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

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Chapter five days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the months followed
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one another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days and warm, humid
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nights. The fugitives never saw a whiru by day, though often at night
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they heard the melancholy flapping of giant wings far above them. Each day was
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much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed about for a few minutes in the cold
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pool early each morning, and after a time the girl tried it and lighted
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it toward the center. It was deep enough for swimming, and so he
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tottered to swim. She was probably the first human being in all cast backs
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long ages who had done this thing. And then while she prepared breakfast,
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the man shaved. This he never neglected at first. It was a source
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of wonderment to the girl, for the gallow men are beardless. When they
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needed meat, he hunted. Otherwise, he busied himself in improving their shelter,
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making new and better weapons, perfecting his knowledge of the girl's language,
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and teaching her to speak and to write English, anything that would keep them
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both occupied. He still sought new plans for escape, but with ever lessening
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enthusiasm. Since each new scheme presented some insurmountable obstacle, and then one day,
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as a bolt out of a clear sky, came that which blasted the
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peace and security of their sanctuary forever. Bradley was just emerging from the water
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after his morning plunge when from overhead came the sound of flapping wings. Glancing
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quickly up, the man saw a white robe weru circling slowly above him that
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he had been discovered. He could not doubt, since the creature even dropped
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to a lower altitude, as though to assure itself that what it saw was
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a man. Then it rose rapidly and winged away toward the city. For
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two days, Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state of apprehension,
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awaiting the moment when the hunters would come for them. But nothing happened until
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just after dawn of the third day, when the flapping of wings apprised them
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of the approach of wirus. Together they went to the edge of the wood
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and looked up to see five red rogue creatures dropping slowly in ever lessening spirals
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toward their little amphitheater. With no attempt at concealment. They came sure of
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their ability to overwhelm these two fugitives, and with the fullest measure of self
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confidence, they landed in the clearing, but a few yards from the man
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and the girl. Following a plan already discussed, Bradley and the girl retreated
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slowly into the woods. The wiirus advanced, calling upon them to give themselves
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up, but the quarry made no reply. Farther and farther into the little
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wood, Bradley led the hunters, permitting them to approach even closer. Then
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he circled back again toward the clearing, evidently to the great delight of the
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wirus, who now followed more leisurely, awaiting the moment when they should be
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beyond the trees. Unable to use their wings, they had opened into semi
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circular formation. Now with the evident intention of cutting the two off from returning
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into the wood. Each Whiru advanced with his curved blade ready in his hand,
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each hideous face blank and expressionless. It was then that Bradley opened fire
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with his pistol, three shots, aimed with careful deliberation, for it had
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been long since he had used the weapon, and he could not afford the
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chance wasting ammunition on missus. At each shot, a whiru dropped, and
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then the remaining two sought escape by flight, screaming and wailing, after the
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manner of their kind. When a wiru runs, his wings spread almost without
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any volition upon his part. Since from time immemorial he has always used them
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to balance himself and accelerate his running speed, so that in the open they
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appeared to skim the surface of the ground when in the act of running.
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But here in the woods, among the close set bulls, the spreading of
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their wings proved their undoing. It hindered and stopped them, and threw them
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to the ground. And then Bradley was upon them, threatening them with instant
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death if they did not surrender, promising them their freedom if they did his
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bidding. As you have seen, He cried, I can kill you when
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I wish, and at a distance you cannot escape me. Your only hope
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of life lies in obedience, quick, or I kill the Weirarus stopped and
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faced him. What do you want of us, asked one, Throw aside
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your weapons, Bradley commanded. After a moment's hesitation, they obeyed. Now
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approach a great plan. The only plan had suddenly come to him like an
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inspiration. The weirus came closer and halted at his command. Bradley turned to
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the girl. There there was a rope in the shelter, he said,
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fetch it. She did as he bid, and then he directed her to
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fasten one end of a fifty foot length to the ankle of one of the
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weareros, and the opposite end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of
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great fear, but they dared not attempt to prevent the act. Now go
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out into the clearing, said Bradley, and remember that I am walking close
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behind, and that I will shoot the nearer one should either attempt to escape.
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That will hold the other until I can kill him as well. In
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the open, he halted them. The girl will get upon the back of
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the one in front, announced the Englishman. I will mount the other.
