Latest / Adventure Books Library / 12 - At The Earth's Core - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Transcript

12 - At The Earth's Core - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Adventure Books Library

• 0:00
  Chapter twelve pursuit. For an instant I stood there thinking of her, and
• 0:06
  then with a sigh, I tucked the book in the thong that supported my
• 0:09
  loincloth and turned to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which
• 0:14
  leads aloft from the lower chambers, I whistled in accordance with the pre arranged
• 0:18
  signal, which was to announce to Perry and Ghak that I had been successful.
• 0:23
  A moment later they stood beside me, and to my surprise I saw
• 0:26
  that Hooja, the sly one, accompanied them. He joined us, explained
• 0:30
  Perry, and would not be denied. The Fellow is a fox. He
• 0:33
  scents escape, and rather than be thwarted of our chance now, I told
• 0:36
  him that I would bring him to you and let you decide whether he might
• 0:40
  accompany us. I had no love for Hooja and no confidence in him.
• 0:44
  I was sure that if he thought it would profit him, he would betray
• 0:46
  us. But I saw no way out of it now, and the fact
• 0:49
  that I had killed four Mahars instead of only the three I had expected to
• 0:53
  made it possible to include the Fellow in our scheme of escape. Very well,
• 0:57
  I said, you may come with us Hooja, But at the first
• 1:00
  intimation of treachery, I shall run my sword through you. Do you understand,
• 1:03
  he said that he did. Some time later, we had removed the
• 1:07
  skins from the four mahars, and so succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves
• 1:11
  that there seemed an excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It
• 1:15
  was not an easy thing to fasten the hides together where we had split them
• 1:19
  along the belly to remove them from their carcasses. But by remaining out until
• 1:23
  the others had all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving an
• 1:26
  aperture in the breast of Perry's skin through which he could pass his hands to
• 1:29
  sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design to really much better
• 1:33
  purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the heads erect by passing
• 1:37
  our swords up through the necks, and by the same means were enabled to
• 1:40
  move them about in a lifelike manner. We had our greatest difficulty with the
• 1:44
  webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, so that when we
• 1:48
  moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats
• 1:52
  into which our heads were thrust permitted us to see well enough to guide our
• 1:56
  progress. Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak
• 2:00
  headed the strange procession. Then came Perry, followed by Hooja, while I
• 2:04
  brought up the rear. After admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my sword
• 2:07
  that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise into his vitals were
• 2:10
  he to show any indication of faltering. As the noise of hurrying feet warned
• 2:15
  me that we were entering the busy corridors of the main level, my heart
• 2:19
  came up into my mouth. It is with no sense of shame that I
• 2:22
  admit that I was frightened. Never before in my life nor sense, did
• 2:25
  I experience any such agony of soulsering, fear and suspense as enveloped me.
• 2:30
  If it be possible to sweat blood, I sweat it. Then slowly,
• 2:34
  after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars when they are not using their
• 2:38
  wings, we crept through the throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths and Mahars.
• 2:43
  After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the outer door, which leads
• 2:46
  into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths loitered near the opening. They
• 2:51
  glanced at Ghak as he padded between them. Then Perry passed, and then
• 2:54
  Hooja. Now it was my turn. And then, in a sudden fit
• 2:58
  of freezing terror, I realized that the warm blood from my wounded arm was
• 3:00
  trickling down through the dead foot of the mahar's skin I wore, and leaving
• 3:05
  its tell tale mark upon the pavement. For I saw Segoth call a companion's
• 3:08
  attention to it. The guard stepped before me, and, pointing to my
• 3:13
  bleeding foot, spoke to me in the sign language which these two races employ
• 3:15
  as a means of communication. Even had I known what he was saying,
• 3:20
  I could not have replied with the dead thing that covered me. I once
• 3:23
  had seen a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look. It seemed
• 3:27
  my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks,
• 3:30
  I moved my sword so that it made the dead head appear to turn inquiring
• 3:34
  eyes upon the gorilla man. For a long moment, I stood perfectly still,
• 3:38
  eyeing the fellow with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and
• 3:42
  started slowly on. For a moment all hung in the balance, But before
• 3:46
  I touched him, the guard stepped to one side, and I passed on
• 3:49
  out into the avenue. On we went up the broad street. But now
• 3:52
  we were safe for the very numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all
• 3:55
  sides. Fortunately, there was a great concourse of Mahar's copairing to the shallow
• 4:00
  lake which lies a mile or more from the city. They go there to
• 4:03
  indulge their amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish and enjoying the cool depths of
• 4:09
  the water. It is a freshwater lake, shallow and free from the larger
• 4:12
  reptiles which make the use of the great seas of Pellucidar impossible for any but
• 4:16
  their own kind. In the thick of the crowd, we passed up the
• 4:19
  steps and out onto the plain. For some distance, Ghak remained with the
• 4:25
  stream that was traveling toward the lake. But finally, at the bottom of
• 4:28
  a little gully he halted, and there we remained until all had passed and
• 4:30
  we were alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set off directly
• 4:34
  away from Phutra. The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast
• 4:39
  making our horrible prisons unbearable, so that, after passing a low divide and
• 4:43
  entering a sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had brought us
• 4:47
  thus far in safety. I shall not weary you with the details of that
• 4:51
  bitter and galling flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped
• 4:56
  in our tracks. How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How
• 5:00
  we barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions and tigers, the size of which
• 5:03
  would dwarf into pitifully insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world. On and
• 5:09
  on we raced, are one thought to put as much distance between ourselves and
• 5:13
  Phutra as possible. Ghak was leading us to his own land, the land
• 5:15
  of Sari. No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we were sure
• 5:19
  that somewhere behind us, relentless Sagoths were dogging our tracks. Ghak said they
• 5:24
  never failed to hunt down their quarry until they had captured it or themselves been
• 5:28
  turned back by a superior force. Our only hope, he said, lay
• 5:31
  in reaching his tribe, which was quite strong enough in their mountain fastness to
• 5:35
  beat off any number of Sagoths. At last, after what seemed months,
• 5:40
  and may I now realize have been years, we came in sight of the
• 5:43
  dun escarpment which buttressed the foothills of Serre. At almost the same instant,
• 5:47
  Hooja, who looked ever quite as much behind as before, announced that he
• 5:50
  could see a body of men far behind us, topping a low ridge in
• 5:54
  our wake. It was the long expected pursuit. I asked Ghak if we
• 5:59
  could make Sarah in time to escape them, we may, he replied,
• 6:02
  but you will find that the Sagoths can move with incredible swiftness, and as
• 6:05
  they are almost tireless, they are doubtless much fresher than we. Then he
• 6:10
  paused, glancing at Perry. I knew what he meant. The old man
• 6:14
  was exhausted for much of the period of our flight. Either Ghak or I
• 6:16
  had half supported him on the march. With such a handicap, less fleet
• 6:20
  pursuers than Sagoths might easily overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights which
• 6:26
  confronted us. You and Hooja go on ahead, I said, Perry,
• 6:30
  and I will make it if we are able, we cannot travel as rapidly
• 6:32
  as you two, and there is no reason why all should be lost.
• 6:35
  Because of that, it can't be helped. We have simply to face it.
• 6:40
  I will not desert a companion, was Ghek's simple reply. I hadn't
• 6:44
  known that this great, hairy primeval man had any such nobility of character stowed
• 6:47
  away inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my liking
• 6:50
  was added honor and respect, Yes, and love. But I still urged
• 6:55
  him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach his people,
• 6:58
  he might be able to bring out a sufficient force to drive off the Sagoths
• 7:01
  and rescue Perry and myself. No, he wouldn't leave us, and that
• 7:05
  was all there was to it. But he suggested that Hooja might hurry on
• 7:09
  warn the Sarians of the king's danger. It didn't require much urging to start
• 7:14
  Hooja. The naked idea was enough to send him leaping on ahead of us
• 7:17
  into the foothills which we now had reached. Perry realized that he was jeopardizing
• 7:21
  Ghak's life and mine, and the old fellow fairly begged us to go on
• 7:26
  without him, Although I knew that he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror
• 7:30
  at the thought of falling into the hands of the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved
• 7:34
  the problem in part by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying him.
• 7:39
  While the act cut down Ghak's speed, he still could travel faster thus than
• 7:43
  when half supporting the stumbling old man. End of Chapter twelve.