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02 - At The Earth's Core - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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  Speaker 1: Chapter two, A Strange World. I was unconscious, little more
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: than an instant, for as I lunged forward from the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with
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  Speaker 1: a crash to the floor of the cabin. The shock
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  Speaker 1: brought me to myself. My first concern was with Perry.
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  Speaker 1: I was horrified at the thought that, upon the very
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  Speaker 1: threshold of salvation, he might be dead. Tearing open his shirt,
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  Speaker 1: I placed my ear to his breast. I could have
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  Speaker 1: cried with relief. His heart was beating quite regularly. At
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  Speaker 1: the water tank. I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly
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  Speaker 1: across his forehead and face several times in a moment.
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  Speaker 1: I was rewarded by the raising of his lids. For
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  Speaker 1: a time he lay wide eyed and quite uncomprehending. Then
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  Speaker 1: his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he sat up, sniffing
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  Speaker 1: the air, with an expression of wonderment upon his face. Why, David,
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  Speaker 1: he cried, at last, it's air, as sure as I live. Why, Why?
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  Speaker 1: What does it mean? Where in the world are we?
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  Speaker 1: What has happened? It means that we're back at the surface,
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  Speaker 1: all right, Perry, I cried, But where I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: I haven't opened her up yet, been too busy reviving you,
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  Speaker 1: lord man. But you had a close squeak. You say,
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  Speaker 1: we're back at the surface, David, How can that be?
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  Speaker 1: How long have I been unconscious? Not long we turned
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  Speaker 1: in the ice stratum. Don't you recall the sudden whirling
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  Speaker 1: of our seats after that the drill was above you
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  Speaker 1: instead of below. We didn't notice it at the time,
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  Speaker 1: but I recall it now. You mean to say that
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  Speaker 1: we turned back in the ice stratum, David, That is
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  Speaker 1: not possible. The prospector cannot turn unless its nose is
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  Speaker 1: deflected from the outside by some external force or resistance.
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  Speaker 1: The steering wheel within would have moved in response. The
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  Speaker 1: steering wheel has not budged, David since we started. You
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  Speaker 1: know that I did know it. But here we were,
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  Speaker 1: with our drill racing in pure air and copious volumes
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  Speaker 1: of it pouring into the cabin. We couldn't have turned
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  Speaker 1: in the eyestrat and Perry, I know as well as you,
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  Speaker 1: I replied, But the fact remains that we did. For
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  Speaker 1: here we are this minute, at the surface of the
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  Speaker 1: earth again, and I am going out to see just
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  Speaker 1: where better wait till morning David, it must be midnight now.
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  Speaker 1: I glanced at the chronometer. Half after twelve. We have
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: been out seventy two hours, so it must be midnight. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: I am going to have a look at the blessed
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  Speaker 1: sky that I have given up all hope of ever
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  Speaker 1: seeing again. And so saying, I lifted the bars from
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  Speaker 1: the inner door and swung it open. There was quite
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  Speaker 1: a quantity of loose material in the jacket, and this
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  Speaker 1: I had to remove with a shovel to get at
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  Speaker 1: the opposite door in the outer shell. In a short
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  Speaker 1: time I had removed enough of the earth and rock
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  Speaker 1: to the floor of the cabin to expose the door beyond.
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  Speaker 1: Parry was directly behind me. As I threw it open,
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  Speaker 1: the upper half was above the surface of the ground.
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  Speaker 1: With an expression of surprise, I turned and looked at Perry.
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  Speaker 1: It was broad daylight without Something seems to have gone wrong,
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  Speaker 1: either with our calculations or the chronometer, I said. Parry
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  Speaker 1: shook his head. There was a strange expression in his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: Let's have a look beyond that door, David, he cried.
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  Speaker 1: Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of
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  Speaker 1: a landscape. At once weird and beautiful. Before us, a
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  Speaker 1: low and level shore stretched down to a silent sea.
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  Speaker 1: As far as the eye could reach. The surface of
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  Speaker 1: the water was dotted with countless tiny aisles, some towering
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  Speaker 1: barren granite rock, others resplendent in gorgeous trappings of tropical vegetation.
