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16 - Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey - Ingersoll Lockwood · Classic Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen, Ideas of the form of folk concerning our
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  Speaker 1: upper world, the Dancing Specter, their efforts to lay hold
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  Speaker 1: of him, my solemn promise that he should behave himself.
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  Speaker 1: We set out for the city of the make believe eyes,
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  Speaker 1: my amazement at the magnificence of the approaches to it.
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  Speaker 1: We reached the Great Bridge of Silver, and I get
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  Speaker 1: my first glance of the city of Candelabra, brief account
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  Speaker 1: of the wonders spread out before my eyes. Excitement occasioned
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  Speaker 1: by our arrival our silver bed chamber. Although thousands and
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  Speaker 1: thousands of years had gone by since the former folk had,
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  Speaker 1: by constant exposure to the flicker and glare of the
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  Speaker 1: burning gas which their ancestors had discovered and made use
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  Speaker 1: of to illume their underground world, gradually lost their sense
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  Speaker 1: of sight, and then, in consequence of the deep and
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  Speaker 1: awful silence that forever reigned about them, had also lost
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  Speaker 1: their sense of hearing, and naturally thereafter their power of speech.
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  Speaker 1: Yet marvelous to relate, they still kept within their minds
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  Speaker 1: dim and shadowy traditions of the upper world, and the
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  Speaker 1: mighty lamp, as they called the sun, which burned for
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  Speaker 1: twelve hours, and then went out, leaving the world in
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  Speaker 1: darkness until the spirits of the air could trim it again.
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  Speaker 1: And strange to say, many of the unreal things of
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  Speaker 1: the Upper world had been, by the workings of their minds,
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  Speaker 1: transformed into realities, while the realities had become the merest
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  Speaker 1: cobwebs of the brain. For instance, the shadows cast by
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  Speaker 1: our bodies in the sunlight and forever following at our heels,
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  Speaker 1: they had come to think were actual creatures, are doubles,
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  Speaker 1: so to speak, And that on account of these dancing specters,
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  Speaker 1: as they called them, which dogged our footsteps for our
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  Speaker 1: life long, sitting like Marjoy's at our feasts, it was
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  Speaker 1: utterly impossible for the people of the upper world to
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  Speaker 1: be entirely happy as they were, And it occurred to
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  Speaker 1: them at once that I must have such a double
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  Speaker 1: following at my heels. So several times they suddenly joined hands, and,
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  Speaker 1: forming a circle about me, gradually closed up with intent
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  Speaker 1: to lay hold of the dancing specter. This they did, too,
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  Speaker 1: after I had assured them that what they had in
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  Speaker 1: mind was the mere shadow cast by a person walking
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  Speaker 1: in the light. But as they had absolutely no idea
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  Speaker 1: of the nature of light. I only had my trouble
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  Speaker 1: for my pains. Nor did they give over making every
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  Speaker 1: now and then the most frantic and laughable efforts to
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  Speaker 1: catch the little dancing gentlemen, who, as they were bound
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  Speaker 1: to think, was quietly trudging along at my heels. But
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  Speaker 1: whoso they informed me, was far quicker in his motions
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  Speaker 1: than any escaping water or falling object. Finally, they held
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  Speaker 1: one of their silent but very excited pow wows, during
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  Speaker 1: which the thousand lightning like pressures and tappings which they
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  Speaker 1: made upon each other's bodies gave the spectator the idea
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  Speaker 1: that there were three deaf and dumb schoolboys engaged in
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  Speaker 1: a scrimmage over a bag of marbles. And then they
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  Speaker 1: informed me that they had resolved to permit Bulgar and
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  Speaker 1: me to enter their city, provided I would give them
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  Speaker 1: the word of a nobleman that I would restrain my
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  Speaker 1: nimble footed double from doing them any harm. I made
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  Speaker 1: them a most solemn promise that he should behave himself.
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  Speaker 1: Whereupon they greeted both Vulgar and me as brothers, stroking
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  Speaker 1: our hair, patting our heads, and kissing me on the cheeks.
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  Speaker 1: And what was more, they told us their names, which
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  Speaker 1: were lung thumbs, square nose, and shuggy brows. All this
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  Speaker 1: time I had been every now and then casting anxious
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  Speaker 1: glances on ahead of me, for I was dying of
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  Speaker 1: impatience to enter the marvelous city of the ant people.