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She carries a sharp blade, and I carry this weapon that you now kills
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easily at a distance. If you disobey in the slightest the instructions that I
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am about to give you, you shall both die. That we must die
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with You will not deter us. If you obey, I promise to set
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you free without harming you. You will carry us due west depositing us upon
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the shore of the mainland. That is all. It is the price of
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your lives. Do you agree? Sullenly the wirus acquiesced. Bradley examined the
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knots that held the rope to their ankles, and, feeling them secure,
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directed the girl to mount the back of the leading whiru, himself upon the
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other. Then he gave the signal for the two to rise. Together with
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loud flapping of the powerful wings, the creatures took to the air, circling
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once before they topped the trees upon the hill, and then taking a course
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due west out over the waters of the sea. Nowhere about them could Bradley
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see signs of other whirus, nor of those other menaces which he had feared
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might bring disaster to his plans for escape. The huge winged reptilia that are
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so numerous above the southern areas of Caspack, and which are often seen,
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though in lesser numbers, farther north, nearer and nearer whom the mainland.
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A broad park like expanse stretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread
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out before them. The little dots in the foreground became grazing herds of deer
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and antelope and boss a huge wooly rhinoceros wallowed in a mud hole. To
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the right and beyond, a mighty mammoth culled the tender shoots from a tall
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tree. The roars and screams and growls of giant carnivora came faintly to their
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ears. Ah, this was cast back, with all its dangers and its
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primal savagery. It brought a fullness to the throat of the Englishman, as
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to one who sees and hears the familiar sights and sounds of home after a
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long absence. Then the wearoos dropped swiftly downward to the flower starred turf that
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grew almost to the water's edge. The fugitives slipped from their backs, and
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Bradley told the red robe creatures they were free to go. When he had
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cut the ropes from their ankles. They rose with that uncanny wailing of upon
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their lips that always brought a shudder to the Englishman, and upon dismal wings
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they flapped away toward frightful ou O. When the creatures had gone, the
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girl turned toward Bradley, Why did you have them bring us here? She
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asked. Now we are far from my country. We may never live to
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reach it, as we are among enemies who, while not so horrible,
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will kill us just as surely as would the weirus should they capture us.
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And we have before us many marches through lands filled with savage beasts. There
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were two reasons, replied Bradley. You told me that there are two Weiru
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cities at the eastern end of the island. To have passed near either of
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them might have been to have brought about our heads hundreds of the creatures from
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whom we could not possibly have escaped. Again, my friends must be near
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this spot. It cannot be over two marches to the fort of which I
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have told you. It is my duty to return to them. If they
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still live, we shall find away to return you to your people. And
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you asked the girl, I escape from ou, oh, replied Bradley.
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I have accomplished the impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it again.
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I shall escape from cast back. He was not looking at her face as
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he answered her, and so he did not see the shadow of sorrow that
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crossed her countenance. When he raised his eyes again, she was smiling.
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What you wish, I wish, said the girl. Southward along the coast,
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they made their way, following the beach where the walking was best,
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but always keeping close enough to trees to insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles
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that so often menaced them. It was late in the afternoon when the girl
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suddenly seized Bradley's arm and pointed straight ahead along the shore. What is that,
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she whispered, What strange reptile is it? Bradley looked in the direction
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her slim forefinger indicated. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then
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he seized her wrist and drew her quickly behind a clump of bushes. What
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is it, she asked. It is the most frightful reptile that the waters
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of the world have ever known. He replied, It is a German u
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boat. An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her features. It is the
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thing of which you told me, she exclaimed, The thing that swims under
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the water and carries men in its belly. It is, replied Bradley.
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Then why do you hide from it, asked the girl. You said that
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now it belonged to your friends. Many months have passed since I knew what
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was going on among my friends, he replied, I cannot know what has
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befallen them. They should have been gone from here in this vessel long since,
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and so I cannot understand why it is still here. I am going
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to investigate first before I show myself. When I left, there were more
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Germans on the youth thirty three than there were men of my own party at
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the fort, and I have had sufficient experience of Germans to know that they
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will bear watching if they have not been properly watched since I left. Making
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their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few yards inland, the
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two crept unseen toward the U boat, which lay moored to the shore at
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a point which Bradley now recognized as being near the oil pool north of Dinosaur.
