diff options
Diffstat (limited to '27110.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 27110.txt | 911 |
1 files changed, 911 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/27110.txt b/27110.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..47b8a3c --- /dev/null +++ b/27110.txt @@ -0,0 +1,911 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Eternal Wall, by Raymond Zinke Gallun + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: The Eternal Wall + +Author: Raymond Zinke Gallun + +Release Date: October 31, 2008 [EBook #27110] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ETERNAL WALL *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + ETERNAL + WALL + + By RAYMOND Z. GALLUN + + + _A scream of brakes, the splash + into icy waters, a long descent + into alkaline depths ... it was + death. But Ned Vince lived + again--a million years later!_ + + +"See you in half an hour, Betty," said Ned Vince over the party +telephone. "We'll be out at the Silver Basket before ten-thirty...." + +Ned Vince was eager for the company of the girl he loved. That was why +he was in a hurry to get to the neighboring town of Hurley, where she +lived. His old car rattled and roared as he swung it recklessly around +Pit Bend. + +There was where Death tapped him on the shoulder. Another car leaped +suddenly into view, its lights glaring blindingly past a high, +up-jutting mass of Jurassic rock at the turn of the road. + +Dazzled, and befuddled by his own rash speed, Ned Vince had only swift +young reflexes to rely on to avoid a fearful, telescoping collision. He +flicked his wheel smoothly to the right; but the County Highway +Commission hadn't yet tarred the traffic-loosened gravel at the Bend. + +[Illustration: An incredible science, millions of years old, lay in the +minds of these creatures.] + +Ned could scarcely have chosen a worse place to start sliding and +spinning. His car hit the white-painted wooden rail sideways, crashed +through, tumbled down a steep slope, struck a huge boulder, bounced up a +little, and arced outward, falling as gracefully as a swan-diver toward +the inky waters of the Pit, fifty feet beneath.... + +Ned Vince was still dimly conscious when that black, quiet pool geysered +around him in a mighty splash. He had only a dazing welt on his +forehead, and a gag of terror in his throat. + +Movement was slower now, as he began to sink, trapped inside his wrecked +car. Nothing that he could imagine could mean doom more certainly than +this. The Pit was a tremendously deep pocket in the ground, spring-fed. +The edges of that almost bottomless pool were caked with a rim of +white--for the water, on which dead birds so often floated, was +surcharged with alkali. As that heavy, natronous liquid rushed up +through the openings and cracks beneath his feet, Ned Vince knew that +his friends and his family would never see his body again, lost beyond +recovery in this abyss. + +The car was deeply submerged. The light had blinked out on the +dash-panel, leaving Ned in absolute darkness. A flood rushed in at the +shattered window. He clawed at the door, trying to open it, but it was +jammed in the crash-bent frame, and he couldn't fight against the force +of that incoming water. The welt, left by the blow he had received on +his forehead, put a thickening mist over his brain, so that he could not +think clearly. Presently, when he could no longer hold his breath, +bitter liquid was sucked into his lungs. + +His last thoughts were those of a drowning man. The machine-shop he and +his dad had had in Harwich. Betty Moore, with the smiling Irish +eyes--like in the song. Betty and he had planned to go to the State +University this Fall. They'd planned to be married sometime.... Goodbye, +Betty ... + +The ripples that had ruffled the surface waters in the Pit, quieted +again to glassy smoothness. The eternal stars shone calmly. The geologic +Dakota hills, which might have seen the dinosaurs, still bulked along +the highway. Time, the Brother of Death, and the Father of Change, +seemed to wait.... + + * * * * * + +"Kaalleee! Tik!... Tik, tik, tik!... Kaalleee!..." + +The excited cry, which no human throat could quite have duplicated +accurately, arose thinly from the depths of a powder-dry gulch, +water-scarred from an inconceivable antiquity. The noon-day Sun was red +and huge. The air was tenuous, dehydrated, chill. + +"Kaalleee!... Tik, tik, tik!..." + +At first there was only one voice uttering those weird, triumphant +sounds. Then other vocal organs took up that trilling wail, and those +short, sharp chuckles of eagerness. Other questioning, wondering notes +mixed with the cadence. Lacking qualities identifiable as human, the +disturbance was still like the babble of a group of workmen who have +discovered something remarkable. + +The desolate expanse around the gulch, was all but without motion. The +icy breeze tore tiny puffs of dust from grotesque, angling drifts of +soil, nearly waterless for eons. Patches of drab lichen grew here and +there on the up-jutting rocks, but in the desert itself, no other life +was visible. Even the hills had sagged away, flattened by incalculable +ages of erosion. + + * * * * * + +At