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  Speaker 1: I say, marvelous, dear friends. For though many had been
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  Speaker 1: the wonderful things I had seen in my lifetime in
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  Speaker 1: the far away corners of the upper world, yet here
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  Speaker 1: was a sight which, as it gradually unfolded itself before
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  Speaker 1: me my eyes shackled my very heart and caused me
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  Speaker 1: to gasp for breath. It was with no little surprise
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  Speaker 1: at the very outset that I discovered that the walls
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  Speaker 1: and floor of the beautiful passage through which the pseudopsies
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  Speaker 1: were leading Bulgar and me were of pure silver, the
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  Speaker 1: former being composed of polished panels ornamented with finely executed
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  Speaker 1: chasings and carvings, and the latter as had in fact,
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  Speaker 1: all the floors and streets and passages of the city,
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  Speaker 1: having upon their polished surfaces slightly raised characters, which I
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  Speaker 1: will explain later. But as one passage opened into another,
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  Speaker 1: and then four or more, all centered in a vast
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  Speaker 1: circular chamber, which we traversed with our three silent guides,
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  Speaker 1: only to interchambers and quarters of greater size and beauty,
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  Speaker 1: all brilliantly lighted by rows of the same glorious candelabra,
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  Speaker 1: upholding clusters of tongues of flame. I could compare the
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  Speaker 1: scene to nothing save a series of magnificent ballroom and
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  Speaker 1: banquet halls, out of which the happy guests had been
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  Speaker 1: suddenly driven by the deep and awful rumble of an
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  Speaker 1: earthquake shock, the lights having been left burning. Now the
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  Speaker 1: scene began to change. Longthums, who was leading the way
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  Speaker 1: and in whose large palm my little hand lay completely lost,
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  Speaker 1: suddenly turned to the right and led me up an
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  Speaker 1: arched way. I saw that we were crossing a bridge
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  Speaker 1: over a stream, as black and sluggish as the leaf itself.
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  Speaker 1: But such a bridge never had my eye rested upon
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  Speaker 1: so light an arie, a span springing from bank to bank,
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  Speaker 1: not the plain and solid work of the stonemason, but
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  Speaker 1: the fair and cunning result of the metal worker's skill,
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  Speaker 1: like the labor of love, delicate yet strong, and almost
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  Speaker 1: too beautiful for use. Two rows of silver lamps of
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  Speaker 1: exquisite workmanship, crowned its gracefully arching sides. And when we
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  Speaker 1: stood upon its highest bend, Longthams halted and wrote upon
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  Speaker 1: his tablet, Now, little Baron, we are about to enter
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  Speaker 1: the dwelling place of our people. Thy head is large,
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  Speaker 1: and there is no doubt much of wisdom stored away
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  Speaker 1: in thy brain makes such use of it as not
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  Speaker 1: to disturb the perfect happiness of our nation. For no
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  Speaker 1: doubt many of our people will be suspicious of thee
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  Speaker 1: and for the first time in thousands of years, a
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  Speaker 1: pseudopsy will lay him down to sleep, and in his
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  Speaker 1: dreams feel the touch of the dancing specter of the
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  Speaker 1: upper world. I promised long Thumbs that he should have
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  Speaker 1: no reason to be dissatisfied with me, And then making
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  Speaker 1: an excuse that I was awary, I feasted my eyes
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  Speaker 1: for several moments upon the glorious scenes spread out before me.
