a quick thrust through + the heart I disposed of the first but my second thrust was not + so fortunate, so that before I could kill the next of my + victims it had hurled itself against the third, who sprang + quickly up, facing me with wide-distended jaws. But fighting is + not the occupation which the race of Mahars loves, and when the + thing saw that I already had dispatched two of its companions, + and that my sword was red with their blood, it made a dash to + escape me. But I was too quick for it, and so, half hopping, + half flying, it scurried down another corridor with me close + upon its heels.</p> + + <p>Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all + probability my instant death. This thought lent wings to my + feet; but even at my best I could do no more than hold my own + with the leaping thing before me.</p> + + <p>Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the + corridor, and an instant later as I rushed in I found myself + facing two of the Mahars. The one who had been there when we + entered had been occupied with a number of metal vessels, into + which had been put powders and liquids as I judged from the + array of flasks standing about upon the bench where it had been + working. In an instant I realized what I had stumbled upon. It + was the very room for the finding of which Perry had given me + minute directions. It was the buried chamber in which was + hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. And on the bench + beside the flasks lay the skin-bound book which held the only + copy of the thing I was to have sought, after dispatching the + three Mahars in their sleep.</p> + + <p>There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in + which I now stood facing the two frightful reptiles. Cornered, + I knew that they would fight like demons, and they were well + equipped to fight if fight they must. Together they launched + themselves upon me, and though I ran one of them through the + heart on the instant, the other fastened its gleaming fangs + about my sword arm above the elbow, and then with her sharp + talons commenced to rake me about the body, evidently intent + upon disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope that I + might release my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which + seemed to be severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered + was intense, but it only served to spur me to greater efforts + to overcome my antagonist.</p> + + <p>Back and forth across the floor we struggled—the Mahar + dealing me terrific, cutting blows with her fore feet, while I + attempted to protect my body with my left hand, at the same + time watching for an opportunity to transfer my blade from my + now useless sword hand to its rapidly weakening mate. At last I + was successful, and with what seemed to me my last ounce of + strength I ran the blade through the ugly body of my foe.</p> + + <p>Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from + pain and loss of blood, it was with an emotion of triumphant + pride that I stepped across its convulsively stiffening corpse + to snatch up the most potent secret of a world. A single glance + assured me it was the very thing that Perry had described to + me.</p> + + <p>And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the + human race of Pellucidar—did there flash through my mind + the thought that countless generations of my own kind yet + unborn would have reason to worship me for the thing that I had + accomplished for them? I did not. I thought of a beautiful oval + face, gazing out of limpid eyes, through a waving mass of + jet-black hair. I thought of red, red lips, God-made for + kissing. And of a sudden, apropos of nothing, standing there + alone in the secret chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, I + realized that I loved Dian the Beautiful.</p> + + <h2>XII</h2> + + <h3>PURSUIT</h3> + + <p>FOR AN INSTANT I STOOD THERE THINKING OF HER, and then, with + a sigh, I tucked the book in the thong that supported my loin + cloth, and turned to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the + corridor which leads aloft from the lower chambers I whistled + in accordance with the prearranged signal which was to announce + to Perry and Ghak that I had been successful. A moment later + they stood beside me, and to my surprise I saw that Hooja the + Sly One accompanied them.</p> + + <p>"He joined us," explained Perry, "and would not be denied. + The fellow is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than be + thwarted of our chance now I told him that I would bring him to + you, and let you decide whether he might accompany us."</p> + + <p>I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was + sure that if he thought it would profit him he would betray us; + but I saw no way out of it now, and the fact that I had killed + four Mahars instead of only the three I had expected to, made + it possible to include the fellow in our scheme of escape.</p> + + <p>"Very well," I said, "you may come with us, Hooja; but at + the first intimation of treachery I shall run my sword through + you. Do you understand?"</p> + + <p>He said that he did.</p> + + <p>Some time later we had removed the skins from the four + Mahars, and so succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves + that there seemed an excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed + from Phutra. It was not an easy thing to fasten the hides + together where we had split them along the belly to remove them + from their carcasses, but by remaining out until the others had + all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving an aperture in + the breast of Perry's skin through which he could pass his + hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design to + really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep + the heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and + by the same means were enabled to move them about in a + life-like manner. We had our greatest difficulty with the + webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, so that + when we moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes + punctured in the baggy throats into which our heads were thrust + permitted us to see well enough to guide our progress.</p> + + <p>Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. + Ghak headed the strange procession, then came Perry, followed + by Hooja, while I brought up the rear, after admonishing Hooja + that I had so arranged my sword that I could thrust it through + the head of my disguise into his vitals were he to show any + indication of faltering.</p> + + <p>As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were + entering the busy corridors of the main level, my heart came up + into my mouth. It is with no sense of shame that I admit that I + was frightened—never before in my life, nor since, did I + experience any such agony of soulsearing fear and suspense as + enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I sweat it + then.</p> + + <p>Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the + Mahars, when they are not using their wings, we crept through + throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. After what seemed + an eternity we reached the outer door which leads into the main + avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths loitered near the opening. They + glanced at Ghak as he padded between them. Then Perry passed, + and then Hooja. Now it was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of + freezing terror I realized that the warm blood from my wounded + arm was trickling down through the dead foot of the Mahar skin + I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement, for I + saw a Sagoth call a companion's attention to it.</p> + + <p>The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot + spoke to me in the sign language which these two races employ + as a means of communication. Even had I known what he was + saying I could not have replied with the dead thing that + covered me. I once had seen a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous + Sagoth with a look. It seemed my only hope, and so I tried it. + Stopping in my tracks I moved my sword so that it made the dead + head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the gorilla-man. For a + long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow with + those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started slowly on. + For a moment all hung in the balance, but before I touched him + the guard stepped to one side, and I passed on out into the + avenue.</p> + + <p>On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the + very numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. + Fortunately, there was a great concourse of Mahars repairing to + the shallow lake which lies a mile or more from the city. They + go there to indulge their amphibian proclivities in diving for + small fish, and enjoying the cool depths of the water. It is a + fresh-water lake, shallow, and free from the larger reptiles + which make the use of the great seas of Pellucidar impossible + for any but their own kind.</p> + + <p>In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out + onto the plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the stream + that was traveling toward the lake, but finally, at the bottom + of a little gully he halted, and there we remained until all + had passed and we were alone. Then, still in our disguises, we + set off directly away from Phutra.</p> + + <p>The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our + horrible prisons unbearable, so that after passing a low + divide, and entering a sheltering forest, we finally discarded + the Mahar skins that had brought us thus far in safety.</p> + + <p>I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and + galling flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we + dropped in our tracks. How we were beset by strange and + terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions + and tigers the size of which would dwarf into pitiful + insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world.</p> + + <p>On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance + between ourselves and Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us + to his own land—the land of Sari. No sign of pursuit had + developed, and yet we were sure that somewhere behind us + relentless Sagoths were dogging our tracks. Ghak said they + never failed to hunt down their quarry until they had captured + it or themselves been turned back by a superior force.</p> + + <p>Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was + quite strong enough in their mountain fastness to beat off any + number of Sagoths.</p> + + <p>At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, + have been years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment which + buttressed the foothills of Sari. At almost the same instant, + Hooja, who looked ever quite as much behind as before, + announced that he could see a body of men far behind us topping + a low ridge in our wake. It was the long-expected pursuit.