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As close as possible to the vessel, they halted, crouching low among
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the dense vegetation, and watched the boat for signs of human life about it.
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The hatches were closed, no one could be seen or heard for five
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minutes. Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the submarine and investigate.
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He had risen to carry his decision into effect when there suddenly broke upon
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his ear, uttered in loud and menacing tones, a volley of German oaths
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and expletives, among which he heard England and if a Swaine Hundat repeated several
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times. The voice did not come from the direction of the Eu Bolt,
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but from Inland. Creeping forward, Bradley reached a spot where through the creepers
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hanging from the trees, he could see a party of men coming down toward
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the shore. He saw Baron Friedrich Bonchuenboarts and six of his men, all
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armed, while marching in a little knot Among them were Oltsen, Brady,
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Sinclair, Wilson, and Whiteley. Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen,
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Tyler and Miss LaRue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling
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the fort and attempting to escape in the U thirty three, but he was
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in no way surprised at what he saw before him. The little party came
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slowly onward, the prisoners staggering beneath heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz,
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one of the German non commissioned officers, cursed and beat them with a stick
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of wood, impartially Bonschuen walked in the rear of the column, encouraging Schwartz
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and laughing at the discomfiture of the Britishers. Deets, Hints, and Clots
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also seemed to enjoy the entertainment immensely. But two of the men, Plesser
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and Hindle, marched with eyes straight to the front and with scowling faces.
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Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignities being heaped upon his
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men, and in the brief span of time occupied by the column to come
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abreast of where he lay hidden. He made his plans foolhardy though he knew
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them. Then he drew the girl close to him. Stay here, he
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whispered, I am going out to fight those beasts, but I shall be
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killed. Do not let them see you, Do not let them take you
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alive. They are more cruel, more cowardly, more beastill than the wearer's.
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The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. Go if
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that is right, she whispered. But if you die, I'll die,
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for I cannot live without you. He looked sharply into her eyes. Oh,
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he ejaculated, What an idiot I've been? Nor could I live without
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you, little girl, and he drew her very close and kissed her lips
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good bye. He disengaged himself from her arms and looked again in time to
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see that the rear of the column had just passed him. Then he rose
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and leaped quickly and silently from the jungle. Suddenly, bonchuen Borts felt an
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arm thrown about his neck, and his pistol jerked from its holster. He
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gave a cry of fright and warning, and his men turned to see a
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half naked white man holding their leader securely from behind and aiming a pistol at
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them over his shoulder. Drop those guns came in short, sharp syllables and
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perfect German from the lips of the newcomer. Dropped them, or I'll put
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a bullet through the back of Bonschuenbort's head. The Germans hesitated for a moment,
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looking first toward von Schoenbort's and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second
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in command for orders. It's the English pig, Bradley, shouted the latter,
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and he's alone. Go and get him. Go yourself, growled Plesser.
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Hindle moved close to the side of Plesser and whispered something to him.
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The latter nodded. Suddenly, Von Schoenbortz wheeled about and seized Bradley's pistol arm
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with both hands. Now, he shouted, come and take him quick.
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Schwartz and three others leaped forward, but Plesser and Hindel held back, looking
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questioningly toward the English prisoners. Then Plesser spoke, Now he's your chance,
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Englander. He called in lowtons, seize Hindle and me and take our guns
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from us. The will not fight hard. Olson and Brady were not long
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in acting upon the suggestion they had seen enough of the brutal treatment Von Schoenbortz
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accorded his men and the especially venomous attentions he had taken great enjoyment, and,
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according Plesser and Hindel to understand that these two might be sincere in a
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desire for revenge. In another moment, the two Germans were unarmed, and
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Olson and Brady were running to the support of Bradley. But already it seemed
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too late. Bonschu and Bortz had managed to drag the Englishman around so that
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his back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. Schwartz was almost upon
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Bradley with gun clubbed and ready to smash down upon the Englishman's skull. Brady
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and Olsen were charging the Germans in the rear, with Wilson, Whitely and
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Sinclair supporting them with bare fists. It seemed that Bradley was doomed when apparently
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out of space, an arrow whizzed, striking Schwartz in the side, passing
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half way through his body to crumple him to the earth with a shriek.