a mile distance, a crumbling heap of rubble arose. Once it had been a +building. A gigantic, jagged mass of detritus slanted upward from its +crest--red debris that had once been steel. A launching catapult for the +last space ships built by the gods in exodus, perhaps it was--half a +million years ago. Man was gone from the Earth. Glacial ages, war, +decadence, disease, and a final scattering of those ultimate superhumans +to newer worlds in other solar systems, had done that. + +"Kaalleee!... Tik, tik, tik!..." The sounds were not human. They were +more like the chatter and wail of small desert animals. + +But there was a seeming paradox here in the depths of that gulch, too. +The glint of metal, sharp and burnished. The flat, streamlined bulk of a +flying machine, shiny and new. The bell-like muzzle of a strange +excavator-apparatus, which seemed to depend on a blast of atoms to clear +away rock and soil. Thus the gulch had been cleared of the accumulated +rubbish of antiquity. Man, it seemed, had a successor, as ruler of the +Earth. + +Loy Chuk had flown his geological expedition out from the far lowlands +to the east, out from the city of Kar-Rah. And he was very happy +now--flushed with a vast and unlooked-for success. + +He crouched there on his haunches, at the dry bottom of the Pit. The +breeze rumpled his long, brown fur. He wasn't very different in +appearance from his ancestors. A foot tall, perhaps, as he squatted +there in that antique stance of his kind. His tail was short and furred, +his undersides creamy. White whiskers spread around his inquisitive, +pink-tipped snout. + +But his cranium bulged up and forward between shrewd, beady eyes, +betraying the slow heritage of time, of survival of the fittest, of +evolution. He could think and dream and invent, and the civilization of +his kind was already far beyond that of the ancient Twentieth Century. + +Loy Chuk and his fellow workers were gathered, tense and gleeful, around +the things their digging had exposed to the daylight. There was a gob of +junk--scarcely more than an irregular formation of flaky rust. But +imbedded in it was a huddled form, brown and hard as old wood. The dry +mud that had encased it like an airtight coffin, had by now been chipped +away by the tiny investigators; but soiled clothing still clung to it, +after perhaps a million years. Metal had gone into decay--yes. But not +this body. The answer to this was simple--alkali. A mineral saturation +that had held time and change in stasis. A perfect preservative for +organic tissue, aided probably during most of those passing eras by +desert dryness. The Dakotas had turned arid very swiftly. This body was +not a mere fossil. It was a mummy. + + * * * * * + +"Kaalleee!" Man, that meant. Not the star-conquering demi-gods, but the +ancestral stock that had built the first machines on Earth, and in the +early Twenty-first Century, the first interplanetary rockets. No wonder +Loy Chuk and his co-workers were happy in their paleontological +enthusiasm! A strange accident, happening in a legendary antiquity, had +aided them in their quest for knowledge. + +At last Loy Chuk gave a soft, chirping signal. The chant of triumph +ended, while instruments flicked in his tiny hands. The final instrument +he used to test the mummy, looked like a miniature stereoscope, with +complicated details. He held it over his eyes. On the tiny screen +within, through the agency of focused X-rays, he saw magnified images of +the internal organs of this ancient human corpse. + +What his probing gaze revealed to him, made his pleasure even greater +than before. In twittering, chattering sounds, he communicated his +further knowledge to his henchmen. Though devoid of moisture, the mummy +was perfectly preserved, even to its brain cells! Medical and biological +sciences were far advanced among Loy Chuk's kind. Perhaps, by the +application of principles long known to them, this long-dead body could +be made to live again! It might move, speak, remember its past! What a +marvelous subject for study it would make, back there in the museums of +Kar-Rah! + +"Tik, tik, tik!..." + +But Loy silenced this fresh, eager chattering with a command. Work was +always more substantial than cheering. + + * * * * * + +With infinite care--small, sharp hand-tools were used, now--the mummy of +Ned Vince was disengaged from the worthless rust of his primitive +automobile. With infinite care it was crated in a metal case, and +hauled into the flying machine. + +Flashing flame, the latter arose, bearing the entire hundred members of +the expedition. The craft shot eastward at bullet-like speed. The +spreading continental plateau of North America seemed to crawl backward, +beneath. A tremendous sand desert, marked with low, washed-down +mountains, and the vague, angular, geometric mounds of human cities that +were gone forever. + +Beyond the eastern rim of the continent, the plain dipped downward +steeply. The white of dried salt was on the hills, but there was a +little green growth here, too. The dead sea-bottom of the vanished +Atlantic was not as dead as the highlands. + +Far out in a deep valley, Kar-Rah, the city of the rodents, came into +view--a crystalline maze of low, bubble-like structures, glinting in the +red sunshine. But this was only its surface aspect. Loy Chuk's people +had built their homes mostly underground, since the beginning of their +foggy evolution. Besides, in this latter day, the nights were very cold, +the shelter of subterranean passages and rooms was welcome. + +The mummy was taken to Loy Chuk's laboratory, a short distance below the +surface. Here at once, the scientist began his work. The body of the +ancient man was put in a large vat. Fluids submerged it, slowly soaking +from that hardened flesh the alkali that had preserved it for so long. +The fluid was changed often, until woody muscles and other tissues +became pliable once more. + +Then the more delicate processes began. Still submerged in liquid, the +corpse was submitted to a flow of restorative energy, passing between +complicated electrodes. The cells of antique flesh and brain gradually +took on a chemical composition nearer to that of the life that they had +once known. + + * * * * * + +At last the final liquid was drained away, and the mummy lay there, a +mummy no more, but a pale, silent figure in its tatters of clothing. Loy +Chuk put an odd, metal-fabric helmet on its head, and a second, much +smaller helmet on his own. Connected with this arrangement, was a black +box of many uses. For hours he worked with his apparatus, studying, and +guiding the recording instruments. The time passed swiftly. + +At last, eager and ready for whatever might happen now, Loy Chuk pushed +another switch. With a cold, rosy flare, energy blazed around that +moveless form. + +For Ned Vince, timeless eternity ended like a gradual fading mist. When +he could see clearly again, he experienced that inevitable shock of vast +change around him. Though it had been dehydrated, his brain had been +kept perfectly intact through the ages, and now it was restored. So his +memories were as vivid as yesterday. + +Yet, through that crystalline vat in which he lay, he could see a broad, +low room, in which he could barely have stood erect. He saw instruments +and equipment whose weird shapes suggested alienness, and knowledge +beyond the era he had known! The walls were lavender and phosphorescent. +Fossil bone-fragments were mounted in shallow cases. Dinosaur bones, +some of them seemed, from their size. But there was a complete skeleton +of a dog, too, and the skeleton of a man, and a second man-skeleton that +was not quite human. Its neck-vertebrae were very thick and solid, its +shoulders were wide, and its skull was gigantic. + +All this weirdness had a violent effect on Ned Vince--a sudden, +nostalgic panic. Something was fearfully wrong! + +The nervous terror of the unknown was on him. Feeble and dizzy after his +weird resurrection, which he could not understand, remembering as he did +that moment of sinking to certain death in the pool at Pit Bend, he +caught the edge of the transparent vat, and pulled himself to a sitting +posture. There was a muffled murmur around him, as of some vast, +un-Earthly metropolis. + +"Take it easy, Ned Vince...." + +The words themselves, and the way they were assembled, were old, +familiar friends. But the tone was wrong. It was high, shrill, +parrot-like, and mechanical. Ned's gaze searched for the source of the +voice--located the black box just outside of his crystal vat. From that +box the voice seemed to have originated. Before it crouched a small, +brownish animal with a bulging head. The animal's tiny-fingered +paws--hands they were, really--were touching rows of keys. + +To Ned Vince, it was all utterly insane and incomprehensible. A rodent, +looking like a prairie dog, a little; but plainly possessing a high +order of intelligence. And a voice whose soothingly familiar words were +more repugnant somehow, simply because they could never belong in a +place as eerie as this. + +Ned Vince did not know how Loy Chuk had probed his brain, with the aid +of a pair of helmets, and the black box apparatus. He did not know that +in the latter, his language, taken from his own revitalized mind, was +recorded, and that Loy Chuk had only to press certain buttons to make +the instrument express his thoughts in common, long-dead English. Loy, +whose vocal organs were not human, would have had great difficulty +speaking English words, anyway. + +Ned's dark hair was wildly awry. His gaunt, young face held befuddled +terror. He gasped in the thin atmosphere. "I've gone nuts," he +pronounced with a curious calm. "Stark--starin'--nuts...." + + * * * * * + +Loy's box, with its recorded English words and its sonic detectors, +could translate for its master, too. As the man spoke, Loy read the +illuminated symbols in his own language, flashed on a frosted crystal +plate before him. Thus he knew what Ned Vince was saying. + +Loy Chuk pressed more keys, and the box reproduced his answer: "No, Ned, +not nuts. Not a bit of it! There are just a lot of things that you've +got to get used to, that's all. You drowned about a million years ago. I +discovered your body. I brought you back to life. We have science that +can do that. I'm Loy Chuk...." + + * * * * * + +It took only a moment for the box