</p> + + <p>I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape + them.</p> + + <p>"We may," he replied; "but you will find that the Sagoths + can move with incredible swiftness, and as they are almost + tireless they are doubtless much fresher than we. Then—" + he paused, glancing at Perry.</p> + + <p>I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of + the period of our flight either Ghak or I had half supported + him on the march. With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers + than the Sagoths might easily overtake us before we could scale + the rugged heights which confronted us.</p> + + <p>"You and Hooja go on ahead," I said. "Perry and I will make + it if we are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two, and + there is no reason why all should be lost because of that. It + can't be helped—we have simply to face it."</p> + + <p>"I will not desert a companion," was Ghak's simple reply. I + hadn't known that this great, hairy, primeval man had any such + nobility of character stowed away inside him. I had always + liked him, but now to my liking was added honor and respect. + Yes, and love.</p> + + <p>But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he + could reach his people he might be able to bring out a + sufficient force to drive off the Sagoths and rescue Perry and + myself.</p> + + <p>No, he wouldn't leave us, and that was all there was to it, + but he suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn the Sarians + of the king's danger. It didn't require much urging to start + Hooja—the naked idea was enough to send him leaping on + ahead of us into the foothills which we now had reached.</p> + + <p>Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak's life and mine + and the old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him, + although I knew that he was suffering a perfect anguish of + terror at the thought of falling into the hands of the Sagoths. + Ghak finally solved the problem, in part, by lifting Perry in + his powerful arms and carrying him. While the act cut down + Ghak's speed he still could travel faster thus than when half + supporting the stumbling old man.</p> + + <h2>XIII</h2> + + <h3>THE SLY ONE</h3> + + <p>THE SAGOTHS WERE GAINING ON US RAPIDLY, FOR once they had + sighted us they had greatly increased their speed. On and on we + stumbled up the narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach + the heights of Sari. On either side rose precipitous cliffs of + gorgeous, parti-colored rock, while beneath our feet a thick + mountain grass formed a soft and noiseless carpet. Since we had + entered the canyon we had had no glimpse of our pursuers, and I + was commencing to hope that they had lost our trail and that we + would reach the now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to scale + them before we should be overtaken.</p> + + <p>Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken + the success of Hooja's mission. By now he should have reached + the outposts of the Sarians, and we should at least hear the + savage cries of the tribesmen as they swarmed to arms in answer + to their king's appeal for succor. In another moment the + frowning cliffs ahead should be black with primeval warriors. + But nothing of the kind happened—as a matter of fact the + Sly One had betrayed us. At the moment that we expected to see + Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at Hooja's back, the + craven traitor was sneaking around the outskirts of the nearest + Sarian village, that he might come up from the other side when + it was too late to save us, claiming that he had become lost + among the mountains.</p> + + <p>Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow + I had struck in Dian's protection, and his malevolent spirit + was equal to sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon + me.</p> + + <p>As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing + Sarians appeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and + presently as the sound of rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon + our ears, he called to me over his shoulder that we were + lost.</p> + + <p>A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the + Sagoths at the far end of a considerable stretch of canyon + through which we had just passed, and then a sudden turning + shut the ugly creature from my view; but the loud howl of + triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence that the + gorilla-man had sighted us.</p> + + <p>Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the + right another branch ran on at a lesser deviation from the + general direction, so that appeared more like the main canyon + than the lefthand branch. The Sagoths were now not over two + hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I saw that it was + hopeless for us to expect to escape other than by a ruse. There + was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, and as I reached + the branching of the canyon I took the chance.</p> + + <p>Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into + sight. Ghak and Perry had disappeared around a bend in the + left-hand canyon, and as the Sagoth's savage yell announced + that he had seen me I turned and fled up the right-hand branch. + My ruse was successful, and the entire party of man-hunters + raced headlong after me up one canyon while Ghak bore Perry to + safety up the other.</p> + + <p>Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now + when my very life depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say + that I ran any better than on the occasions when my pitiful + base running had called down upon my head the rooter's raucous + and reproachful cries of "Ice Wagon," and "Call a cab."</p> + + <p>The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in + particular, fleeter than his fellows, who was perilously close. + The canyon had become a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep + angle toward what seemed a pass between two abutting peaks. + What lay beyond I could not even guess—possibly a sheer + drop of hundreds of feet into the corresponding valley upon the + other side. Could it be that I had plunged into a + cul-de-sac?</p> + + <p>Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths + to the top of the canyon I had determined to risk all in an + attempt to check them temporarily, and to this end had unslung + my rudely made bow and plucked an arrow from the skin quiver + which hung behind my shoulder. As I fitted the shaft with my + right hand I stopped and wheeled toward the gorilla-man.</p> + + <p>In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but + since our escape from Phutra I had kept the party supplied with + small game by means of my arrows, and so, through necessity, + had developed a fair degree of accuracy. During our flight from + Phutra I had restrung my bow with a piece of heavy gut taken + from a huge tiger which Ghak and I had worried and finally + dispatched with arrows, spear, and sword. The hard wood of the + bow was extremely tough and this, with the strength and + elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted confidence in my + weapon.</p> + + <p>Never had I greater need of steady nerves than + then—never were my nerves and muscles under better + control. I sighted as carefully and deliberately as though at a + straw target. The Sagoth had never before seen a bow and arrow, + but of a sudden it must have swept over his dull intellect that + the thing I held toward him was some sort of engine of + destruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously swinging + his hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods in which + they employ this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they + achieve, even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is + little short of miraculous.</p> + + <p>My shaft was drawn back its full length—my eye had + centered its sharp point upon the left breast of my adversary; + and then he launched his hatchet and I released my arrow. At + the instant that our missiles flew I leaped to one side, but + the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his attack with a spear + thrust. I felt the swish of the hatchet at it grazed my head, + and at the same instant my shaft pierced the Sagoth's savage + heart, and with a single groan he lunged almost at my + feet—stone dead. Close behind him were two + more—fifty yards perhaps—but the distance gave me + time to snatch up the dead guardsman's shield, for the close + call his hatchet had just given me had borne in upon me the + urgent need I had for one. Those which I had purloined at + Phutra we had not been able to bring along because their size + precluded our concealing them within the skins of the Mahars + which had brought us safely from the city.</p> + + <p>With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly + with another arrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, and + then as his fellow's hatchet sped toward me I caught it upon + the shield, and fitted another shaft for him; but he did not + wait to receive it. Instead, he turned and retreated toward the + main body of gorilla-men. Evidently he had seen enough of me + for the moment.</p> + + <p>Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths + apparently overanxious to press their pursuit so closely as + before. Unmolested I reached the top of the canyon where I + found a sheer drop of two or three hundred feet to the bottom + of a rocky chasm; but on the left a narrow ledge rounded the + shoulder of the overhanging cliff. Along this I advanced, and + at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond the canyon's end, the + path widened, and at my left I saw the opening to a large cave. + Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight about + another projecting buttress of the mountain.</p> + + <p>Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman + could advance upon me at a time, nor could he know that I was + awaiting him until he came full upon me around the corner of + the turn. About me lay scattered stones crumbled from the cliff + above. They were of various sizes and shapes, but enough were + of handy dimensions for use as ammunition in lieu of my + precious arrows. Gathering a number of stones into a little + pile beside the mouth of the cave I waited the advance of the + Sagoths.</p> + + <p>As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first + faint sound that should announce the approach of my enemies, a + slight noise from within the cave's black depths attracted my + attention. It might have been produced by the moving of the + great body of some huge beast rising from the rock floor of its + lair. At almost the same instant I thought that I caught the + scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond the turn. For + the next few seconds my attention was considerably divided.