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The man fell, and at the same time Oltsen and Brady saw the slim
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figure of a young girl standing at the edge of the jungle, coolly fitting
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another arrow to her bull. Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free
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from Bonschfuenwert's grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from the butt of
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his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans were engaged in a hand
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to hand encounter. Plesser and Hindel, standing aside from the Meili and urging
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their comrades to surrender and join with the English against the tyranny of Bonchuendort's hints
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and clots, possibly influenced by their exhortation, were putting up but a half
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hearted resistance, but deets. A huge bearded bullneck Prussian, yelling like a
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maniac, sought to exterminate the English fine hind with his bayonet, fearing to
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fire his peace lest he kill some of his comrades. It was Oltsen who
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engaged him, and though unused to the long German rifle and bayonet, he
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met the bulrush of the hun with the cold, cruel precision and science of
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English bayonet fighting. There was no fainting, nor retiring, and no parrying
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that was not also an attack. Bayonet fighting to day is not a pretty
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thing to see. It is not an artistic fencing match in which men give
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and take. It is slaughter, inevitable and quickly over deats lunged once madly
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at Oltson's throat. A short point, with just a twist of the bayonet
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to the left, sent the sharp blade over the Englishman's left shoulder. Instantly,
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he stepped close in, dropped his rifle through his hands and grasped it
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with both hands close below the muzzle, and with a short sharp jab,
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sent his blade up beneath each's chin to the brain. So quickly was a
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thing done and so quick the withdrawal that Oltson had wheeled to take on another
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adversary before the German's corpse had toppled to the ground. But there were no
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more adversaries to take on. Hindes and Clocks had thrown down their rifles,
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and with hands above their heads were crying comorade comrade at the tops of their
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voices. Bon Schuenborg still lay where he had fallen. Klesser and Hindel were
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explaining to Bradley that they were glad of the outcome of the fight, as
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they could no longer endure the brutality of the U boat commander. The remainder
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of the men were looking at the girl, who now advanced slowly, her
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bow ready. When Bradley turned toward her and held out his hand, Kotan,
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he said, unstring your bow. These are my friends and yours.
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And to the Englishman, this is Kotan, You who saw her save me
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from swartz, know a part of what I owe her. The rough men
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gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to the men, broken English,
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with a smile upon her lips, enhancing the charm of her irresistible accent,
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Each and every one of them promptly fell in love with her and constituted
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himself henceforth her guardian and her slave. A moment later, the attention of
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each was called to Plesser by a volley of invecti. They turned in time
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to see the man running toward von Schuenbort's who was just rising from the ground.
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Plesser carried a rifle with bayonet fixed that he had snatched from the side
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of Deet's corps. Von Schuenbort's face was livid with fear, his jaws working
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as though he would call for help, but no sound came from his blue
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lips. You struck me, shrieked Plesser, once twice, three times.
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You struck me pig. You murdered Ferk. You drove him insane by your
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cruelty, until he took his own life. You are only one of your
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kind. They are all like you, from the Kaiser down. I wish
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that you wed the kaiser. That's what I'd do. And he lunged his
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bayonet through von Schuenbert's chest. Then he let his rifle fall with the dying
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man and wheeled toward Bradley. Here I am, he said, do with
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me as you like. All my life I have been kicked and cuffed by
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such as that, And yet all these I have gone out when they commanded,
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singing to give up my life if need be to keep them in path.
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Only lately have I come to know what a fool I have been.
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But now I am no longer a fool. And besides, I am avenged,
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and Swerk is avenged. So you can kill me if you wish.
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Here I am if I bways after beIN the king, said Olson. I
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depined the thee sea on your noble chiste, but being only an eye Richmond
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of his a freed name for which God forgive me. The beast I can
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do is shake your hand. You will not be punished, said Bradley.
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There are four of you left. If you four want to come along and
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work with us, we will take you, but you will come as prisoners.
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It suits me, said Pleasure. Now that to Captain dew Tended is
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dead, you need not fear us. All our lives we had known nothing
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but to obey his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose
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I would be fool enough to obey him again. But he is dead now.