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  Speaker 1: It was the city of the former folk, in all
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  Speaker 1: its splendor, a splendor alas unseen by unknown too the
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  Speaker 1: very people dwelling in it, for to them its silver
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  Speaker 1: walls and arches, its endless rows of glorious candelabra uplifting
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  Speaker 1: their countless clusters of never dying jets of flame, its
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  Speaker 1: exquisitely carved and chiseled portals and gateways, Its graceful chairs
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  Speaker 1: and settees and beds and couches and tables, and lamps
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  Speaker 1: and basins and ewers, and thousands of articles of furniture,
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  Speaker 1: all in purest silver, hammered or wrought by the cunning
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  Speaker 1: hands of their ancestors while they still were possessed of
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  Speaker 1: the power of sight. Could only be known to these
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  Speaker 1: their descendants by the sole sense of feeling. From the
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  Speaker 1: lofty ceilings of corridors and archways, from the jutting ornaments
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  Speaker 1: of the house fronts, from cornice and coping, from the
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  Speaker 1: four sides of columns, and from the corners of cupolas
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  Speaker 1: and minarets. Here and there and everywhere hung silver lamps
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  Speaker 1: of more than oriental beauty of form and finish, all
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  Speaker 1: with their never dying tongues of flame, sending forth a soft,
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  Speaker 1: though unsteady light to fall upon sightless eyes. But yet
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  Speaker 1: these countless flames, by the aid of which I was
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  Speaker 1: enabled to gaze upon the splendor of this city of
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  Speaker 1: silver palaces, were life, if not light to the pseudopsis,
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  Speaker 1: For they warmed these vast subterranean depths and filled them
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  Speaker 1: with a deliciously soft and strangely balmy air. And yet
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  Speaker 1: to think that Bulgar and I were the only to
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  Speaker 1: living creatures to be able to look upon the scene
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  Speaker 1: of almost celestial beauty and radiance. It made me sad
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  Speaker 1: and plunged me into such a fit of deep abstraction
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  Speaker 1: that it required a second gentle tug of long Thumb's
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  Speaker 1: hand to bring me to myself. As we crossed the
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  Speaker 1: bridge and entered the city proper, I was delighted to
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  Speaker 1: note that the streets and open squares were ornamented with
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  Speaker 1: hundreds of statues, all in solid silver, and that they
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  Speaker 1: represented specimens of a race of great beauty of person.
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  Speaker 1: And then it occurred to me how fortunate it was
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  Speaker 1: that the pseudopsis could not gaze upon these images of
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  Speaker 1: their ancestors, and thus become living witness of their own
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  Speaker 1: woeful fallen away from the former physical grace of their race.
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  Speaker 1: Now like human ants that they were, the farmer folk
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  Speaker 1: began to swarm forth from their dwellings on every side
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  Speaker 1: of the city, and my keen ear caught the low
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  Speaker 1: shuffling sound of their bare feet over the silver streets
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  Speaker 1: as they closed in about us, their arms flashing in
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  Speaker 1: the light, and their faces lined with strange emotions as
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  Speaker 1: they learned of the arrival among them of two creatures
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  Speaker 1: from the upper world. They were all glad, men and
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  Speaker 1: women alike, in silk garments of a chestnut brown, and
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  Speaker 1: I had at once concluded that they drew this material
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  Speaker 1: from the same sources as the Macaminkys. For dear friends,
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  Speaker 1: you must not get an idea that the former folk
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  Speaker 1: were not well deserving of the name which dan Fum
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  Speaker 1: had bestowed upon them. They were genuine human ants, and
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  Speaker 1: except when sleeping, always at work. It was true that
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  Speaker 1: since their blindness had come upon them, they had not
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  Speaker 1: been able to add a single column or archway to
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  Speaker 1: the Silver City. But in all the ordinary concerns of life,
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  Speaker 1: they were quite as industrious as ever, chasing, carving, chiseling, planting, weaving, knitting,
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  Speaker 1: and doing a thousand and one things that you and I,
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  Speaker 1: with our two good eyes would find it hard to accomplish.
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  Speaker 1: I had made known to long Thumbs the fact that
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  Speaker 1: Bulgar and I were both very tired and weary from
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  Speaker 1: our long tramp, and that we crave to have some
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  Speaker 1: refreshment set before us, and then to be permitted to
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  Speaker 1: go to rest at once, promising that after we had
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  Speaker 1: had several hours good sleep, we would take the greatest
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  Speaker 1: pleasure in being presented to the worthy inhabitants of the
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  Speaker 1: silver city. It was astonishing with what rapidity this request
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  Speaker 1: of mine spread from man to man. Long thumbs made
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  Speaker 1: it known to two at the same time, and these
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  Speaker 1: two to four, and these four to eight, and these
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  Speaker 1: eight to sixteen, and so on. You see, it wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: take long at that rate to tell a million. Like magic,
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  Speaker 1: the former folk disappeared from the streets, and in a
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  Speaker 1: sort of orderly confusion faded from my sight. Bulgar and
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  Speaker 1: I were right glad to be conducted to a silver bedchamber,
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  Speaker 1: where the travelers every want seemed to be anticipated. The
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  Speaker 1: only thing that bothered us was we had not been
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  Speaker 1: accustomed to keep the light burning upon going to bed,
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  Speaker 1: and this made us both a little wakeful at first,
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  Speaker 1: but we were too tired to let it keep us
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  Speaker 1: from dropping off after a few moments. For the mattress
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  Speaker 1: was soft and springy enough to satisfy any one, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure that no one could have complained that the
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  Speaker 1: house wasn't quiet enough. End of chapter sixteen.