</p> + + <p>And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two + flaming eyes glaring into mine. They were on a level that was + over two feet above my head. It is true that the beast who + owned them might be standing upon a ledge within the cave, or + that it might be rearing up upon its hind legs; but I had seen + enough of the monsters of Pellucidar to know that I might be + facing some new and frightful Titan whose dimensions and + ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen before.</p> + + <p>Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of + the cave, and now, deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and + ominous growl. I waited no longer to dispute possession of the + ledge with the thing which owned that voice. The noise had not + been loud—I doubt if the Sagoths heard it at + all—but the suggestion of latent possibilities behind it + was such that I knew it would only emanate from a gigantic and + ferocious beast.</p> + + <p>As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the + cave, where I no longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, + but an instant later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a + Sagoth as it warily advanced beyond the cliff's turn on the far + side of the cave's mouth. As the fellow saw me he leaped along + the ledge in pursuit, and after him came as many of his + companions as could crowd upon each other's heels. At the same + time the beast emerged from the cave, so that he and the + Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge.</p> + + <p>The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal + bulk fully eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip of + its nose to the end of its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet + in length. As it sighted the Sagoths it emitted a most + frightful roar, and with open mouth charged full upon them. + With a cry of terror the foremost gorilla-man turned to escape, + but behind him he ran full upon his on-rushing companions.</p> + + <p>The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The + Sagoth nearest the cave bear, finding his escape blocked, + turned and leaped deliberately to an awful death upon the + jagged rocks three hundred feet below. Then those giant jaws + reached out and gathered in the next—there was a + sickening sound of crushing bones, and the mangled corpse was + dropped over the cliff's edge. Nor did the mighty beast even + pause in his steady advance along the ledge.</p> + + <p>Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice + to escape him, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still + pursuing the demoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long + time I could hear the horrid roaring of the brute intermingled + with the screams and shrieks of his victims, until finally the + awful sounds dwindled and disappeared in the distance.</p> + + <p>Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his + tribesmen and returned with a party to rescue me, that the + ryth, as it is called, pursued the Sagoths until it had + exterminated the entire band. Ghak was, of course, positive + that I had fallen prey to the terrible creature, which, within + Pellucidar, is truly the king of beasts.</p> + + <p>Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might + fall prey either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on + along the ledge, believing that by following around the + mountain I could reach the land of Sari from another direction. + But I evidently became confused by the twisting and turning of + the canyons and gullies, for I did not come to the land of Sari + then, nor for a long time thereafter.</p> + + <h2>XIV</h2> + + <h3>THE GARDEN OF EDEN</h3> + + <p>WITH NO HEAVENLY GUIDE, IT IS LITTLE WONDER that I became + confused and lost in the labyrinthine maze of those mighty + hills. What, in reality, I did was to pass entirely through + them and come out above the valley upon the farther side. I + know that I wandered for a long time, until tired and hungry I + came upon a small cave in the face of the limestone formation + which had taken the place of the granite farther back.</p> + + <p>The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous + side of a lofty cliff. The way to it was such that I knew no + extremely formidable beast could frequent it, nor was it large + enough to make a comfortable habitat for any but the smaller + mammals or reptiles. Yet it was with the utmost caution that I + crawled within its dark interior.</p> + + <p>Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow + cleft in the rock above which let the sunlight filter in in + sufficient quantities partially to dispel the utter darkness + which I had expected. The cave was entirely empty, nor were + there any signs of its having been recently occupied. The + opening was comparatively small, so that after considerable + effort I was able to lug up a bowlder from the valley below + which entirely blocked it.</p> + + <p>Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses + and on this trip was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, + the diminutive horse of Pellucidar, a little animal about the + size of a fox terrier, which abounds in all parts of the inner + world. Thus, with food and bedding I returned to my lair, where + after a meal of raw meat, to which I had now become quite + accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the entrance and + curled myself upon a bed of grasses—a naked, primeval, + cave man, as savagely primitive as my prehistoric + progenitors.</p> + + <p>I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside + crawled out upon the little rocky shelf which was my front + porch. Before me spread a small but beautiful valley, through + the center of which a clear and sparkling river wound its way + down to an inland sea, the blue waters of which were just + visible between the two mountain ranges which embraced this + little paradise. The sides of the opposite hills were green + with verdure, for a great forest clothed them to the foot of + the red and yellow and copper green of the towering crags which + formed their summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a + luxuriant grass, while here and there patches of wild flowers + made great splashes of vivid color against the prevailing + green.</p> + + <p>Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of + palmlike trees—three or four together as a rule. Beneath + these stood antelope, while others grazed in the open, or + wandered gracefully to a near-by ford to drink. There were + several species of this beautiful animal, the most magnificent + somewhat resembling the giant eland of Africa, except that + their spiral horns form a complete curve backward over their + ears and then forward again beneath them, ending in sharp and + formidable points some two feet before the face and above the + eyes. In size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet + they are very agile and fast. The broad yellow bands that + stripe the dark roan of their coats made me take them for zebra + when I first saw them. All in all they are handsome animals, + and added the finishing touch to the strange and lovely + landscape that spread before my new home.</p> + + <p>I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with + it as a base make a systematic exploration of the surrounding + country in search of the land of Sari. First I devoured the + remainder of the carcass of the orthopi I had killed before my + last sleep. Then I hid the Great Secret in a deep niche at the + back of my cave, rolled the bowlder before my front door, and + with bow, arrows, sword, and shield scrambled down into the + peaceful valley.</p> + + <p>The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through + them, the little orthopi evincing the greatest wariness and + galloping to safest distances. All the animals stopped feeding + as I approached, and after moving to what they considered a + safe distance stood contemplating me with serious eyes and + up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bull antelopes of the + striped species lowered his head and bellowed + angrily—even taking a few steps in my direction, so that + I thought he meant to charge; but after I had passed, he + resumed feeding as though nothing had disturbed him.</p> + + <p>Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of + tapirs, and across the river saw a great sadok, the enormous + double-horned progenitor of the modern rhinoceros. At the + valley's end the cliffs upon the left ran out into the sea, so + that to pass around them as I desired to do it was necessary to + scale them in search of a ledge along which I might continue my + journey. Some fifty feet from the base I came upon a projection + which formed a natural path along the face of the cliff, and + this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff's end.</p> + + <p>Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the + cliffs—the stratum which formed it evidently having been + forced up at this steep angle when the mountains behind it were + born. As I climbed carefully up the ascent my attention + suddenly was attracted aloft by the sound of strange hissing, + and what resembled the flapping of wings.</p> + + <p>And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision + the most frightful thing I had seen even within Pellucidar. It + was a giant dragon such as is pictured in the legends and fairy + tales of earth folk. Its huge body must have measured forty + feet in length, while the batlike wings that supported it in + midair had a spread of fully thirty. Its gaping jaws were armed + with long, sharp teeth, and its claw equipped with horrible + talons.</p> + + <p>The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was + issuing from its throat, and seemed to be directed at something + beyond and below me which I could not see. The ledge upon which + I stood terminated abruptly a few paces farther on, and as I + reached the end I saw the cause of the reptile's agitation.</p> + + <p>Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at + this point, so that beyond the spot where I stood the strata + had slipped down a matter of twenty feet. The result was that + the continuation of my ledge lay twenty feet below me, where it + ended as abruptly as did the end upon which I stood.</p> + + <p>And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable + break in the ledge, stood the object of the creature's + attack—a girl cowering upon the narrow platform, her face + buried in her arms, as though to shut out the sight of the + frightful death which hovered just above her.</p> + + <p>The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in + upon its prey. There was no time to be lost, scarce an instant + in which to weigh the possible chances that I had against the + awfully armed creature; but the sight of that frightened girl + below me called out to all that was best in me, and the + instinct for protection of the other sex, which nearly must + have equaled the instinct of self-preservation in primeval man, + drew me to the girl's side like an irresistible magnet.</p> + + <p>Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the + end of the ledge upon which I stood, for the tiny shelf twenty + feet below. At the same instant the dragon darted in toward the + girl, but my sudden advent upon the scene must have startled + him for he veered to one side, and then rose above us once + more.</p> + + <p>The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl + that the end had come, for she thought I was the dragon; but + finally when no cruel fangs closed upon her she raised her eyes + in astonishment. As they fell upon me the expression that came + into them would be difficult to describe; but her feelings + could scarcely have been one whit more complicated than my + own—for the wide eyes that looked into mine were those of + Dian the Beautiful.</p> + + <p>"Dian!" I cried. "Dian! Thank God that I came in time."</p> + + <p>"You?" she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor + could I tell whether she were glad or angry that I had + come.</p> + + <p>Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly + that I had no time to unsling my bow. All that I could do was + to snatch up a rock, and hurl it at the thing's hideous face. + Again my aim was true, and with a hiss of pain and rage the + reptile wheeled once more and soared away.</p> + + <p>Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the + next attack, and as I did so I looked down at the girl, so that + I surprised her in a surreptitious glance which she was + stealing at me; but immediately, she again covered her face + with her hands.</p> + + <p>"Look at me, Dian," I pleaded. "Are you not glad to see + me?"</p> + + <p>She looked straight into my eyes.</p> + + <p>"I hate you," she said, and then, as I was about to beg for + a fair hearing she pointed over my shoulder. "The thipdar + comes," she said, and I turned again to meet the reptile.</p> + + <p>So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel + bloodhound of the Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactyl of the + outer world. But this time I met it with a weapon it never had + faced before. I had selected my longest arrow, and with all my + strength had bent the bow until the very tip of the shaft + rested upon the thumb of my left hand, and then as the great + creature darted toward us I let drive straight for that tough + breast.</p> + + <p>Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty + creature fell turning and twisting into the sea below, my arrow + buried completely in its carcass. I turned toward the girl. She + was looking past me. It was evident that she had seen the + thipdar die.</p> + + <p>"Dian," I said, "won't you tell me that you are not sorry + that I have found you?"</p> + + <p>"I hate you," was her only reply; but I imagined that there + was less vehemence in it than before—yet it might have + been but my imagination.</p> + + <p>"Why do you hate me, Dian?" I asked, but she did not answer + me.</p> + + <p>"What are you doing here?" I asked, "and what has happened + to you since Hooja freed you from the Sagoths?"</p> + + <p>At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, + but finally she thought better of it.</p> + + <p>"I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she + said. "After I escaped from the Sagoths I made my way alone + back to my own land; but on account of Jubal I did not dare + enter the villages or let any of my friends know that I had + returned for fear that Jubal might find out. By watching for a + long time I found that my brother had not yet returned, and so + I continued to live in a cave beside a valley which my race + seldom frequents, awaiting the time that he should come back + and free me from Jubal.</p> + + <p>"But at last one of Jubal's hunters saw me as I was creeping + toward my father's cave to see if my brother had yet returned + and he gave the alarm and Jubal set out after me. He has been + pursuing me across many lands. He cannot be far behind me now. + When he comes he will kill you and carry me back to his cave. + He is a terrible man. I have gone as far as I can go, and there + is no escape," and she looked hopelessly up at the continuation + of the ledge twenty feet above us.</p> + + <p>"But he shall not have me," she suddenly cried, with great + vehemence. "The sea is there"—she pointed over the edge + of the cliff—"and the sea shall have me rather than + Jubal."</p> + + <p>"But I have you now Dian," I cried; "nor shall Jubal, nor + any other have you, for you are mine," and I seized her hand, + nor did I lift it above her head and let it fall in token of + release.</p> + + <p>She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my + eyes with level gaze.</p> + + <p>"I do not believe you," she said, "for if you meant it you + would have done this when the others were present to witness + it—then I should truly have been your mate; now there is + no one to see you do it, for you know that without witnesses + your act does not bind you to me," and she withdrew her hand + from mine and turned away.</p> + + <p>I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply + couldn't forget the humiliation that I had put upon her on that + other occasion.</p> + + <p>"If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to + prove it," she said, "if Jubal does not catch and kill you. I + am in your power, and the treatment you accord me will be the + best proof of your intentions toward me. I am not your mate, + and again I tell you that I hate you, and that I should be glad + if I never saw you again."</p> + + <p>Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In + fact I found candor and directness to be quite a marked + characteristic of the cave men of Pellucidar. Finally I + suggested that we make some attempt to gain my cave, where we + might escape the searching Jubal, for I am free to admit that I + had no considerable desire to meet the formidable and ferocious + creature, of whose mighty prowess Dian had told me when I first + met her. He it was who, armed with a puny knife, had met and + killed a cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was Jubal who + could cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass of + the sadok at fifty paces. It was he who had crushed the skull + of a charging dyryth with a single blow of his war club. No, I + was not pining to meet the Ugly One-and it was quite certain + that I should not go out and hunt for him; but the matter was + taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often the way, and I + did meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face.</p> + + <p>This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge + the way she had come, searching for a path that would lead us + to the top of the cliff, for I knew that we could then cross + over to the edge of my own little valley, where I felt certain + we should find a means of ingress from the cliff top. As we + proceeded along the ledge I gave Dian minute directions for + finding my cave against the chance of something happening to + me. I knew that she would be quite safely hidden away from + pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, and the valley + would afford her ample means of sustenance.</p> + + <p>Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My + heart was sad and heavy, and I wanted to make her feel badly by + suggesting that something terrible might happen to + me—that I might, in fact, be killed. But it didn't work + worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive. Dian simply + shrugged those magnificent shoulders of hers, and murmured + something to the effect that one was not rid of trouble so + easily as that.</p> + + <p>For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to + think that I had twice protected her from attack—the last + time risking my life to save hers. It was incredible that even + a daughter of the Stone Age could be so ungrateful—so + heartless; but maybe her heart partook of the qualities of her + epoch.</p> + + <p>Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been + widened and extended by the action of the water draining + through it from the plateau above. It gave us a rather rough + climb to the summit, but finally we stood upon the level mesa + which stretched back for several miles to the mountain range. + Behind us lay the broad inland sea, curving upward in the + horizonless distance to merge into the blue of the sky, so that + for all the world it looked as though the sea lapped back to + arch completely over us and disappear beyond the distant + mountains at our backs—the weird and uncanny aspect of + the seascapes of Pellucidar balk description.</p> + + <p>At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country + was open and clear to the plateau's farther verge. It was in + this direction that our way led, and we had turned to resume + our journey when Dian touched my arm. I turned to her, thinking + that she was about to make peace overtures; but I was + mistaken.</p> + + <p>"Jubal," she said, and nodded toward the forest.</p> + + <p>I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a + perfect whale of a man. He must have been seven feet tall, and + proportioned accordingly. He still was too far off to + distinguish his features.</p> + + <p>"Run," I said to Dian. "I can engage him until you get a + good start. Maybe I can hold him until you have gotten entirely + away," and then, without a backward glance, I advanced to meet + the Ugly One. I had hoped that Dian would have a kind word to + say to me before she went, for she must have known that I was + going to my death for her sake; but she never even so much as + bid me good-bye, and it was with a heavy heart that I strode + through the flower-bespangled grass to my doom.</p> + + <p>When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his + features I understood how it was that he had earned the + sobriquet of Ugly One. Apparently some fearful beast had ripped + away one entire side of his face. The eye was gone, the nose, + and all the flesh, so that his jaws and all his teeth were + exposed and grinning through the horrible scar.</p> + + <p>Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others + of his handsome race, and it may be that the terrible result of + this encounter had tended to sour an already strong and brutal + character. However this may be it is quite certain that he was + not a pretty sight, and now that his features, or what remained + of them, were distorted in rage at the sight of Dian with + another male, he was indeed most terrible to see—and much + more terrible to meet.</p> + + <p>He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised + his mighty spear, while I halted and fitting an arrow to my bow + took as steady aim as I could. I was somewhat longer than + usual, for I must confess that the sight of this awful man had + wrought upon my nerves to such an extent that my knees were + anything but steady. What chance had I against this mighty + warrior for whom even the fiercest cave bear had no terrors! + Could I hope to best one who slaughtered the sadok and dyryth + singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself, my fear + was more for Dian than for my own fate.</p> + + <p>And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tipped + spear, and I raised my shield to break the force of its + terrific velocity. The impact hurled me to my knees, but the + shield had deflected the missile and I was unscathed. Jubal was + rushing upon me now with the only remaining weapon that he + carried—a murderous-looking knife. He was too close for a + careful bowshot, but I let drive at him as he came, without + taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part of his thigh, + inflicting a painful but not disabling wound. And then he was + upon me.</p> + + <p>My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his + raised arm, and when he wheeled to come at me again he found a + sword's point in his face. And a moment later he felt an inch + or two of it in the muscles of his knife arm, so that + thereafter he went more warily.</p> + + <p>It was a duel of strategy now—the great, hairy man + maneuvering to get inside my guard where he could bring those + giant thews to play, while my wits were directed to the task of + keeping him at arm's length. Thrice he rushed me, and thrice I + caught his knife blow upon my shield. Each time my sword found + his body—once penetrating to his lung. He was covered + with blood by this time, and the internal hemorrhage induced + paroxysms of coughing that brought the red stream through the + hideous mouth and nose, covering his face and breast with + bloody froth. He was a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far + from dead.</p> + + <p>As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be + perfectly candid, I had not expected to survive the first rush + of that monstrous engine of ungoverned rage and hatred. And I + think that Jubal, from utter contempt of me, began to change to + a feeling of respect, and then in his primitive mind there + evidently loomed the thought that perhaps at last he had met + his master, and was facing his end.</p> + + <p>At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can + account for his next act, which was in the nature of a last + resort—a sort of forlorn hope, which could only have been + born of the belief that if he did not kill me quickly I should + kill him. It happened on the occasion of his fourth charge, + when, instead of striking at me with his knife, he dropped that + weapon, and seizing my sword blade in both his hands wrenched + the weapon from my grasp as easily as from a babe.</p> + + <p>Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an + instant glaring into my face with such a horrid leer of + malignant triumph as to almost unnerve me—then he sprang + for me with his bare hands. But it was Jubal's day to learn new + methods of warfare. For the first time he had seen a bow and + arrows, never before that duel had he beheld a sword, and now + he learned what a man who knows may do with his bare fists.</p> + + <p>As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath + his outstretched arm, and as I came up planted as clean a blow + upon his jaw as ever you have seen. Down went that great + mountain of flesh sprawling upon the ground. He was so + surprised and dazed that he lay there for several seconds + before he made any attempt to rise, and I stood over him with + another dose ready when he should gain his knees.</p> + + <p>Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and + mortification; but he didn't stay up—I let him have a + left fair on the point of the jaw that sent him tumbling over + on his back. By this time I think Jubal had gone mad with hate, + for no sane man would have come back for more as many times as + he did. Time after time I bowled him over as fast as he could + stagger up, until toward the last he lay longer on the ground + between blows, and each time came up weaker than before.</p> + + <p>He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his + lungs, and presently a terrific blow over the heart sent him + reeling heavily to the ground, where he lay very still, and + somehow I knew at once that Jubal the Ugly One would never get + up again. But even as I looked upon that massive body lying + there so grim and terrible in death, I could not believe that + I, single-handed, had bested this slayer of fearful + beasts—this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age.</p> + + <p>Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the + dead body of my foeman, and as I thought of the battle I had + just fought and won a great idea was born in my brain—the + outcome of this and the suggestion that Perry had made within + the city of Phutra. If skill and science could render a + comparative pygmy the master of this mighty brute, what could + not the brute's fellows accomplish with the same skill and + science. Why all Pellucidar would be at their feet—and I + would be their king and Dian their queen.</p> + + <p>Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite + within the possibilities of Dian to look down upon me even were + I king. She was quite the most superior person I ever had + met—with the most convincing way of letting you know that + she was superior. Well, I could go to the cave, and tell her + that I had killed Jubal, and then she might feel more kindly + toward me, since I had freed her of her tormentor. I hoped that + she had found the cave easily—it would be terrible had I + lost her again, and I turned to gather up my shield and bow to + hurry after her, when to my astonishment I found her standing + not ten paces behind me.</p> + + <p>"Girl!" I cried, "what are you doing here? I thought that + you had gone to the cave, as I told you to do."</p> + + <p>Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the + majesty out of me, and left me feeling more like the palace + janitor—if palaces have janitors.</p> + + <p>"As you told me to do!" she cried, stamping her little foot. + "I do as I please. I am the daughter of a king, and + furthermore, I hate you."</p> + + <p>I was dumbfounded—this was my thanks for saving her + from Jubal! I turned and looked at the corpse. "May be that I + saved you from a worse fate, old man," I said, but I guess it + was lost on Dian, for she never seemed to notice it at all.</p> + + <p>"Let us go to my cave," I said, "I am tired and hungry."</p> + + <p>She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. + I was too angry, and she evidently didn't care to converse with + the lower orders. I was mad all the way through, as I had + certainly felt that at least a word of thanks should have + rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own standards, I must + have done a very wonderful thing to have killed the redoubtable + Jubal in a hand-to-hand encounter.</p> + + <p>We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went + down into the valley and bowled over a small antelope, which I + dragged up the steep ascent to the ledge before the door. Here + we ate in silence. Occasionally I glanced at her, thinking that + the sight of her tearing at raw flesh with her hands and teeth + like some wild animal would cause a revulsion of my sentiments + toward her; but to my surprise I found that she ate quite as + daintily as the most civilized woman of my acquaintance, and + finally I found myself gazing in foolish rapture at the + beauties of her strong, white teeth. Such is love.</p> + + <p>After our repast we went down to the river together and + bathed our hands and faces, and then after drinking our fill + went back to the cave. Without a word I crawled into the + farthest corner and, curling up, was soon asleep.</p> + + <p>When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out + across the valley. As I came out she moved to one side to let + me pass, but she had no word for me. I wanted to hate her, but + I couldn't. Every time I looked at her something came up in my + throat, so that I nearly choked. I had never been in love + before, but I did not need any aid in diagnosing my + case—I certainly had it and had it bad. God, how I loved + that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl!</p> + + <p>After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended + returning to her tribe now that Jubal was dead, but she shook + her head sadly, and said that she did not dare, for there was + still Jubal's brother to be considered—his oldest + brother.</p> + + <p>"What has he to do with it?" I asked. "Does he too want you, + or has the option on you become a family heirloom, to be passed + on down from generation to generation?"</p> + + <p>She was not quite sure as to what I meant.</p> + + <p>"It is probable," she said, "that they all will want revenge + for the death of Jubal—there are seven of + them—seven terrible men. Someone may have to kill them + all, if I am to return to my people."</p> + + <p>It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too + large for me—about seven sizes, in fact.</p> + + <p>"Had Jubal any cousins?" I asked. It was just as well to + know the worst at once.</p> + + <p>"Yes," replied Dian, "but they don't count—they all + have mates. Jubal's brothers have no mates because Jubal could + get none for himself. He was so ugly that women ran away from + him—some have even thrown themselves from the cliffs of + Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the Ugly One."</p> + + <p>"But what had that to do with his brothers?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"I forget that you are not of Pellucidar," said Dian, with a + look of pity mixed with contempt, and the contempt seemed to be + laid on a little thicker than the circumstance + warranted—as though to make quite certain that I + shouldn't overlook it. "You see," she continued, "a younger + brother may not take a mate until all his older brothers have + done so, unless the older brother waives his prerogative, which + Jubal would not do, knowing that as long as he kept them single + they would be all the keener in aiding him to secure a + mate."</p> + + <p>Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began + to entertain hopes that she might be warming up toward me a + bit, although upon what slender thread I hung my hopes I soon + discovered.</p> + + <p>"As you dare not return to Amoz," I ventured, "what is to + become of you since you cannot be happy here with me, hating me + as you do?"</p> + + <p>"I shall have to put up with you," she replied coldly, + "until you see fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace, then + I shall get along very well alone."</p> + + <p>I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible + that even a prehistoric woman could be so cold and heartless + and ungrateful. Then I arose.</p> + + <p>"I shall leave you NOW," I said haughtily, "I have had quite + enough of your ingratitude and your insults," and then I turned + and strode majestically down toward the valley. I had taken a + hundred steps in absolute silence, and then Dian spoke.</p> + + <p>"I hate you!" she shouted, and her voice broke—in + rage, I thought.</p> + + <p>I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn't gone too far when I + began to realize that I couldn't leave her alone there without + protection, to hunt her own food amid the dangers of that + savage world. She might hate me, and revile me, and heap + indignity after indignity upon me, as she already had, until I + should have hated her; but the pitiful fact remained that I + loved her, and I couldn't leave her there alone.</p> + + <p>The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the + time I reached the valley I was furious, and the result of it + was that I turned right around and went up that cliff again as + fast as I had come down. I saw that Dian had left the ledge and + gone within the cave, but I bolted right in after her. She was + lying upon her face on the pile of grasses I had gathered for + her bed. When she heard me enter she sprang to her feet like a + tigress.</p> + + <p>"I hate you!" she cried.</p> + + <p>Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the + semidarkness of the cave I could not see her features, and I + was rather glad, for I disliked to think of the hate that I + should have read there.</p> + + <p>I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across + the cave and grasped her by the wrists, and when she struggled, + I put my arm around her so as to pinion her hands to her sides. + She fought like a tigress, but I took my free hand and pushed + her head back—I imagine that I had suddenly turned brute, + that I had gone back a thousand million years, and was again a + veritable cave man taking my mate by force—and then I + kissed that beautiful mouth again and again.</p> + + <p>"Dian," I cried, shaking her roughly, "I love you. Can't you + understand that I love you? That I love you better than all + else in this world or my own? That I am going to have you? That + love like mine cannot be denied?"</p> + + <p>I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my + eyes became accustomed to the light I saw that she was + smiling—a very contented, happy smile. I was + thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, she was + trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened my grip upon them + so that she could do so. Slowly they came up and stole about my + neck, and then she drew my lips down to hers once more and held + them there for a long time. At last she spoke.</p> + + <p>"Why didn't you do this at first, David? I have been waiting + so long."</p> + + <p>"What!" I cried. "You said that you hated me!"</p> + + <p>"Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I + loved you before I knew that you loved me?" she asked.</p> + + <p>"But I have told you right along that I love you," I said. + "Love speaks in acts," she replied. "You could have made your + mouth say what you wished it to say, but just now when you came + and took me in your arms your heart spoke to mine in the + language that a woman's heart understands. What a silly man you + are, David?"</p> + + <p>"Then you haven't hated me at all, Dian?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"I have loved you always," she whispered, "from the first + moment that I saw you, although I did not know it until that + time you struck down Hooja the Sly One, and then spurned + me."</p> + + <p>"But I didn't spurn you, dear," I cried. "I didn't know your + ways—I doubt if I do now. It seems incredible that you + could have reviled me so, and yet have cared for me all the + time."</p> + + <p>"You might have known," she said, "when I did not run away + from you that it was not hate which chained me to you. While + you were battling with Jubal, I could have run to the edge of + the forest, and when I learned the outcome of the combat it + would have been a simple thing to have eluded you and returned + to my own people."</p> + + <p>"But Jubal's brothers—and cousins—" I reminded + her, "how about them?"</p> + + <p>She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder.</p> + + <p>"I had to tell you SOMETHING, David," she whispered. "I must + needs have SOME excuse for remaining near you."</p> + + <p>"You little sinner!" I exclaimed. "And you have caused me + all this anguish for nothing!"</p> + + <p>"I have suffered even more," she answered simply, "for I + thought that you did not love me, and I was helpless. I + couldn't come to you and demand that my love be returned, as + you have just come to me. Just now when you went away hope went + with you. I was wretched, terrified, miserable, and my heart + was breaking. I wept, and I have not done that before since my + mother died," and now I saw that there was the moisture of + tears about her eyes. It was near to making me cry myself when + I thought of all that poor child had been through. Motherless + and unprotected; hunted across a savage, primeval world by that + hideous brute of a man; exposed to the attacks of the countless + fearsome denizens of its mountains, its plains, and its + jungles—it was a miracle that she had survived it + all.</p> + + <p>To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears + must have endured that the human race of the outer crust might + survive. It made me very proud to think that I had won the love + of such a woman. Of course she couldn't read or write; there + was nothing cultured or refined about her as you judge culture + and refinement; but she was the essence of all that is best in + woman, for she was good, and brave, and noble, and virtuous. + And she was all these things in spite of the fact that their + observance entailed suffering and danger and possible + death.</p> + + <p>How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in + the first place! She would have been his lawful mate. She would + have been queen in her own land—and it meant just as much + to the cave woman to be a queen in the Stone Age as it does to + the woman of today to be a queen now; it's all comparative + glory any way you look at it, and if there were only half-naked + savages on the outer crust today, you'd find that it would be + considerable glory to be the wife a Dahomey chief.</p> + + <p>I couldn't help but compare Dian's action with that of a + splendid young woman I had known in New York—I mean + splendid to look at and to talk to. She had been head over + heels in love with a chum of mine—a clean, manly + chap—but she had married a broken-down, disreputable old + debauchee because he was a count in some dinky little European + principality that was not even accorded a distinctive color by + Rand McNally.</p> + + <p>Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian.</p> + + <p>After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was + anxious to see Perry, and to know that all was right with him. + I had told Dian about our plan of emancipating the human race + of Pellucidar, and she was fairly wild over it. She said that + if Dacor, her brother, would only return he could easily be + king of Amoz, and that then he and Ghak could form an alliance. + That would give us a flying start, for the Sarians and the + Amozites were both very powerful tribes. Once they had been + armed with swords, and bows and arrows, and trained in their + use we were confident that they could overcome any tribe that + seemed disinclined to join the great army of federated states + with which we were planning to march upon the Mahars.</p> + + <p>I explained the various destructive engines of war which + Perry and I could construct after a little + experimentation—gunpowder, rifles, cannon, and the like, + and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms about my + neck, and tell me what a wonderful thing I was. She was + beginning to think that I was omnipotent although I really + hadn't done anything but talk—but that is the way with + women when they love. Perry used to say that if a fellow was + one-tenth as remarkable as his wife or mother thought him, he + would have the world by the tail with a down-hill drag.</p> + + <p>The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of + poisonous vipers before we reached the valley. A little fellow + stung me on the ankle, and Dian made me come back to the cave. + She said that I mustn't exercise, or it might prove + fatal—if it had been a full-grown snake that struck me + she said, I wouldn't have moved a single pace from the + nest—I'd have died in my tracks, so virulent is the + poison. As it was I must have been laid up for quite a while, + though Dian's poultices of herbs and leaves finally reduced the + swelling and drew out the poison.</p> + + <p>The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an + idea which added a thousand-fold to the value of my arrows as + missiles of offense and defense. As soon as I was able to be + about again, I sought out some adult vipers of the species + which had stung me, and having killed them, I extracted their + virus, smearing it upon the tips of several arrows. Later I + shot a hyaenodon with one of these, and though my arrow + inflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beast crumpled in + death almost immediately after he was hit.</p> + + <p>We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it + was with feelings of sincere regret that we bade good-bye to + our beautiful Garden of Eden, in the comparative peace and + harmony of which we had lived the happiest moments of our + lives. How long we had been there I did not know, for as I have + told you, time had ceased to exist for me beneath that eternal + noonday sun—it may have been an hour, or a month of + earthly time; I do not know.</p> + + <h2>XV</h2> + + <h3>BACK TO EARTH</h3> + + <p>WE CROSSED THE RIVER AND PASSED THROUGH THE mountains + beyond, and finally we came out upon a great level plain which + stretched away as far as the eye could reach. I cannot tell you + in what direction it stretched even if you would care to know, + for all the while that I was within Pellucidar I never + discovered any but local methods of indicating + direction—there is no north, no south, no east, no west. + UP is about the only direction which is well defined, and that, + of course, is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun + neither rises nor sets there is no method of indicating + direction beyond visible objects such as high mountains, + forests, lakes, and seas.</p> + + <p>The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the + Darel Az upon the shore nearest the Mountains of the Clouds is + about as near to any direction as any Pellucidarian can come. + If you happen not to have heard of the Darel Az, or the white + cliffs, or the Mountains of the Clouds you feel that there is + something lacking, and long for the good old understandable + northeast and southwest of the outer world.