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04 - Out of Time's Abyss - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Daily Classic Sci Fi Books

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Chapter four. The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric and the more
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sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger predominated, apparently because of
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their more beautiful markings, and decorative skulls became more and more numerous. Many
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of the latter were mounted in precious metals and set with colored stones and priceless
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gems, while thick upon the hides that covered the walls were golden ornaments,
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similar to those worn by the girl and those which had filled the chests he
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had examined in the store room of foche Balsage, leading the Englishmen to the
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conviction that all such were spoils of war or theft, since each peace seemed
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made for personal adornment, while in so far as he had seen, no
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Weiru wore ornaments of any sort. And also as they advanced, the more
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numerous became the weirrous, Moving hither and thither within the temple, many now
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were the solid red robes, and those that were slashed with blue, a
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veritable hive of murderers. At last, the party halted in a room in
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which were many Weirus, who gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining him
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and his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishmen spoke to a Weiru
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that stood beside a door leading from the room. Tell him who speaks for
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Luata. He said that Fosche Balsage we could not find, but in returning
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we found this creature within the temple hiding. It must be the same that
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Fosche Balsage captured in the Stolou country during the last darkness. Doubtless he who
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speaks for Luata would wish to see and question this strange thing. The creature
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addressed, turned and slipped through the doorway, closing the door after it,
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but first depositing its curved blade upon the floor without its post. Was immediately
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taken by another, and Bradley now saw that at least twenty such guards loitered
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in the immediate vicinity. The door keeper was gone but for a moment,
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and when he returned, he signified that Bradley's party was to enter the next
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chamber, But first each of the weirrous removed his curved weapon and laid it
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upon the floor. The door was swung open, and the party now reduced
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to Bradley and five weirus was ushered across the threshold into a large, irregularly
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shaped room in which a single giant whiru, whose robe was solid blue,
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sat upon a raised dais. The creature's face was white with the whiteness of
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a cortz, its dead eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel thin lips tight drawn
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against yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon either side of it lay an
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enormous curved sword, similar to those with which some of the other whirus had
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been armed, but larger and heavier. Constantly its claw like fingers played with
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one or the other of these weapons. The walls of the chamber, as
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well as the floor, were entirely hidden by skins and woven fabrics. Blue
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predominated in all the colorations. Fastened against the hides were many pairs of Wiru
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wings, mounted so that they resembled long black shields. Upon the ceiling were
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painted in blue characters, a bewildering series of hieroglyphics, and upon pedestals.
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Set against the walls or standing out well within the room were many human skulls.
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As the wirus approached the figure upon the dais, they leaned far forward,
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raising their wings above their heads and stretching their necks, as though offering
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them to the sharp swords of the grim and hideous creature. O thou who
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speakest for the water, exclaimed one of the party, We bring you the
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strange creature that Fouchepalsage captured and brought thither at thy command. So this,
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then, was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity. This arch murderer was
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the Caspakian representative of God on earth. His blue robe announced him the one,
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and the seeming humility of his minions the other. For a long minute
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he glared at Bradley. Then he began to question him. From whence he
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came and howl? The name and description of his native country, and a
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hundred other queries. Are your cossackleloo, the creature asked. Bradley replied that
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he was, and that all his kind were, as well as every living
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thing in his part of the world. Can you tell me the secret?
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Asked the creature. Bradley hesitated, and then, thinking to gain time,
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replied in the affirmative. What is it? Demanded the wearu, leaning far
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forward and exhibiting every evidence of excited interest. Bradley leaned forward and whispered,
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it is for your ears alone. I will not divulge it to others,
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and then only on condition that you carry me and the girl I saw in
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the place of the yellow door near to that of foss Balsage back to her
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own country. The thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above
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its head. Who are you to make terms for him who speaks for Lotta,
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it shrilled, Tell me the secret, or die where you stand,
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and if I die now, the secret goes with me. Bradley reminded him.
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Never again will you get the opportunity to question another of my kind who
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knows the secret. Anything to gain time to get the rest of the wirus
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from the room, that he might plan some scheme for escape and put it
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into effect. The creature turned upon the leader of the party that had brought
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Bradley. Is the thing with weapons? It asked? No, was the
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response. Then go, but tell the guard to remain close by, commanded
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the high one. The wierus salaamed and withdrew, closing the door behind them.
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He who speaks for Luata grasped a sword nervously in his right hand.
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At his left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that he lived
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in constant dread of being assassinated. The fact that he permitted none with weapons
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within his presence, and that he always kept two swords at his side pointed
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to this. Bradley was racking his brain to find some suggestion of a plan
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whereby he might turn the situation to his own account. His eyes wandered past
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the weird figure before him. They played about the walls of the apartment,
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as though hoping to draw inspiration from the dead skulls and the hides and the
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wings. And then they came back to the face of the weiroo god,
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now working in anger, quick screamed the thing the secret? Will you give
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me and the girl our freedom? Insisted Bradley. For an instant the thing
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hesitated, and then it grumbled yes. At the same instant Bradley saw two
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hides upon the wall to directly back of the dais, separate, and a
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face appear in the opening. No change of expression, and upon the Englishman's
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countenance betrayed that he had seen aught to surprise him, though surprised he was,
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for the face in the aperture was that of the girl he had but
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just left hidden beneath the hides in another chamber. A white and shapely arm
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now pushed past the face into the room, and in the hand, tightly
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clutched, was the curved blade, smeared with blood, that Bradley had dropped
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beneath the hides at the moment he had been discovered and drawn from his concealment.
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Listen, then, said Bradley, in a low voice to the Wearu,
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you shall know the secret of Cossattledoo as well as do I, but
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none other may hear it? Lean close, I will whisper it into your
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ear. He moved forward and stepped upon the dais. The creature raised its
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sword, ready to strike at the first indication of treachery, and Bradley stooped
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beneath the blade and put his ear close to the gruesome face. As he
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did so, he rested his weight upon his hands, one upon either side
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of the Weiru's body, his right hand upon the hilt of the spare sword
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lying at the left of him who speaks for Luata, This then is the
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secret of both life and death, he whispered, and at the same instant
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he grasped the Weiru by the right wrist, and with his own right hand
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swung the extra blade in a sudden, vicious blow against the creature's neck before
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the thing could give even a single cry of alarm. Then, without waiting
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an instant, Bradley leaped past the dead god and vanished behind the hides that
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had hidden the girl. Wide eyed and panting, the girl seized his arm.
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Oh what have you done, she cried? He who speaks for Luata
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will be avenged by Luata. Now, indeed, must you die? There
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is no escape, for even though we reached my own country, Luata can
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find you out, bash, exclaimed Bradley. And then, but you were
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going to knife him yourself, then I alone should have died, she replied.
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Brad scratched his head. Neither of us is going to die, he
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said, at least not at the hands of any god. If we don't
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get out of here, though, we'll die right enough. Can you find
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your way back to the room where I first came upon you in the temple?
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I know the way, replied the girl, but I doubt if we
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can go back without being seen. I came hither because I only met Girus,
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who knew that I am supposed now to be in the temple. But
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you could go elsewhere without being discovered. Bradley's ingenuity had come up against a
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stone wall. There seemed no possibility of escape. He looked about him.
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They were in a small room where lay a litter of rubbish, torn bits
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of cloth, old hives, pieces of fiber rope. In the center of
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the room was a cylindrical shaft with an opening in its face. Bradley knew
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it for what it was. Here the arch fiend dragged his victims and cast
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their bodies into the river of death far below. The floor about the opening
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in the shaft and the sides of the shaft were clotted thick with a dried,
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dark brown substance that the Englishman knew had once been blood. The place
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had the appearance of having been a veritable shambles. An odor of decaying flesh
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permeated the air. The Englishman crossed to the shaft and peered into the opening.
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All below was dark as pitch, but at the bottom he knew was
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the river. Suddenly, an inspiration and a bold scheme leaped to his mind.
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Turning quickly, he hunted about the room until he found what he sought.
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A quantity of the rope that lay strewn here and there with rapid fingers,
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he unsnarled the different lengths, the girl helping him, and then he
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tied the ends together until he had three ropes about seventy five feet in length.