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  Speaker 1: Myriad starred with the magnificent splendor of vivid blooms. Behind
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  Speaker 1: us rose a dark and foreboding wood of giant arborescent ferns,
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  Speaker 1: intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest.
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  Speaker 1: Huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree.
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  Speaker 1: Dense underbush overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches.
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  Speaker 1: Upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid
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  Speaker 1: coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands. But within
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  Speaker 1: the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy as the grave.
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  Speaker 1: And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays
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  Speaker 1: out of a cloudless sky. Where on earth can we be?
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  Speaker 1: I asked, turning to Perry. For some moments, the old
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  Speaker 1: man did not reply. He stood with bowed head, buried
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  Speaker 1: in deep thought. But at last he spoke David. He said,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not so sure that we are on earth. What
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  Speaker 1: do you mean, I cried, Do you think that we
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  Speaker 1: are dead and that this is heaven? He smiled, and
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  Speaker 1: turning pointing to the nose of the prospector protruding from
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  Speaker 1: the ground at our backs. But for that, David, I
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  Speaker 1: might believe that we were indeed come to the country
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  Speaker 1: beyond the sticks. The prospector renders that theory untenable. It
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  Speaker 1: certainly could never have gone to heaven. However, I am
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  Speaker 1: willing to concede that we actually may be in another
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  Speaker 1: world from that which we have always known. If we
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  Speaker 1: are not on Earth, there is every reason to believe
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  Speaker 1: that we may be in it. We may have quartered
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  Speaker 1: through the Earth's crust and come out upon some tropical
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  Speaker 1: island of the West Indies, I suggested again. Perry shook
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  Speaker 1: his head. Let us wait and see, David, he replied.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: And in the meantime, suppose we do a bit of
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  Speaker 1: exploring up and down the coast. We may find a
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  Speaker 1: native who can enlighten us. As we walked along the beach,
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  Speaker 1: Perry gazed long and earnestly across the water. Evidently he
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  Speaker 1: was wrestling with a mighty problem, David, he said abruptly,
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  Speaker 1: do you perceive any thing being unusual about the horizon?
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  Speaker 1: As I looked, I began to appreciate the reason for
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  Speaker 1: the strangeness of the landscape that had haunted me from
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  Speaker 1: the first, with an elusive suggestion of the bizarre and unnatural.
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  Speaker 1: There was no horizon. As far as the eye could
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  Speaker 1: reach out. The sea continued, and upon its bosom floated
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  Speaker 1: tiny islands. Those in the distance reduced to mere specks,
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  Speaker 1: But ever beyond them was the sea. Until the impression
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  Speaker 1: became quite real that one was looking up at the
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  Speaker 1: most distant point that the eyes could fathom. The distance
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  Speaker 1: was lost in the distance, that was all. There was
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  Speaker 1: no clear cut horizontal line marking the dip of the
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  Speaker 1: globe below the line of vision. A great light is
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  Speaker 1: commencing to break on me, continued Perry, taking out his watch.
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  Speaker 1: I believe that I have partially solved the riddle. It
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  Speaker 1: is now two o'clock. When we emerged from the prospector,
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  Speaker 1: the sun was directly ab above us. Where is it now?
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  Speaker 1: I glanced up to find the great orbs still motionless
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  Speaker 1: in the center of the heaven, and such a sun
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  Speaker 1: I had scarcely noticed it before, fully thrice the size
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  Speaker 1: of the sun I had known throughout my life, and
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  Speaker 1: apparently so near that the sight of it carried the
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  Speaker 1: conviction that one might almost reach up and touch it.
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  Speaker 1: My God, Perry, where are we? I exclaimed? This thing
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  Speaker 1: is beginning to get on my nerves. I think that
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: I may state quite positively, David. He commenced that we are,
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  Speaker 1: But he got no further from behind us. In the
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  Speaker 1: vicinity of the prospector, there came the most thunderous, awe
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  Speaker 1: inspiring roar that had ever fallen upon my ears. With
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  Speaker 1: one accord, we turned to discover the author of that
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: fearsome noise. Had I still retained the suspicion that we
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  Speaker 1: were on earth, the sight that met my eyes would
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  Speaker 1: quite entirely have banished it. Emerging from the forest was
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  Speaker 1: a colossal beast which closely resummb to bear. It was
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  Speaker 1: fully as large as the largest elephant, and with great
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  Speaker 1: fore paws, armed with huge claws. Its nose or snout
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  Speaker 1: depended nearly a foot below its lower jaw, much after
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  Speaker 1: the manner of a rudimentary trunk. The giant body was
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  Speaker 1: covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair, roaring horribly,
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  Speaker 1: it came towards us at a ponderous shuffling trot. I
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  Speaker 1: turned to Perry to suggest that it might be wise
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  Speaker 1: to sink other surroundings. The idea had evidently occurred to
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  Speaker 1: Perry previously, for he was already a hundred paces away,
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  Speaker 1: and with each second his prodigious bounds increased the distance.
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  Speaker 1: I had never guessed what latent speed possibilities the old
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  Speaker 1: gentleman possessed. I saw that he was headed toward a
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  Speaker 1: little point of the forest which ran out toward the sea,
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  Speaker 1: not far from where we had been standing, And as
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  Speaker 1: the mighty creature, the sight of which had galvanized him
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  Speaker 1: into such remarkable action, was forging steadily towards me, I
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  Speaker 1: set off after Perry, though at a somewhat more decorous pace.
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  Speaker 1: It was evident that the massive beast pursuing us was
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  Speaker 1: not built for speed, so all that I considered necessary
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  Speaker 1: was to gain the trees sufficiently ahead of it to
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  Speaker 1: enable me to climb to the safety of some great
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  Speaker 1: branch before it came up. Notwithstanding our danger, I could
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  Speaker 1: not help but laugh at Perry's frantic capers as he
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  Speaker 1: essayed to gain the safety of the lower branches of
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  Speaker 1: the trees he had now reached. The stems were bare
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  Speaker 1: for a distance of some fifteen feet, at least on
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  Speaker 1: those trees which Perry attempted to ascend, for the suggestion
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  Speaker 1: of safety carried by the larger of the forest giants,
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  Speaker 1: had evidently attracted him to them. A dozen times he
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  Speaker 1: scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat, only to
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  Speaker 1: fall back to the ground once more, And with each
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  Speaker 1: failure he cast a horrified glance over his shoulder at
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  Speaker 1: the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror stricken shrieks that awoke
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  Speaker 1: the echoes of the grim forest. At length, he spied
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  Speaker 1: a dangling creeper about the bigness of one's wrist, and
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  Speaker 1: when I reached the trees, he was racing madly up it,
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  Speaker 1: hand over hand. He had almost reached the lowest branch
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  Speaker 1: of the tree from which the creeper depended, when the
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  Speaker 1: thing parted beneath his weight, and he fell sprawlingly at
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  Speaker 1: my feet. The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for
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  Speaker 1: the beast was already too close to us for comfort.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Seizing Perry by the shoulder, I dragged him to his feet, and,
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  Speaker 1: rushing to a smaller tree, one that he could easily
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  Speaker 1: encircle with his arms and legs, I boosted him as
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  Speaker 1: far up as I could, and then left him to
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  Speaker 1: his fate. For A glance over my shoulder revealed the
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  Speaker 1: awful beast almost upon me. It was the great size
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  Speaker 1: of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous bulk
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  Speaker 1: rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with
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  Speaker 1: the agility of my young muscles, and so I was
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  Speaker 1: enabled to dodge out of its way and run completely
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  Speaker 1: behind it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit.
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  Speaker 1: The few seconds of grace that this gave me found
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  Speaker 1: me safely lodged in the branches of a tree a
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  Speaker 1: few paces from that in which Perry had at last
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  Speaker 1: found a haven. Did I say safely lodged? At the time,
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  Speaker 1: I thought we were quite safe, and so did Perry.
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  Speaker 1: He was praying, raising his voice and thanksgiving at our deliverance,
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  Speaker 1: and had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude
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  Speaker 1: that the thing couldn't climb a tree, when without warning
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  Speaker 1: it reared up beneath him on its enormous tail and
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  Speaker 1: hind feet and reached those fearfully armed paws quite to
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  Speaker 1: the branch upon which he crouched. The accompanying roar was
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  Speaker 1: all but drowned in Perry's screams affright, and he came
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  Speaker 1: near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws beneath him. So
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  Speaker 1: precipitate was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb.
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  Speaker 1: It was with a deep sigh of relief that I
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  Speaker 1: saw him gain a higher branch in safety. And then
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  Speaker 1: the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror.
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  Speaker 1: Grasping the trees stem with his powerful paws, he dragged
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  Speaker 1: down with all the great weight of his huge bulk
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  Speaker 1: and all the irresistible force of those mighty muscles. Slowly,
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  Speaker 1: but surely, the stem began to bend towards him. Inch
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  Speaker 1: by inch. He worked his paws upward. As the tree
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  Speaker 1: leaned more and more from the perpendicular, Parry clung, chattering
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  Speaker 1: in the panic of terror, higher and higher into the
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  Speaker 1: bending and swaying tree he clamoured. More and more rapidly
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  Speaker 1: was the tree top inclining toward the ground. I saw
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  Speaker 1: now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws.
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  Speaker 1: The use that he was putting them to was precisely
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  Speaker 1: that for which nature had intended them. The sloughlike creature
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  Speaker 1: was herbivorous, and to feed that mighty carcass, entire trees
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  Speaker 1: must be stripped of their foliage. The reason for its
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  Speaker 1: attacking us might easily be accounted for on the supposition
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  Speaker 1: of an ugly disposition, such as that which the fierce
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  Speaker 1: and stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses, but these were later reflections.
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  Speaker 1: At the moment, I was too frantic with apprehension on
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  Speaker 1: Perry's behalf to consider aught other than a means to
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  Speaker 1: save him from the death that loomed so close. Realizing
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  Speaker 1: that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: I dropped from my leafy sanctuary, intent only on distracting
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  Speaker 1: the thing's attention from Perry long enough to enable the
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  Speaker 1: old man to gain the safety of a larger tree.
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  Speaker 1: There were many close by which not even the terrific
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  Speaker 1: strength of that titanic monster could bend. As I touched
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  Speaker 1: the ground, I snatched a broken limb from the tangled
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  Speaker 1: mass that matted the jungle like floor of the forest,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: and leaping unnoticed behind the shaggy back, dealt the brute
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  Speaker 1: a terrific blow. My plan worked like magic. From the
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: previous slowness of the beast, I had been led to
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  Speaker 1: look for no such marvelous agility as he now displayed.
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  Speaker 1: Releasing his hold upon the tree, he dropped on all
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  Speaker 1: fours and at the same time swung his great, wicked
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  Speaker 1: tail with a force that would have broken every bone
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  Speaker 1: in my body had it struck me. But fortunately I
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  Speaker 1: had turned to flee at the very instant I had
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: felt my blow land upon the towering back as it
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: started in pursuit of me, I made the mistake of
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: running along the edge of the forest rather than making
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  Speaker 1: for the open beach. In a moment, I was knee
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  Speaker 1: deep in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing behind me
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: was gaining rapidly As I floundered and fell in my
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: efforts to extricate myself. A fallen log gave me an
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: instant's advantage for climbing upon it. I leaped another few
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: paces farther on, and in this way was able to
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: keep clear of the mush that had carpeted the surrounding ground.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: But the zigzag course that this necessitated was placing such
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: a heavy handicap upon me that my pursuer was steadily
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: gaining upon me. Suddenly, from behind, I heard a tumult
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: of howls and sharp piercing barks, much the sound that
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: a pack of wolves raises when in full cry. Involuntarily,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I glanced backwards to discover the origin of this new
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: and menacing note, with the result that I missed my
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: footing and went sprawling once more upon my face in
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: the deep muck. My mammoth enemy was so close by
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  Speaker 1: this time that I knew I must feel the weight
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: of one of his terrible paws before I could rise,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: But to my surprise, the blow did not fall upon me.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: The howling and snapping and barking of the new element
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  Speaker 1: which had been infused into the melee now seemed centered