to tell the full story in clear, bold, +friendly terms. Thus Loy sought, with calm, human logic, to make his +charge feel at home. Probably, though, he was a fool, to suppose that he +could succeed, thus. + +Vince started to mutter, struggling desperately to reason it out. "A +prairie dog," he said. "Speaking to me. One million years. Evolution. +The scientists say that people grew up from fishes in the sea. Prairie +dogs are smart. So maybe super-prairie-dogs could come from them. A lot +easier than men from fish...." + +It was all sound logic. Even Ned Vince knew that. Still, his mind, tuned +to ordinary, simple things, couldn't quite realize all the vast things +that had happened to himself, and to the world. The scope of it all was +too staggeringly big. One million years. God!... + +Ned Vince made a last effort to control himself. His knuckles tightened +on the edge of the vat. "I don't know what you've been talking about," +he grated wildly. "But I want to get out of here! I want to go back +where I came from! Do you understand--whoever, or whatever you are?" + +Loy Chuk pressed more keys. "But you can't go back to the Twentieth +Century," said the box. "Nor is there any better place for you to be +now, than Kar-Rah. You are the only man left on Earth. Those men that +exist in other star systems are not really your kind anymore, though +their forefathers originated on this planet. They have gone far beyond +you in evolution. To them you would be only a senseless curiosity. You +are much better off with my people--our minds are much more like yours. +We will take care of you, and make you comfortable...." + +But Ned Vince wasn't listening, now. "You are the only man left on +Earth." That had been enough for him to hear. He didn't more than half +believe it. His mind was too confused for conviction about anything. +Everything he saw and felt and heard might be some kind of nightmare. +But then it might all be real instead, and that was abysmal horror. Ned +was no coward--death and danger of any ordinary Earthly kind, he could +have faced bravely. But the loneliness here, and the utter strangeness, +were hideous like being stranded alone on another world! + +His heart was pounding heavily, and his eyes were wide. He looked across +this eerie room. There was a ramp there at the other side, leading +upward instead of a stairway. Fierce impulse to escape this nameless +lair, to try to learn the facts for himself, possessed him. He bounded +out of the vat, and with head down, dashed for the ramp. + + * * * * * + +He had to go most of the way on his hands and knees, for the up-slanting +passage was low. Excited animal chucklings around him, and the +occasional touch of a furry body, hurried his feverish scrambling. But +he emerged at last at the surface. + +He stood there panting in that frigid, rarefied air. It was night. The +Moon was a gigantic, pock-marked bulk. The constellations were +unrecognizable. The rodent city was a glowing expanse of shallow, +crystalline domes, set among odd, scrub trees and bushes. The crags +loomed on all sides, all their jaggedness lost after a million years of +erosion under an ocean that was gone. In that ghastly moonlight, the +ground glistened with dry salt. + +"Well, I guess it's all true, huh?" Ned Vince muttered in a flat tone. + +Behind him he heard an excited, squeaky chattering. Rodents in pursuit. +Looking back, he saw the pinpoint gleams of countless little eyes. Yes, +he might as well be an exile on another planet--so changed had the Earth +become. + +A wave of intolerable homesickness came over him as he sensed the +distances of time that had passed--those inconceivable eons, separating +himself from his friends, from Betty, from almost everything that was +familiar. He started to run, away from those glittering rodent eyes. He +sensed death in that cold sea-bottom, but what of it? What reason did he +have left to live? He'd be only a museum piece here, a thing to be caged +and studied.... + +Prison or a madhouse would be far better. He tried to get hold of his +courage. But what was there to inspire it? Nothing! He laughed harshly +as he ran, welcoming that bitter, killing cold. Nostalgia had him in its +clutch, and there was no answer in his hell-world, lost beyond the +barrier of the years.... + + * * * * * + +Loy Chuk and his followers presently came upon Ned Vince's unconscious +form, a mile from the city of Kar-Rah. In a flying machine they took him +back, and applied stimulants. He came to, in the same laboratory room as +before. But he was firmly strapped to a low platform this time, so that +he could not escape again. There he lay, helpless, until presently an +idea occurred to him. It gave him a few crumbs of hope. + +"Hey, somebody!" he called. + +"You'd better get some rest, Ned Vince," came the answer from the black +box. It was Loy Chuk speaking again. + +"But listen!" Ned protested. "You know a lot more than we did in the +Twentieth Century. And--well--there's that thing called time-travel, +that I used to read about. Maybe you know how to make it work! Maybe you +could send me back to my own time after all!" + +Little Loy Chuk was in a black, discouraged mood, himself. He