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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, The Sly One. The Sagoths were gaining on
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  Speaker 1: us rapidly, for once they had sighted us, they had
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  Speaker 1: greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up
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  Speaker 1: the narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the
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  Speaker 1: heights of Sari. On either side rose precipitous cliffs of
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  Speaker 1: gorgeous Parti colored rock, while beneath our feet a thick
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  Speaker 1: mountain grass formed a soft and noiseless carpet. Since we
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  Speaker 1: had entered the canyon, we had had no glimpse of
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  Speaker 1: our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope that they
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  Speaker 1: had lost our trail, and that we would reach the
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  Speaker 1: now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to scale them before
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  Speaker 1: we should be overtaken. Ahead, we neither saw nor heard
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  Speaker 1: any sign which might betoken the success of Hujah's mission.
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  Speaker 1: By now, he should have reached the outposts of the Sarians,
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  Speaker 1: and we should at least hear the savage cries of
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  Speaker 1: the tribesmen as they swarmed to arms in answer to
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  Speaker 1: their king's appeal for succor. In another moment, the frowning
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  Speaker 1: cliffs aheadge be black with primeval warriors, but nothing of
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  Speaker 1: the kind happened. As a matter of fact, the sly
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  Speaker 1: one had betrayed us at the moment that we expected
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  Speaker 1: to see Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at Hooja's back.
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  Speaker 1: The craven trader was sneaking round the outskirts of the
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  Speaker 1: nearest Sarian village that he might come up from the
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  Speaker 1: other side when it was too late to save us,
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  Speaker 1: claiming that he had become lost among the mountains. Hooja
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  Speaker 1: still harbored ill will against me because of the blow
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  Speaker 1: I had struck in Dian's protection, and his malevolent spirit
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  Speaker 1: was equal to sacrificing us all that he might be
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  Speaker 1: revenged upon me. As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs
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  Speaker 1: and no sign of rescuing Sarians appeared, Ghak became both
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  Speaker 1: angry and alarmed. Presently, as the sound of rapidly approaching
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  Speaker 1: pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me over
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  Speaker 1: his shoulder that we were lost. A backward glance gave
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  Speaker 1: me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at
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  Speaker 1: the far end of a considerable stretch of canyon through
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  Speaker 1: which we had just passed, and then a sudden turning
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  Speaker 1: shut the ugly creature from my view, but the loud
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  Speaker 1: howl of triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence
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  Speaker 1: that the guerrilla man had sighted us. Again. The canyon
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  Speaker 1: veered sharply to the left, but to the right, and
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  Speaker 1: other branch ran on at a lesser deviation from the
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  Speaker 1: general direction, so that appeared more like the main canyon
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  Speaker 1: than the left hand branch. The Sagoths were now not
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  Speaker 1: over two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I
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  Speaker 1: saw that it was hopeless for us to expect to
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  Speaker 1: escape other than by a ruse. There was a bare
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  Speaker 1: chance of saving Ghak and Perry, and as I reached
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  Speaker 1: the branching of the canyon, I took the chance. Pausing there,
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  Speaker 1: I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghak
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  Speaker 1: and Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left
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  Speaker 1: hand canyon, and as the sagoth's savage yell announced that
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  Speaker 1: he had seen me, I turned and fled up the
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  Speaker 1: right hand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entire
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  Speaker 1: party of man hunters raced headlong after me up one canyon,
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  Speaker 1: while Ghak bore Perry to safety up the other, running
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  Speaker 1: as never been my particular athletic forte. And now, when
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  Speaker 1: my very life depended on fleetness of foot, I cannot
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  Speaker 1: say that I ran any better than on the occasions
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  Speaker 1: when my pitiful base running had called down upon my
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  Speaker 1: head the rouder's raucous and reproachful cries of ice wagon
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  Speaker 1: and call a cab. The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly.
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  Speaker 1: There was one in particular, fleeter than his fellows, who
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  Speaker 1: was perilously close. The canyon had become a rocky slit,
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  Speaker 1: rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed to
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  Speaker 1: pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could
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  Speaker 1: not even guess, possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of
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  Speaker 1: feet into the corresponding valley upon the other side. Could
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  Speaker 1: it be that I had plunged into a cul de sac.
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  Speaker 1: Realizing that now I could not hope to outdistance the
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  Speaker 1: Sagoths to the top of the canyon, I had determined
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  Speaker 1: to risk all in an attempt to check them temporarily,
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  Speaker 1: And to this end had unslung my rudely made bow
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  Speaker 1: and plucked an arrow from the skin quiver, which hung
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  Speaker 1: behind my shoulder. As I fitted the shaft with my
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  Speaker 1: right hand, I stopped and wheeled toward the gorilla man.