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Vie vill obey you wee must obey some one and you. Bradley turned
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to the other survivors of the original crew of the YOU thirty three. Each
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promised obedience. The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and
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then the party boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil. Here Bradley told
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the man what had befallen him since the night of September fourteenth, when he
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had disappeared so mysteriously from the camp upon the plateau. Now he learned for
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the first time that Bowen j. Tyler Junior, and Miss Leroue had been
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missing even longer than he, and that no faintest trace of them had been
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discovered. Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited in ambush
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for them outside the fort, capturing them that they might be used to assist
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in the work of refining the oil and later in manning the U thirty three,
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and Plesser told briefly of the experiences of the German crew under Bonchuenfortz since
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they had escaped from cast back months before, of how they lost their bearings
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after having been shelled by ships they had attempted to sneak farther north and how
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it last. With provisions gone and fuel almost exhausted, they had sought and
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at last found, more by accident than design, the mysterious island they had
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once been so glad to leave behind. Now announced Bradley, we'll plan for
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the future. The boat has fuel, provisions and water for a month.
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I believe you said, bless Her. There are ten of us to man
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it. We have a last sad duty here. We must search for miss
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LaRue and mister Tidler. I say a sad duty because we know that we
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shall not find them. But it is none the less our duty to comb
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the shoreline, firing signal shells intervals, that we at least may leave at
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last with full knowledge that we have done all that men might do to locate
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them. None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice raised in
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protest against the plan to at least make assurance doubly shore before quitting cast back
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forever. And so they started cruising slowly up the coast and firing an occasional
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shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to a stop, and
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always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore for an answering signal. Late in
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the afternoon, they caught sight of a number of banblue warriors, But when
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the vessel approached the shore and the natives realized that human beings stood upon the
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back of the strange monster of the sea, they fled in terror before Bradley
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could come with inhaling distance. That night, they dropped anchor at the mouth
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of a sluggish stream whose warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpole like organisms,
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minute human and spawn. Starting on their precarious journey from some inland pool
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toward the beginning, a journey which one in millions might perhaps survived to complete.
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Already almost at the inception of life, they were being greeted by thousands
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of voracious mouths, as fish and reptiles of many kinds fought to devour them,
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the while other and larger creatures pursued the devours, to be in turn
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preyed upon by some other of the countless forms that inhabit the deeps of Caprona's
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frightful Sea. The second day was practically a repetition of the first. They
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moved very slowly, with frequent stops, and once they landed in the crolew
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country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the bow and arrow men,
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whom they could not persuade to pulavor with them. So belligerent were the natives
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that it became necessary to fire into them in order to escape their persistent and
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ferocious attentions. What chance, asked Bradley, as they were returning to the
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boat with their game. Could Tyler and miss leroue have had among such as
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these? But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third day,
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after cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed a line of
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lofty cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inlet and rounded a sharp promontory.
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About noon, Kotan and Bradley were on deck alone, and as the
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new shore line appeared beyond the point, the girl gave an exclamation of joy
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and seized the man's hand in hers. Oh look, she cried, the
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Galous country, the Galou country. It is my country that I never thought
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to see again. You are glad to come again, Cootan asked Bradley.
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Oh so glad, she cried, And you will come with me to my
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people. We may live here among them, and you will be a great
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warrior. Oh. When Jor dies, you may even be chief, for
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there is none so mighty as my warrior. You will come. Bradley shook
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his head. I cannot, little Kotan, he answered, My country needs
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me, and I must go back. Maybe some day I shall return.
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You will not forget me, Kotan. She looked at him and wide eyed.
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Wonder you are going away from me? She asked, in a very
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small voice. You are going away from Kotan. Bradley looked down upon the
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little bowed head. He felt the soft cheek against his bare arm, and
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he felt something else there too, hot drops of moisture that ran down to
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his very finger tips and splashed, but each one wrung from a woman's heart.
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He bent low and raised the tear stained face to his own. No,
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Kotan, he said, I am not going away from you, for
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you are going with me. You are going back to my own country to
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be my wife. Tell me that you will, Kotan. And he bent
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still lower yet from his height, and kissed her lips. Nor did he
28:06
need more than the wonderful new light in her eyes to tell him that she
28:11
would go to the end of the world with him if he would but take
28:14
her. And then the gun crew came up from below again to fire a
28:18
signal shot, and the two were brought down from the high heaven of their
28:22
new happiness to the scarred and weather beaten deck of the U. Thirty three
28:29
an hour later, the vessel was running close in by a shore of wondrous
28:33
beauty, beside a part like meadow that stretched back a mile inland to the
28:37
foot of a plateau. When Whitely called attention to a score of figures clamoring
28:42
downward from the elevation to the lowland below. The engines were reversed and the
28:48
boat brought to a stop, while all hands gathered on deck to watch the
28:52
little party coming toward them across the meadow. They are gallows, cried Kotan.
