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

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