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  Speaker 1: In the world of my birth, I had never drawn
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  Speaker 1: a shaft, But since our escape from Phutra, I had
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  Speaker 1: kept the party supplied with small game by means of
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  Speaker 1: my arrows, and so through necessity, had developed a fair
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  Speaker 1: degree of accuracy. During our flight from Futra, I had
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  Speaker 1: restrung my bow with a piece of heavy gut taken
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  Speaker 1: from a huge tiger, which Ghak and I had worried
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  Speaker 1: and finally dispatched with arrows, spear and sword. The hard
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  Speaker 1: wood of the bow was extremely tough, and this, with
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  Speaker 1: the strength and elasticity of my new string, gave me
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  Speaker 1: unwonted confidence in my new weapon. Never had I greater
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  Speaker 1: need of steady nerves than then. Never were my nerves
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  Speaker 1: and muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully and
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  Speaker 1: deliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had
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  Speaker 1: never before seen a bow and arrow, But of a
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  Speaker 1: sudden it must have swept over his dull intellect that
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  Speaker 1: the thing I held toward him was some sort of
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  Speaker 1: engine of destruction, for he too came to a halt,
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  Speaker 1: simultaneously swinging his hatchet for a throw. It is one
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  Speaker 1: of the many method in which they employ this weapon,
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  Speaker 1: and the accuracy of aim which they achieve even under
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  Speaker 1: the most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous. My
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  Speaker 1: shaft was drawn back its full length, my eye had
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  Speaker 1: centered its sharp point upon the left breast of my adversary,
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  Speaker 1: and then he launched his hatchet, and I released my
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  Speaker 1: arrow at the instant that our missiles flew, I leaped
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  Speaker 1: to one side, but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow
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  Speaker 1: up his attack with a spear thrust. I felt the
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  Speaker 1: swish of the hatchet as it grazed my head, and
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  Speaker 1: at the same instant my shaft pierced the Sagoth's savage heart,
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  Speaker 1: and with a single groan, he lunged almost at my
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  Speaker 1: feet stone dead. Close behind him were two more fifty
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  Speaker 1: yards perhaps, but the distance gave me time to snatch
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  Speaker 1: up the dead guardsman's shield, for the close call his
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  Speaker 1: hatchet had just given me had borne in upon me
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  Speaker 1: the urgent need I had for one Those which I
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  Speaker 1: had purloined at Phutra, we had not been able to
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  Speaker 1: bring along because their size precluded our concealing them within
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  Speaker 1: the skins of the mahars, which had brought us safely
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  Speaker 1: from the city. With the sh shield slipped well up
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  Speaker 1: on my left arm, I let fly with another arrow,
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  Speaker 1: which brought down a second sagoth, and then as his
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  Speaker 1: fellow's hatchet sped toward me, I caught it upon the
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  Speaker 1: shield and fitted another shaft for him, But he did
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  Speaker 1: not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned and retreated
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  Speaker 1: toward the main body of guerrilla men. Evidently he had
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  Speaker 1: seen enough of me for the moment. Once more, I
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  Speaker 1: took up my flight. Nor were the sagoths apparently over
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  Speaker 1: anxious to press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested.
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  Speaker 1: I reached the top of the canyon, where I found
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  Speaker 1: a sheer drop of two or three hundred feet to
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  Speaker 1: the bottom of a rocky chasm, but on the left
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  Speaker 1: a narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff.
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  Speaker 1: Along this I advanced, and at a sudden turning a
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  Speaker 1: few yards beyond the canyon's end, the path widened, and
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  Speaker 1: at my left I saw the opening to a large
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  Speaker 1: cave before the ledge continued until it passed from sight
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  Speaker 1: about another projecting buttress of the mountain. Here I felt
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  Speaker 1: I could defy an army for but a single foeman
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  Speaker 1: could advance upon me at a time, nor could he
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  Speaker 1: know that I was awaiting him, until he came full
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  Speaker 1: upon me. Around the corner of the turn. About me
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  Speaker 1: lay scattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were
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  Speaker 1: of various sizes and shapes, but enoughware of handy dimensions
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  Speaker 1: for use as ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows.