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He fastened these together at each end, and without a word, secured
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one of the ends about the girl's body beneath her arms. Don't be frightened,
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he said at length, as he led her toward the opening in the
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shaft. I'm going to lower you to the river, and then I'm coming
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down after you when you are safe below. Give two quick jerks upon the
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rope. If there is danger there and you want me to draw you up
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into the shaft, jerk once. Don't be afraid. It is the only
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way. I am not afraid, replied the girl, rather haughtily Bradley thought,
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and herself climbed through the aperture and hung by her hands, waiting for
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Bradley to lower her as rapidly as was consistent with safety. The man paid
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out the rope. When it was about half out. He heard loud cries
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and wails suddenly arise within the room they had just quitted. The slaying of
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their god had been discovered by the weirus A search for the slayer would begin
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at once lord, would the girl never reach the river? At last,
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just as he was positive that searchers were already entering the room behind him,
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there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly, Bradley made the rest
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of the strands fast about the shaft, slipped into the black tube, and
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began a hurried descent toward the river. An instant later, he stood waist
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deep in water beside the girl. Impulsively, she reached toward him and grasped
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his arm. A strange thrill ran through him at the contact, but he
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only cut the rope from about her body and lifted her to the little shelf
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at the river's side. How can we leave here, she asked, By
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the river, he replied, But first I must go back to the blue
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Place of seven Skulls and get the poor devil I left there. I will
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have to wait until after dark, though, as I cannot pass through the
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open stretch of river in the Temple gardens by day. There is another way,
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said the girl. I have never seen it, but often I have
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heard them speak of it. A corridor that runs beside the river from one
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end of the city to the other through the gardens. It is below ground.
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If we could find an entrance to it, we could leave here at
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once. It is not safe here, for they will search every inch of
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the temple and the grounds. Come, said Bradley. We'll have a look
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for it anyway, And so saying, he approached one of the doors that
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opened onto the skull paved shelf. They found the corridor easily, for it
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paralleled the river, separated from it only by a single wall. It took
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them beneath the gardens and the city, always through inky darkness. After they
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had reached the other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his steps until he
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had retraced as many as he had taken coming down the stream. But though
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they had to grope their way along, it was a much more rapid trip
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than the former. When he thought he was about opposite the point at which
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he had descended from the Blue Place of seven Skulls, he sought and found
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a doorway leading out on to the river, and then, still in the
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blackest darkness, he lured himself into the stream and fell up and down upon
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the opposite side for the little shelf and the ladder, ten yards from where
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he had emerged. He found them, while the girl waited upon the opposite
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side to ascend. The secret panel was the work of but a minute.
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Here he paused and listened, lest the Weiru might be visiting the prison in
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search of him or the other inmate. But no sound came from the gloomy
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interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of the man on the
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opposite side, when he should drop down to him with food and a new
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hope for escape. Then he opened the panel and looked into the room.
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The faint light from the grating above revealed the pile of rags in one corner,
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but the man lay beneath them. He made no response to Bradley's low
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greeting. The Englishman lured himself to the floor of the room and approached the
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rags. Stooping, he lifted a corner of them. Yes, there was
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the man asleep. Bradley shook him. There was no response. He stooped
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lore, and in the dim light examined the antack. Then he stood up
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with a sigh. A rat leaped from beneath the coverings and scurried away.
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Poor devil, muttered Bradley. He crossed the room to swing himself to the
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perch, preparatory to quitting the blue place of seven skulls. Forever beneath the
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perch, he paused. I'll not give them the satisfaction, he growled,
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let them believe that he escaped. Returning to the pile of rags, he
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gathered the man into his arms. It was difficult work raising him to the
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high perch and dragging him through the small opening and thus down the ladder,
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but presently it was done, and Bradley had lured the body into the river
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and cast it off. Good Bye, old Top, he whispered. A
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moment later he had rejoined the girl, and hand in hand, they were
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following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end of the city. She told
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him that the weirrou seldom frequented these lower passages, as the air here was
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too chill for them, But occasionally they came, and as they could see
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quite as well by night as by day, they would be sure to discover
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Bradley and the girl. If they come close enough, She said, we
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can see their eyes shining in the dark. They resemble dull splotches of light.
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They glow but do not blaze. Like the eyes of the tiger or
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the lion. The man could not but note the very evident horror with which
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she mentioned the creatures. To him, they were uncanny, but she had
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been used to them for a year almost and probably all her life. She
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had either seen or heard of them constantly. Why do you fear them,
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so he asked, It seems more than an ordinary fear of the harm they
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can do you. She tried to explain, but the nearest he could gather
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was that she looked upon the whiru almost as supernatural beings. There is a
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legend current among my people that once the whiru were unlike us, only in
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that they possessed rudimentary wings. They lived in villages in the Gallou country,
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and while the two peoples often warred, they held no hatred for one another.