</p> + + <p>We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two + enormous animals approaching us from a great distance. So far + were they that we could not distinguish what manner of beasts + they might be, but as they came closer, I saw that they were + enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a hundred feet long, with tiny + heads perched at the top of very long necks. Their heads must + have been quite forty feet from the ground. The beasts moved + very slowly—that is their action was slow—but their + strides covered such a great distance that in reality they + traveled considerably faster than a man walks.</p> + + <p>As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back + of each sat a human being. Then Dian knew what they were, + though she never before had seen one.</p> + + <p>"They are lidis from the land of the Thorians," she cried. + "Thoria lies at the outer verge of the Land of Awful Shadow. + The Thorians alone of all the races of Pellucidar ride the + lidi, for nowhere else than beside the dark country are they + found."</p> + + <p>"What is the Land of Awful Shadow?" I asked.</p> + + <p>"It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World," replied + Dian; "the Dead World which hangs forever between the sun and + Pellucidar above the Land of Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World + which makes the great shadow upon this portion of + Pellucidar."</p> + + <p>I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure + that I do yet, for I have never been to that part of Pellucidar + from which the Dead World is visible; but Perry says that it is + the moon of Pellucidar—a tiny planet within a + planet—and that it revolves around the earth's axis + coincidently with the earth, and thus is always above the same + spot within Pellucidar.</p> + + <p>I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him + about this Dead World, for he seemed to think that it explained + the hitherto inexplicable phenomena of nutation and the + precession of the equinoxes.</p> + + <p>When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we + saw that one was a man and the other a woman. The former had + held up his two hands, palms toward us, in sign of peace, and I + had answered him in kind, when he suddenly gave a cry of + astonishment and pleasure, and slipping from his enormous mount + ran forward toward Dian, throwing his arms about her.</p> + + <p>In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an + instant; since Dian quickly drew the man toward me, telling him + that I was David, her mate.</p> + + <p>"And this is my brother, Dacor the Strong One, David," she + said to me.</p> + + <p>It appeared that the woman was Dacor's mate. He had found + none to his liking among the Sari, nor farther on until he had + come to the land of the Thoria, and there he had found and + fought for this very lovely Thorian maiden whom he was bringing + back to his own people.</p> + + <p>When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to + accompany us to Sari, that Dacor and Ghak might come to an + agreement relative to an alliance, as Dacor was quite as + enthusiastic about the proposed annihilation of the Mahars and + Sagoths as either Dian or I.</p> + + <p>After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, + we came to the first of the Sarian villages which consists of + between one and two hundred artificial caves cut into the face + of a great cliff. Here to our immense delight, we found both + Perry and Ghak. The old man was quite overcome at sight of me + for he had long since given me up as dead.</p> + + <p>When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn't quite know what + to say, but he afterward remarked that with the pick of two + worlds I could not have done better.</p> + + <p>Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it + was at a council of the head men of the various tribes of the + Sari that the eventual form of government was tentatively + agreed upon. Roughly, the various kingdoms were to remain + virtually independent, but there was to be one great overlord, + or emperor. It was decided that I should be the first of the + dynasty of the emperors of Pellucidar.</p> + + <p>We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, + and poison pouches. The young men hunted the vipers which + provided the virus, and it was they who mined the iron ore, and + fashioned the swords under Perry's direction. Rapidly the fever + spread from one tribe to another until representatives from + nations so far distant that the Sarians had never even heard of + them came in to take the oath of allegiance which we required, + and to learn the art of making the new weapons and using + them.</p> + + <p>We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of + the federation, and the movement had reached colossal + proportions before the Mahars discovered it. The first + intimation they had was when three of their great slave + caravans were annihilated in rapid succession. They could not + comprehend that the lower orders had suddenly developed a power + which rendered them really formidable.</p> + + <p>In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our + Sarians took a number of Sagoth prisoners, and among them were + two who had been members of the guards within the building + where we had been confined at Phutra. They told us that the + Mahars were frantic with rage when they discovered what had + taken place in the cellars of the buildings. The Sagoths knew + that something very terrible had befallen their masters, but + the Mahars had been most careful to see that no inkling of the + true nature of their vital affliction reached beyond their own + race. How long it would take for the race to become extinct it + was impossible even to guess; but that this must eventually + happen seemed inevitable.</p> + + <p>The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of + any one of us alive, and at the same time had threatened to + inflict the direst punishment upon whomever should harm us. The + Sagoths could not understand these seemingly paradoxical + instructions, though their purpose was quite evident to me. The + Mahars wanted the Great Secret, and they knew that we alone + could deliver it to them.</p> + + <p>Perry's experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the + fashioning of rifles had not progressed as rapidly as we had + hoped—there was a whole lot about these two arts which + Perry didn't know. We were both assured that the solution of + these problems would advance the cause of civilization within + Pellucidar thousands of years at a single stroke. Then there + were various other arts and sciences which we wished to + introduce, but our combined knowledge of them did not embrace + the mechanical details which alone could render them of + commercial, or practical value.</p> + + <p>"David," said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to + produce gunpowder that would even burn, "one of us must return + to the outer world and bring back the information we lack. Here + we have all the labor and materials for reproducing anything + that ever has been produced above—what we lack is + knowledge. Let us go back and get that knowledge in the shape + of books—then this world will indeed be at our feet."</p> + + <p>And so it was decided that I should return in the + prospector, which still lay upon the edge of the forest at the + point where we had first penetrated to the surface of the inner + world. Dian would not listen to any arrangement for my going + which did not include her, and I was not sorry that she wished + to accompany me, for I wanted her to see my world, and I wanted + my world to see her.</p> + + <p>With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, + which Perry soon had hoisted into position with its nose + pointed back toward the outer crust. He went over all the + machinery carefully. He replenished the air tanks, and + manufactured oil for the engine. At last everything was ready, + and we were about to set out when our pickets, a long, thin + line of which had surrounded our camp at all times, reported + that a great body of what appeared to be Sagoths and Mahars + were approaching from the direction of Phutra.</p> + + <p>Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to + witness the first clash between two fair-sized armies of the + opposing races of Pellucidar. I realized that this was to mark + the historic beginning of a mighty struggle for possession of a + world, and as the first emperor of Pellucidar I felt that it + was not alone my duty, but my right, to be in the thick of that + momentous struggle.</p> + + <p>As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many + Mahars with the Sagoth troops—an indication of the vast + importance which the dominant race placed upon the outcome of + this campaign, for it was not customary with them to take + active part in the sorties which their creatures made for + slaves—the only form of warfare which they waged upon the + lower orders.</p> + + <p>Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to + view the prospector. I placed Ghak with some of his Sarians on + the right of our battle line. Dacor took the left, while I + commanded the center. Behind us I stationed a sufficient + reserve under one of Ghak's head men. The Sagoths advanced + steadily with menacing spears, and I let them come until they + were within easy bowshot before I gave the word to fire.</p> + + <p>At the first volley of poison-tipped arrows the front ranks + of the gorilla-men crumpled to the ground; but those behind + charged over the prostrate forms of their comrades in a wild, + mad rush to be upon us with their spears. A second volley + stopped them for an instant, and then my reserve sprang through + the openings in the firing line to engage them with sword and + shield. The clumsy spears of the Sagoths were no match for the + swords of the Sarian and Amozite, who turned the spear thrusts + aside with their shields and leaped to close quarters with + their lighter, handier weapons.</p> + + <p>Ghak took his archers along the enemy's flank, and while the + swordsmen engaged them in front, he poured volley after volley + into their unprotected left. The Mahars did little real + fighting, and were more in the way than otherwise, though + occasionally one of them would fasten its powerful jaw upon the + arm or leg of a Sarian.</p> + + <p>The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I + led our men in upon the Sagoth's right with naked swords they + were already so demoralized that they turned and fled before + us. We pursued them for some time, taking many prisoners and + recovering nearly a hundred slaves, among whom was Hooja the + Sly One.