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  Speaker 1: Gathering a number of stones into a little pile beside
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  Speaker 1: the mouth of the cave, I waited the advance of
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  Speaker 1: the Sagoths. As I stood there, tense and silent, listening
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  Speaker 1: for the first faint sound that should announce the approach
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  Speaker 1: of my enemies. A slight noise from within the cave's
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  Speaker 1: black depths attracted my attention. It might have been produced
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  Speaker 1: by the moving of the great body of some huge
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  Speaker 1: beast rising from the rock floor of its lair. At
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  Speaker 1: almost the same instant, I thought that I caught the
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  Speaker 1: scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond the turn.
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  Speaker 1: For the next few seconds my attention was considerably divided,
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  Speaker 1: And then from the inky blackness at my right, I
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  Speaker 1: saw two flaming eyes glaring into mine. They were on
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  Speaker 1: a level that was over two feet above my head.
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  Speaker 1: It is true that the beast who owned them might
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  Speaker 1: be standing upon a ledge within the cave, or that
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  Speaker 1: it might be rearing up upon its hind legs. But
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  Speaker 1: I had seen enough of the monsters of Pellucidar to
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  Speaker 1: know that I might be facing some new and frightful
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  Speaker 1: titan whose dimensions and ferocity eclipsed those of any I
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  Speaker 1: had seen before. Whatever it was, it was coming slowly
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  Speaker 1: toward the entrance of the cave, and now deep and
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  Speaker 1: forbidding it uttered a low and ominous growl. I waited
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  Speaker 1: no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with the
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  Speaker 1: thing which owned that voice. The noise had not been allowed.
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  Speaker 1: I doubt if the Sagoths heard it at all, But
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  Speaker 1: the suggestion of latent possibilities behind it was such that
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  Speaker 1: I knew it would only emanate from a gigantic and
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  Speaker 1: ferocious beast. As I backed along the ledge, I soon
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  Speaker 1: was past the mouth of the cave, where I no
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  Speaker 1: longer could see those fearful, flaming eyes. But an instant
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  Speaker 1: later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a
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  Speaker 1: Sagoth as it warily advanced beyond the cliff's turn on
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  Speaker 1: the far side of the cave's mouth. As the fellow
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  Speaker 1: saw me, he leaped along the ledge in pursuit, and
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  Speaker 1: after him came as many of his companions as could
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  Speaker 1: crowd upon each other's heels. At the same time, the
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  Speaker 1: beast emerged from the cave, so that he and the
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  Speaker 1: Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge. The
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  Speaker 1: thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk
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  Speaker 1: fully eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip
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  Speaker 1: of its nose to the end of its stubby tail
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  Speaker 1: it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sighted
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  Speaker 1: the Sagoths, it emitted a most frightful roar, and with
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  Speaker 1: open mouth, charged full upon them with a cry of terror.
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  Speaker 1: The foremost guerrilla man turned to escape, but behind him
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  Speaker 1: he ran full upon his on rushing companions. The horror
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  Speaker 1: of the following seconds is indescribable. The sagoth nearest the
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  Speaker 1: cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and leaped deliberately
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  Speaker 1: into an awful death upon the jack rocks three hundred
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  Speaker 1: feet below. Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered
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  Speaker 1: in the next there was a sickening sound of crushing bones,
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  Speaker 1: and the mangled corpse was dropped over the cliff's edge.
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  Speaker 1: Nor did the mighty beast even pause in his steady
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  Speaker 1: advance along the ledge. Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly
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  Speaker 1: over the precipice to escape him, and the last I
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  Speaker 1: saw he rounded the turn, still pursuing the demoralized remnant
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  Speaker 1: of the man hunters. For a long time I could
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  Speaker 1: hear the horrid roaring of the brute, intermingled with the
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  Speaker 1: screams and shrieks of his victims, until finally the awful
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  Speaker 1: sounds dwindled and disappeared in the distance. Later I learned
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  Speaker 1: from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen and
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  Speaker 1: returned with a party to rescue me, that the Riff,
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  Speaker 1: as it is called, pursued the Sagoths until it had
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  Speaker 1: exterminated the entire band. Ghak was of course positive that
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  Speaker 1: I had fallen prey to the terrible creature, which within
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  Speaker 1: pellucidars truly the king of beasts. Not caring to venture
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  Speaker 1: back into the canyon where I might fall prey either
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  Speaker 1: to the cave bear or the Sagoths, I continued on
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  Speaker 1: along the ledge, believing that by following around the mountain.
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  Speaker 1: I could reach the land of Sere from another direction.
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  Speaker 1: But I evidently became confused by the twisting and turning
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  Speaker 1: of the canyons and gullies, for I did not come
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  Speaker 1: to the land of Serre then, nor for a long
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  Speaker 1: time thereafter. End of Chapter thirteen.