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  Speaker 1: quite close behind me, and as I raised myself upon
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  Speaker 1: my hands and glanced around, I saw what it was
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  Speaker 1: that had distracted the derith As afterward I learned the
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: thing as called from my trail. It was surrounded by
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: a pack of some hundred wolf like creatures wild dogs,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: they seemed, that rushed, growling and snapping in upon it
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  Speaker 1: from all sides, so that they sank their white fangs
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  Speaker 1: into the slow brute and were away again before it
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping tail.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Chattering and gibbering through the lower branches of the trees,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: came a company of manlike creatures, evidently urging on the
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: dog pack. They were, to all appearances, strikingly similar in
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their skins were very black,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: and their features much like those of the more pronounced
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Negroid type, except that the head receded more rapidly above
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: the eyes, leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: rather long, and their legs shorter in proportion to the
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: torso than in man, and later I noticed that their
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: great toes protruded at right angles from their feet. Because
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: of their arboreal habits, I presume behind them trailed long
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: slender tails, which they had used in climbing quite as
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: much as they did either their hands or feet. I
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: that the wolf dogs were holding thee dereth at bay
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: at sight of me. Several of the savage creatures left off,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: worrying the great brute to come slinking with bared fangs
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: towards me. And as I turned to run towards the
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: trees again to seek safety among the lower branches, I
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: saw a number of man apes leaping and chattering in
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: the foliage of the nearest tree. Between them and the
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: beasts behind me, there was little choice, but at least
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  Speaker 1: there was a doubt as to the reception these grotesque
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: parodies on humanity would accord, me, while there was none
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  Speaker 1: as to the fate which awaited me beneath the grinning
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: fangs of my fierce pursuers. And so I raced on
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: towards the trees, intending to pass beneath that which held
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  Speaker 1: the man things and take refuge in another farther on.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: But the wolf dogs were very close behind me, so
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  Speaker 1: close that I had despaired of escaping them, when one
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: of the creatures in the tree above swung down head foremost,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: his tail looped about a great limb, and grasping me
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: beneath my armpits, swung me in safety up among his fellows.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: and curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair, and
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: my flesh. They turned me about to see if I
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: had a tail, and when they discovered that I was
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: not so equipped, they fell into roars of laughter. Their
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: teeth were very large and white, and even except for
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: the upper canines, which were a trifle longer than the others,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: protruding just a bit when the mouth was closed. When
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: they had examined me for a few moments, one of
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: them discovered that my clothing was not a part of me,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: with the result that garment by garment, they tore it
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter. Ape Like
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: they essayed to don the apparel themselves, but their ingenuity
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: was not sufficient to the task, and so they gave
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: it up. In the meantime, I had been straining my
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: eyes to catch a glimpse of Perry, but nowhere about
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: could I see him, although the clump of the trees
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: in which he had first taken refuge was in full view.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: I was much exercised by fear that something had befallen him,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: and though I called his name aloud several times, there
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: was no response. Tired at last of playing with my clothing,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: the creatures threw it to the ground, and catching me
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: one on either side by an arm, starting off at
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: a most terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: I experienced such a journey before or since. Even now,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: I oftentimes awake from a deep sleep, haunted by the
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: horrid remembrance of that awful experience. From tree to tree,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, while the cold
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: sweat stood upon my brow as I glimpsed the depths beneath,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: into which a single misstep on the part of either
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: of my bearers would hurl me. As they bore me along,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: my mind was occupied with a thousand bewildering thoughts. What
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: had become of Perry? Would I ever see him again?
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: What were the intentions of these half human things into
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: whose hands I had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: same world into which I had been born? No, it
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: could not be. But yet where else I had not
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: left that earth? Of that I was sure Still, neither
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: could I reconcile the things which I had seen to
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: a belief that I was still in the world of
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: my birth. With a sigh, I gave up end of
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Chapter two