28:57
They are my own people. Let me speak to them, lest they
29:00
think we come to fight them. Put me ashore, my man, and
29:04
I will go meet them. The nose of the U boat was run close
29:08
in to the steep bank, but when Kotan would have run forward alone,
29:12
Bradley seized her hand and held her back. I will go with you,
29:17
Kotan, he said, and together they advanced to meet the oncoming party.
29:22
There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line as our infantry advance
29:27
as skirmishers. Bradley could not but notice the marked difference between this formation and
29:33
the moblike methods of the lower tribes he had come in contact with, and
29:38
he commented upon it to Kotan, Galu warriors always advance into battle. Thus,
29:44
she said, the lesser people remain in a huddled group where they can
29:48
scarce use their weapons. The while they present so big a mark to us
29:52
that our spears and arrows cannot miss them. But when they hurl theirs at
29:57
our warriors, if they may u the first man, there is no chance
30:02
that they will kill some one behind him. Stand still now, she cautioned,
30:07
and fold your arms. They will not harm us. Then Bradley did
30:11
as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded as the line
30:15
of warriors approached. When they had come within some fifty yards, they halted,
30:22
and one spoke, who are you? And from whence do you come?
30:26
He asked, And then Cotan gave a little glad cry and sprang forward
30:30
with outstretched arms outain, She exclaimed, do you not know your little Cotan?
30:37
The warrior stared incredulous for a moment, and then he too ran forward,
30:42
and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It was
30:47
then that Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that was new to him,
30:52
a sudden hatred for the strained warrior before him, and a desire to kill,
30:56
without knowing why he would kill. He moved quickly to the girl's side
31:02
and grasped her wrist. Who is this man, he demanded in cold tones.
31:07
Ktan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman, and then of a sudden
31:11
broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. This is my father, Bradley,
31:17
she cried. And who is Bradley, demanded the warrior. He is
31:22
my man, replied Cotan. Simply by what right, insisted Tan, And
31:27
then she told him briefly of all that she had passed through since the wearus
31:33
had stolen her, and of how Bradley had rescued her and sought to rescue
31:37
Antac her brother. You are satisfied with him, asked tad Yes, replied
31:42
the girl proudly. It was then that Bradley's attention was attracted to the edge
31:48
of the plateau by a movement there, and looking closely, he saw a
31:52
horse bearing two figures sliding down the steep declivity. Once at the bottom,
31:59
the animal charging across the meadow land at a rapid run. It was a
32:04
magnificent animal, a great bay stallion, with a white blazed face and white
32:09
forelegs to the knees, its barrel encircled by a broad surcingle of white,
32:15
and as it came to a sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman saw that
32:20
it bore a man and a girl, a tall man and a girl as
32:23
beautiful as Kotan. When the girl espied the latter, she slid from the
32:29
horse and ran toward her, fairly, screaming for joy. The man dismounted
32:34
and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley, he was garbed after the fashion of
32:37
the surrounding warriors, but there was a subtle difference between him and his companion.
32:44
Possibly he detected a similar difference in Bradley, for his first question was
32:49
from what country, and though he spoke in Galoo, Bradley thought he detected
32:53
an accent England, replied Bradley. A broad smile lighted the newcomer's face as
33:00
he held out his hand. I am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California,
33:06
he said, I know all about you, and I'm mighty glad to
33:08
find you alive. How did you get here, asked Bradley. I thought
33:14
ours was the only party of men from the outer world ever to enter Kaprona.
33:19
It was until we came in search of Bowen j. Tyler Junior,
33:22
replied Billings. We found him and sent him home with his bride, But
33:28
I was kept a prisoner here. Bradley's face darkened. Then they were not
33:32
among friends, after all, there are ten of us down there on a
33:36
German sub with small arms and a gun. He said quickly in English.
33:40
It will be no trick to get away from these people. You don't know,
33:45
my jailer, replied Billings, or you'd not be so sure. Wait,
33:49
I'll introduce you, And then, turning to the girl who had accompanied
33:52
him, he called her by name Ajore, He said, permit me to
33:57
introduce Lieutenant Bradley, Lieutenant missus Billings, my jailer, the Englishman laughed as
34:04
he shook hands with the girl. You are not as good a soldier as
34:07
I, he said to Billings. Instead of being taken prisoner myself, I
34:10
have taken one, Missus Bradley. This is mister billings Ajor, quick to
34:16
understand, turned toward Kotan. You are going back with him to his country,
34:22
she asked. Cootan admitted it. You dare, asked Ajoir. But
34:27
your father will not permit it. Jor, my father, high chief of
34:30
the Gallows, will not permit it, for like me, you are consantlo
34:35
Oh Cootan. If we but could, how I would love to see all
34:39
the strange and wonderful things of which my Tom tells me. Bradley bent and
34:45
whispered in her ear. Say the word, and you may both go with
34:49
us. Billings, heard, and speaking in English, asked Ajoor if she
34:53
would go. Yes, she answered, if you wish it. But you
34:58
know my Tom. But if Jor captures us, both you and Kotan's man
35:02
will pay the penalty with your lives. Not even his love for me nor
35:07
his admiration for you, can save you. Bradley noticed that she spoke in
35:12
English, broken English, like Kotan's, but equally appealing. We can easily
35:17
get you aboard the ship, he said, on some pretext or other,
35:21
and then we can steam away. They can neither harm nor detain us,
35:25
nor will we have to fire a shot at them, And so it was
35:30
done, Bradley and Kotan, taking Ajor and Billings aboard to show them the
35:34
vessel, which almost immediately raised anchor and moved slowly out into the sea.
35:39
I hate to do it, said Billings. They have been fine to me.
35:44
Joor and Tan are splendid men, and they will think me an ingrate.
35:49
But I can't waste my life here when there is much to be done
35:52
in the outer world. As they steam down the inland Sea past the island
35:57
of u O, the stories of their ventures were retold, and Bradley learned
36:02
that Bowen Tyler and his bride had left the Galloo country but a fortnight before,
36:07
and that there was every reason to believe that the Toryodor might still be
36:13
lying in the Pacific, not far off the subterranean mouth of the river which
36:17
emitted Caprona's heated waters into the ocean. Late in the second day, after
36:22
running through swarms of hideous reptiles, they submerged at the point where the river
36:29
entered beneath the cliffs, and shortly after rose to the sunlit surface of the
36:34
Pacific. But nowhere, as far as they could see, was sign of
36:37
another craft down the coast. They steamed toward the beach where Billings had made
36:43
his crossing in the hydro aeroplane, and just at dusk the lookout announced a
36:47
light dead ahead. It proved to be aboard the Toryodor, and a half
36:52
hour later there was such a reunion on the deck of the trigged little yacht
36:57
as no one there had ever dreamed might be possible. Of the allies,
37:01
there were only Tippett and James to be mourned, and no one mourned any
37:06
of the Germans dead, nor Benson, the trader, whose ugly story was
37:10
first told in Bowen Tyler's manuscript. Tyler and the rescue party had but just
37:15
reached the yacht that afternoon. They had heard faintly the signal shots fired by
37:21
the You thirty three, but had been unable to locate their direction, and
37:24
so had assumed that they had come from the guns of the Torriodor. It
37:30
was a happy party that sailed north towards sunny southern California, the old You
37:35
thirty three trailing in the wake of the Torreador, and flying with the latter
37:38
the glorious stars and stripes beneath which she had been born in the shipyard at
37:44
Santa Monica, three newly married couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by the
37:50
master of the ship, joyed in the peace and security of the untracked waters
37:54
of the South Pacific, and the unique honeymoon, which, had it not
37:58
been for stern do ahead, they could have wished protracted till the end of
38:02
time. And so they came one day to dock at the ship yard which
38:07
bonn Tider now controlled. And here the You thirty three still lies, while
38:13
those who pass so many eventful days within and because of her have gone their
38:17
various ways. End of Chapter five, end of Out of Time's Abyss