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In those days, each race came up from the beginning, and there
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was great rivalry as to which was the higher in the scale of evolution.
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The Wiru developed the first cossatloo, but they were always male, never could
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they reproduce women. Slowly, they commenced to develop certain attributes of the mind,
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which they considered placed them upon a still higher level, and which gave
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them many advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental development.
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Their minds became like stars and the rivers, moving always in the same manner,
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never varying. They called this tasad, which means doing everything the right
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way, or in other words, the Weiru way. If foe or friend,
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right or wrong, stood in the way of Tasad, then it must
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be crushed. Soon the galows and the lesser races of men came to hate
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and fear them. It was then that the wirus decided to carry Tasad into
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every part of the world. They were very warlike and very numerous, although
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they had long since adopted the policy of slaying all those among them whose wings
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did not show advanced development. It took ages for all this to happen.
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Very slowly came the different changes. But at last the weirus had wings they
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could use. But by reason of always making war upon their neighbors, they
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were hated by every creature of cashpack, for no one wanted their tasad,
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and so they used their wings to fly to this island when the other races
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turned against them and threatened to kill them all. So cruel had they become,
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and so bloodthirsty that they no longer had hearts that beat with love or
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sympathy. But their very cruelty and wickedness kept them from conquering the other races,
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since they were all so cruel and wicked to one another, so that
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no weiru trusted another. Always were they slaying those above them, that they
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might rise in power and possessions, Until at last came the more powerful than
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the others, With a tacad all his own. He gathered about him a
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few of the most terrible rearus, and among them they made laws which took
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from all but these few weeros every weapon they possessed. Now their tasait has
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reached a high plain. Among them they make many wonderful things that we cannot
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make. They think great thoughts, no doubt, and still dream of greatness
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to come. But their thoughts and their acts are regulated by ages of custom.
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They are all alike, and they are most unhappy. As the girl
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talked, the two moved steadily along the dark passageway beside the river. They
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had advanced a considerable distance when there sounded, faintly from far ahead, the
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muffled roar of falling water, which increased in volume as they moved forward until
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at last it filled the corridor with a deafening sound. Then the corridor ended
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in a blank wall, but in a niche. To the right was a
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ladder leading aloft, and to the left was a door opening on to the
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river. Bradley he tried the ladder first, and as he opened it felt
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a heavy spray against his face. The little shelf outside the doorway was wet
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and slippery, the roaring of the water tremendous. There could be but one
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explanation. They had reached the waterfall in the river, and if the corridor
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actually terminated here, their escape was effectually cut off. Since it was quite
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evidently impossible to follow the bed of the river and ascend the falls. As
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the ladder was the only alternative, the two turned toward it, and the
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man first began the ascent, which was through a well similar to that which
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had led him to the upper floors of the temple. As he climbed,
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Bradley felt for openings in the side of the shaft, but he discovered none
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below fifty feet. The first he came to was Ajar, letting a faint
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light into the well. As he paused, the girl climbed to his side,
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and together they looked through the crack into a low sealed chamber, in
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which were several galoo women and an equal number of hideous little replicas of the
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full grown weirus, with which Bradley was not quite familiar. He could feel
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the body of the girl pressed close to his tremble as her eyes rested upon
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the inmates of the room, and involuntarily his arm encircled her shoulders, as
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though to protect her from some danger which he sensed without recognizing. Poor things,
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she whispered, this is their horrible fate, to be imprisoned here beneath
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the surface of the city, with their hideous offspring, whom they hate as
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they hate their fathers. A weiru keeps his children thus hidden until they are
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full grown, lest they be murdered by their fellows. The lower rooms of
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the city are filled with many such as these. Several feet above was a
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second door, beyond which they found a small room stored with food in wooden
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vessels. A grated window in one wall opened above an alley, and through
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it they could see that they were just below the roof of the building.
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Darkness was coming, and at Bradley's suggestion, they decided to remain hidden here
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until after dark, and then to ascend to the roof and reconnoiter. Shortly
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after they had settled themselves, they heard something descending the ladder from above.
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They hoped that it would continue on down the well, and fairly held their
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breath as the sound approached the door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as
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they heard the door open, and from between cracks in the vessels behind which
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they hid, saw a yellow slashed whiru enter the room. Each recognized him
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immediately, the girl indicating the fact of her own recognition by a sudden pressure
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of her fingers on Bradley's arm. It was the Weiru of the yellow slashing,
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whose abode was the place of the yellow door in which Bradley had first
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seen the girl. The creature carried a wooden bowl, which it filled with
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dried food from several of the vessels, then turned and quit the room.
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Bradley could see through the partially opened doorway that it descended the ladder. The
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girl told him that it was taking the food to the women and the young
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below, and that while it might return immediately, the chances were that it
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would remain for some time. We are just below the place of the yellow
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door. She said. It is far from the edge of the city,
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so far that we may not hope to escape if we ascend to the roofs
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here. I think, replied the man, that of all the places in
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u Oh, this will be the easiest to escape from. Anyway. I
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want to return to the place of the yellow door and get my pistol if
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it is there. It is still there, replied the girl. I saw
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it placed in a chest where he keeps the things he takes from his prisoners
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and victims, good, explained Bradley. Now come quickly, and the two
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crossed the room to the well and descended the ladder a short distance to its
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top, where they found another door that opened into a vacant room, the
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same in which Bradley had first met the girl. To find the pistol was
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a matter of but a moment's search on the part of Bradley's companion, and
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then at the englishman's signal, she followed him to the yellow door. It
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was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow passage between two buildings.
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A few steps brought them undiscovered to the doorway of the store room, where
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lay the body of foche balsage. In the distance towards the temple, they
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could hear sounds as of a great gathering of weirus, the peculiar uncanny wailing
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rising above the dismal flapping of countless wings. They have heard of the killing
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of him who speaks for Luata, whispered the girl. Soon they will spread
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in all directions, searching for us. And will they find us as surely
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as Luire gives light by day, she replied. And when they find us,
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they will tear us to pieces. For only the Weiru's may murder,
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only they may practice tasad, But they will not kill you, said Bradley.
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You did not slay him. It will make no difference, she insisted.
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If they find us together, they will slay us both. Then they
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won't find us together, announced Bradley decisively. You stay right here. You
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won't be any worse off than before I came. And I'll get as far
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as I can and account for as many of the beggars as possible before they
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get me. Good Bye. You're a mighty decent little girl. I wish
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that I might have helped you. No, she cried, do not leave
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me. I would rather die. I had hoped and hoped to find some
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way to return to my own country. I wanted to go back to Antac,
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who must be very lonely without me. But I know that it never
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can be. It is difficult to kill hope, though mine is nearly dead.
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Do not leave me, Antac. Bradley repeated, you loved a man
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called Antac, Yes, replied the girl. An Tak was away hunting when
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the Whiru caught me. How he must have grieved for me. He also
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was Cosataloup, twelve moons older than I, and all our lives we have
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been together. Bradley remained silent, so she loved Antac. He hadn't the
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heart to tell her that an Tak had died or how. At the door
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of foshe Balsage's store room, they halted to listen. No sound came from
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within, and gently Bradley pushed open the door. All was inky darkness as
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they entered, but presently their eyes became accustomed to the gloom that was partially
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relieved by the soft starlight. Without the Englishman searched and found those things for
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which he had come. Two robes, two pairs of dead wings, and
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several lengths of fiber rope. One pair of the wings he adjusted to the
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girl's shoulders by means of the rope. Then he draped the robe of her,
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carrying the cowl over her head. He heard her gasp of astonishment when
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she realized the ingenuity and boldness of his plan. Then he directed her to
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adjust the other pair of wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong,
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deft fingers. She soon had the work completed, and the two stepped
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out upon the roof to all intent and purpose, genuine weirus. Beside his
27:25
pistol, Bradley carried the sword of the slain Wiru prophet, while the girl
27:30
was armed with the small blade of the red Wairu. Side by side,
27:34
they walked slowly across the roof toward the north edge of the city. Weirus
27:38
flapped above them, and several times they passed others walking or sitting upon the
27:44
roofs from the temple still rose, the sounds of commotion, now pierced by
27:48
occasional shrill screams. The murderers are abroad, whispered the girl. Thus will
27:55
another become the tongue of Luata. It is well for us, since it
27:59
keeps them too busy to give the time for searching for us. They think
28:03
that we cannot escape the city, and they know that we cannot leave the
28:07
island, and so do I. Bradley shook his head. If there is
28:11
any way we will find it, he said. There is no way,
28:15
replied the girl. Bradley made no response, and in silence they continued until
28:22
the outer edge of roofs was visible before them. We are almost there,
28:26
he whispered. The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He could
28:30
feel hers trembling as he returned the pressure. Nor did he relinquish her hand,
28:36
and thus they came to the edge of the last roof. Here they
28:40
halted and looked about them. To be seen attempting to descend to the ground
28:44
below would be to betray the fact that they were not weirus. Bradley wished
28:48
that their wings were attached to their bodies by sinew and muscle, rather than
28:52
by ropes of fiber. A weiru was flapping far overhead. Two more stood
28:59
near a door a few yards distant. Standing between these and one of the
29:03
outer pedestals that supported one of the numerous skulls, Bradley made one end of
29:07
a piece of rope fast about the pedestal and dropped the other end to the
29:11
ground outside the city. Then they waited. It was an hour before the
29:18
coast was entirely clear, and then a moment came when no wearu was in
29:22
sight. Now whispered Bradley, and the girl grasped the rope and slid over
29:27
the edge of the roof into the darkness below. A moment later, Bradley
29:32
felt two quick pulls upon the rope and immediately followed to the girl's side.
29:37
Across a narrow clearing, they made their way and into a wood beyond.
29:41
All night they walked, following the river upward toward its source, and at
29:45
dawn they took shelter in a thicket beside the stream. At no time did
29:51
they hear the cry of a carnivore, and though many startled animals fled as
29:55
they approached, they were not once menaced by a wild beast. When Bradley
30:00
expressed surprise at the absence of the fiercest beasts that are so numerous upon the
30:04
mainland of Coprona, the girl explained the reason that is contained in one of
30:10
their ancient legends. When the rear us first developed wings upon which they could
30:15
fly. They found this island devoid of any life other than a few reptiles
30:21
that live either upon land or in the water, and these only close to
30:25
the coast. Requiring meat for food, the wearerus carried to the island such
30:30
animals as they wished for that purpose. They still occasionally bring them, and
30:33
this, with the natural increase, keeps them provided with flesh, as it
30:38
will us, suggested Bradley. The first day they remained in hiding, eating
30:45
only the dried food that Bradley had brought with him from the temple's store room,
30:48
and the next night they set out again upon the river, continuing steadily
30:53
on until almost dawn, when they came to Low Hills, where the river
30:57
wound through a gorge. It was little more than rivulet now, the water
31:03
clear and cold, and filled with fish similar to brook trout, though much
31:07
larger. Not Wishing to leave the stream, the two waded along its bed
31:11
to a spot where the gorge widened between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of
31:18
level land. Here they stopped, for here also the stream ended. They
31:22
had reached its source. Many cold springs bubbling up from the center of a
31:27
little natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear and beautiful pool, overshadowed
31:33
by trees upon one side and bounded by a little clearing upon the other.
31:40
With the coming of the sun, they saw they had stumbled upon a place
31:44
where they might remain hidden from the weirus for a long time, and also
31:48
one that they could defend against these winged creatures. Since the trees would shield
31:55
them from an attack from above and also hamper the movements of the creatures,
32:00
they attempt to follow them into the wood. For three days they rested here
32:05
before trying to explore the neighboring country. On the fourth Bradley stated that he
32:09
was going to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond. He told the
32:14
girl that she should remain in hiding, but she refused to be left,
32:19
saying that whatever fate was to be his, she intended to share it,
32:22
so that he was at last forced to permit her to come with him through
32:28
woods. At the summit of the bluff, they made their way toward the
32:30
north, and had gone but a short distance when the wood ended, and
32:35
before them they saw the waters of the inland Sea, and dimly in the
32:38
distance the coveted shore the beach lay some two hundred yards from the foot of
32:44
the hill on which they stood, Nor was there a tree nor any other
32:49
form of shelter between them and the water, as far up and down the
32:52
coast as they could see. Among other plans, Bradley had thought of constructing
32:58
a covered raft upon which they might drift to the mainland. But as such
33:02
a contrivance would necessarily be of considerable weight, it must be built in the
33:07
water of the sea, since they could not hope to move it even a
33:12
short distance overland. If this wood was only at the edge of the water,
33:15
he sighed. But it is not, the girl reminded him. And
33:20
then let us make the best of it. We have escaped from death for
33:23
a time. At least we have food and good water, and peace and
33:29
each other. What more could we have upon the mainland. But I thought
33:32
you wanted to get back to your own country, he exclaimed. She cast
33:37
her eyes upon the ground and half turned away. I do, she said,
33:43
Yet I am happy here. I could be little happier there. Bradley
33:47
stood in silent thought. We have food and good water, and peace and
33:52
each other, he repeated to himself. He turned then and looked at the
33:57
girl and it was as though in the day that they had been together,
34:00
this was the first time that he had really seen her. The circumstances that
34:07
had thrown them together, the dangers through which they had passed, all the
34:10
weird and horrible surroundings that had formed the background of his knowledge of her,
34:16
had had their effect. She had been but the companion of an adventure.
34:21
Her self, reliance, her endurance, her loyalty had been only what one
34:25
man might take spect of another. And he saw that he had unconsciously assumed
34:31
an attitude toward her that he might have assumed toward a man. Yet there
34:37
had been a difference. He recalled now the strange sensation of elation that had
34:42
thrilled him upon the occasions when the girl had pressed his hand in hers,
34:46
and the depression that had followed her announcement of her love for Antac. He
34:52
took a step toward her. A fierce yearning to seize her and crush her
34:55
in his arms swept over him, and then their flash upon the screen of
35:00
recollection, the picture of a stately hall set amidst broad gardens and ancient trees,
35:07
and of a proud old man with beetling brows an old man who held
35:10
his head very high, and Bradley shook his head and turned away again.
35:16
They went back then to their little acre, and the days came and went,
35:22
And the man fashioned spear and bow and arrows, and hunted with them
35:25
that they might have meat. And he made hooks of fish bone, and
35:30
caught fishes with wondrous flies of his own invention. And the girl gathered fruits
35:36
and cooked the flesh and the fish, and made beds of branches and soft
35:39
grasses. She cured the hides of the animals he killed, and made them
35:45
soft by much pounding. She made sandals for herself and for the man,
35:51
and fashioned a hide after the manner of those worn by the warriors of her
35:54
tribe, and made the man wear it, for his own garments were in
35:59
rags. She was always the same, sweet and kind and helpful, but
36:05
always there was about her manner and her expression just a trace of wistfulness.
36:09
And often she sat and looked at the man when he did not know it,
36:15
her brows puckered in thought, as though she were trying to fathom and
36:19
to understand him. In the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave
36:24
from the rotted granite of which the hill was composed, making a shelter for
36:29
them against the reins. He brought wood for their cook fire, which they
36:34
used only in the middle of the day, a time when there was little
36:37
likelihood of Wearoos being in the air so far from their city, And then
36:42
he learned to bank it with earth in such a way that the embers held
36:45
until the following noon without giving off smoke. Always he was planning on reaching
36:52
the mainland, and never a day passed that he did not go to the
36:55
top of the hill and look out across the sea toward the dark, distant
37:00
line that meant for him comparative freedom and possibly reunion with his comrades. The
37:07
girl always went with him, standing at his side and watching the stern expression
37:12
on his face, with just a tinge of sadness on her own. You
37:15
are not happy, she said once. I should be over there with my
37:20
men. He replied, I do not know what may have happened to them.
37:24
I want you to be happy, she said, quite simply. But
37:29
I should be very lonely if you went away and left me here. He
37:32
put his hand on her shoulder. I would not do that, little girl,
37:37
He said gently. If you cannot go with me, I shall not
37:40
go. If either of us must go alone, it will be you.
37:45
Her face lighted to a wondrous smile. Then we shall not be separated,
37:51
she said, for I shall never leave you as long as we both live.
37:55
He looked down into her face for a moment. And then who is
38:00
Antack? He asked, my brother? She replied, why? And then,
38:06
even less than before could he tell her. It was then that he
38:10
did something he had never done before. He put his arms about her,
38:15
and, stooping, kissed her forehead. Until you find Antack, he said,
38:21
I will be your brother. She drew away. I already have a
38:24
brother, she said, and I do not want another. End of chapter four.