</p> + + <p>He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his + own land; but that his life had been spared in hope that + through him the Mahars would learn the whereabouts of their + Great Secret. Ghak and I were inclined to think that the Sly + One had been guiding this expedition to the land of Sari, where + he thought that the book might be found in Perry's possession; + but we had no proof of this and so we took him in and treated + him as one of us, although none liked him. And how he rewarded + my generosity you will presently learn.</p> + + <p>There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so + fearful were our own people of them that they would not + approach them unless completely covered from the sight of the + reptiles by a piece of skin. Even Dian shared the popular + superstition regarding the evil effects of exposure to the eyes + of angry Mahars, and though I laughed at her fears I was + willing enough to humor them if it would relieve her + apprehension in any degree, and so she sat apart from the + prospector, near which the Mahars had been chained, while Perry + and I again inspected every portion of the mechanism.</p> + + <p>At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to + one of the men without to fetch Dian. It happened that Hooja + stood quite close to the doorway of the prospector, so that it + was he who, without my knowledge, went to bring her; but how he + succeeded in accomplishing the fiendish thing he did, I cannot + guess, unless there were others in the plot to aid him. Nor can + I believe that, since all my people were loyal to me and would + have made short work of Hooja had he suggested the heartless + scheme, even had he had time to acquaint another with it. It + was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it was the + result of sudden impulse, aided by a number of, to Hooja, + fortuitous circumstances occurring at precisely the right + moment.</p> + + <p>All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the + prospector, still wrapped from head to toe in the skin of an + enormous cave lion which covered her since the Mahar prisoners + had been brought into camp. He deposited his burden in the seat + beside me. I was all ready to get under way. The good-byes had + been said. Perry had grasped my hand in the last, long + farewell. I closed and barred the outer and inner doors, took + my seat again at the driving mechanism, and pulled the starting + lever.</p> + + <p>As before on that far-gone night that had witnessed our + first trial of the iron monster, there was a frightful roaring + beneath us—the giant frame trembled and + vibrated—there was a rush of sound as the loose earth + passed up through the hollow space between the inner and outer + jackets to be deposited in our wake. Once more the thing was + off.</p> + + <p>But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my + seat by the sudden lurching of the prospector. At first I did + not realize what had happened, but presently it dawned upon me + that just before entering the crust the towering body had + fallen through its supporting scaffolding, and that instead of + entering the ground vertically we were plunging into it at a + different angle. Where it would bring us out upon the upper + crust I could not even conjecture. And then I turned to note + the effect of this strange experience upon Dian. She still sat + shrouded in the great skin.</p> + + <p>"Come, come," I cried, laughing, "come out of your shell. No + Mahar eyes can reach you here," and I leaned over and snatched + the lion skin from her. And then I shrank back upon my seat in + utter horror.</p> + + <p>The thing beneath the skin was not Dian—it was a + hideous Mahar. Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja had + played upon me, and the purpose of it. Rid of me, forever as he + doubtless thought, Dian would be at his mercy. Frantically I + tore at the steering wheel in an effort to turn the prospector + back toward Pellucidar; but, as on that other occasion, I could + not budge the thing a hair.</p> + + <p>It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of + that journey. It varied but little from the former one which + had brought us from the outer to the inner world. Because of + the angle at which we had entered the ground the trip required + nearly a day longer, and brought me out here upon the sand of + the Sahara instead of in the United States as I had hoped.</p> + + <p>For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. + I dared not leave the prospector for fear I should never be + able to find it again—the shifting sands of the desert + would soon cover it, and then my only hope of returning to my + Dian and her Pellucidar would be gone forever.</p> + + <p>That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, + for how may I know upon what part of Pellucidar my return + journey may terminate—and how, without a north or south + or an east or a west may I hope ever to find my way across that + vast world to the tiny spot where my lost love lies grieving + for me?</p> + <hr> + + <p>That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the + goat-skin tent upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. The + next day he took me out to see the prospector—it was + precisely as he had described it. So huge was it that it could + have been brought to this inaccessible part of the world by no + means of transportation that existed there—it could only + have come in the way that David Innes said it came—up + through the crust of the earth from the inner world of + Pellucidar.</p> + + <p>I spent a week with him, and then, abandoned my lion hunt, + returned directly to the coast and hurried to London where I + purchased a great quantity of stuff which he wished to take + back to Pellucidar with him. There were books, rifles, + revolvers, ammunition, cameras, chemicals, telephones, + telegraph instruments, wire, tool and more books—books + upon every subject under the sun. He said he wanted a library + with which they could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth + century in the Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I + got it for him.</p> + + <p>I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied + them to the end of the railroad; but from here I was recalled + to America upon important business. However, I was able to + employ a very trustworthy man to take charge of the + caravan—the same guide, in fact, who had accompanied me + on the previous trip into the Sahara—and after writing a + long letter to Innes in which I gave him my American address, I + saw the expedition head south.</p> + + <p>Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five + hundred miles of double, insulated wire of a very fine gauge. I + had it packed on a special reel at his suggestion, as it was + his idea that he could fasten one end here before he left and + by paying it out through the end of the prospector lay a + telegraph line between the outer and inner worlds. In my letter + I told him to be sure to mark the terminus of the line very + plainly with a high cairn, in case I was not able to reach him + before he set out, so that I might easily find and communicate + with him should he be so fortunate as to reach Pellucidar.</p> + + <p>I received several letters from him after I returned to + America—in fact he took advantage of every + northward-passing caravan to drop me word of some sort. His + last letter was written the day before he intended to depart. + Here it is.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>MY DEAR FRIEND:</p> + + <p>Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and + Dian. That is if the Arabs don't get me. They have been + very nasty of late. I don't know the cause, but on two + occasions they have threatened my life. One, more friendly + than the rest, told me today that they intended attacking + me tonight. It would be unfortunate should anything of that + sort happen now that I am so nearly ready to depart.</p> + + <p>However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the + hour approaches, the slenderer my chances for success + appear.</p> + + <p>Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter + north for me, so good-bye, and God bless you for your + kindness to me.</p> + + <p>The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand + to the south—he thinks it is the party coming to + murder me, and he doesn't want to be found with me. So + goodbye again.</p> + + <p style="text-align:center">Yours,</p> + + <p style="text-align:right">DAVID INNES.</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, + headed for the spot where I had left Innes. My first + disappointment was when I discovered that my old guide had died + within a few weeks of my return, nor could I find any member of + my former party who could lead me to the same spot.</p> + + <p>For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing + countless desert sheiks in the hope that at last I might find + one who had heard of Innes and his wonderful iron mole. + Constantly my eyes scanned the blinding waste of sand for the + ricky cairn beneath which I was to find the wires leading to + Pellucidar—but always was I unsuccessful.</p> + + <p>And always do these awful questions harass me when I think + of David Innes and his strange adventures.</p> + + <p>Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his + departure? Or, did he again turn the nose of his iron monster + toward the inner world? Did he reach it, or lies he somewhere + buried in the heart of the great crust? And if he did come + again to Pellucidar was it to break through into the bottom of + one of her great island seas, or among some savage race far, + far from the land of his heart's desire?</p> + + <p>Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad + Sahara, at the end of two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost + cairn? I wonder.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + <pre> +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of At the Earth's Core +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + </pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/old/ecore11h.zip b/old/old/ecore11h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e96d621 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11h.zip diff --git a/old/old/ecore11l.lit b/old/old/ecore11l.lit Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2eaf54 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11l.lit diff --git a/old/old/ecore11l.zip b/old/old/ecore11l.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b542bc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11l.zip diff --git a/old/old/ecore11p.prc b/old/old/ecore11p.prc Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f43b75a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11p.prc diff --git a/old/old/ecore11p.zip b/old/old/ecore11p.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..20c81b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/ecore11p.zip |