could +understand the utter, sick dejection of this giant from the past, lost +from his own kind. Probably insanity looming. In far less extreme +circumstances than this, death from homesickness had come. + +Loy Chuk was a scientist. In common with all real scientists, regardless +of the species from which they spring, he loved the subjects of his +researches. He wanted this ancient man to live and to be happy. Or this +creature would be of scant value for study. + +So Loy considered carefully what Ned Vince had suggested. Time-travel. +Almost a legend. An assault upon an intangible wall that had baffled far +keener wits than Loy's. But he was bent, now, on the well-being of this +anachronism he had so miraculously resurrected--this human, this +Kaalleee.... + +Loy jabbed buttons on the black box. "Yes, Ned Vince," said the sonic +apparatus. "Time-travel. Perhaps that is the only thing to do--to send +you back to your own period of history. For I see that you will never be +yourself, here. It will be hard to accomplish, but we'll try. Now I +shall put you under an anesthetic...." + +Ned felt better immediately, for there was real hope now, where there +had been none before. Maybe he'd be back in his home-town of Harwich +again. Maybe he'd see the old machine-shop, there. And the trees +greening out in Spring. Maybe he'd be seeing Betty Moore in Hurley, +soon.... Ned relaxed, as a tiny hypo-needle bit into his arm.... + +As soon as Ned Vince passed into unconsciousness, Loy Chuk went to work +once more, using that pair of brain-helmets again, exploring carefully +the man's mind. After hours of research, he proceeded to prepare his +plans. The government of Kar-Rah was a scientific oligarchy, of which +Loy was a prime member. It would be easy to get the help he needed. + +A horde of small, grey-furred beings and their machines, toiled for many +days. + + * * * * * + +Ned Vince's mind swam gradually out of the blur that had enveloped it. +He was wandering aimlessly about in a familiar room. The girders of the +roof above were of red-painted steel. His tool-benches were there, +greasy and littered with metal filings, just as they had always been. He +had a tractor to repair, and a seed-drill. Outside of the machine-shop, +the old, familiar yellow sun was shining. Across the street was the +small brown house, where he lived. + +With a sudden startlement, he saw Betty Moore in the doorway. She wore a +blue dress, and a mischievous smile curved her lips. As though she had +succeeded in creeping up on him, for a surprise. + +"Why, Ned," she chuckled. "You look as though you've been dreaming, and +just woke up!" + +He grimaced ruefully as she approached. With a kind of fierce gratitude, +he took her in his arms. Yes, she was just like always. + +"I guess I _was_ dreaming, Betty," he whispered, feeling that mighty +sense of relief. "I must have fallen asleep at the bench, here, and had +a nightmare. I thought I had an accident at Pit Bend--and that a lot of +worse things happened.... But it wasn't true ..." + +Ned Vince's mind, over which there was still an elusive fog that he did +not try to shake off, accepted apparent facts simply. + +He did not know anything about the invisible radiations beating down +upon him, soothing and dimming his brain, so that it would never +question or doubt, or observe too closely the incongruous circumstances +that must often appear. The lack of traffic in the street without, for +instance--and the lack of people besides himself and Betty. + +He didn't know that this machine-shop was built from his own memories of +the original. He didn't know that this Betty was of the same origin--a +miraculous fabrication of metal and energy-units and soft plastic. The +trees outside were only lantern-slide illusions. + +It was all built inside a great, opaque dome. But there were hidden +television systems, too. Thus Loy Chuk's kind could study this ancient +man--this Kaalleee. Thus, their motives were mostly selfish. + +Loy, though, was not observing, now. He had wandered far out into cold, +sad sea-bottom, to ponder. He squeaked and chatted to himself, +contemplating the magnificent, inexorable march of the ages. He +remembered the ancient ruins, left by the final supermen. + +"The Kaalleee believes himself home," Loy was thinking. "He will survive +and be happy. But there was no other way. Time is an Eternal Wall. Our +archeological researches among the cities of the supermen show the +truth. Even they, who once ruled Earth, never escaped from the present +by so much as an instant...." + + +THE END + + +PRINTED IN U. S. A. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ April 1956 and was + first published in _Amazing Stories_ November 1942. Extensive + research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on + this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical + errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Eternal Wall, by Raymond Zinke Gallun + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ETERNAL WALL *** + +***** This file should be named 27110.txt or 27110.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/1/1/27110/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |