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

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Chapter three, A Change of Masters. We must have traveled several miles through
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the dark and dismal wood when we came suddenly upon a dense village built high
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among the branches of the trees. As we approached it, my escort broke
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into wild shouting, which was immediately answered from within, and a moment later
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a swarm of creatures of the same strange race as those who had captured me
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poured out to meet us again. I was the center of a wildly chattering
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horde. I was pulled this way and that, pinched, pounded, and
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thumped until I was black and blue. Yet I do not think that their
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treatment was dictated by either cruelty or malice. I was a curiosity, a
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freak, a new plaything, and their childish minds required the added evidence of
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all their senses to back up the testimony of their eyes. They dragged me
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within the village, which consisted of several hundred rude shelters of boughs and leaves
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supported upon the branches of the trees. Between the huts, which sometimes formed
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crooked streets, were dead branches, and the trunks of small trees which connected
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the huts upon one tree to those with adjoining trees, the whole network of
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huts and pathways forming an almost solid flooring and good fifty feet above the ground.
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I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges between the trees, But
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later, when I saw the motley aggregation of half savage beasts which they kept
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within their village, I realized the necessity for the pathways. There were a
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number of the same vicious wolf dogs which we had left, worrying the dearth,
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and many goat like animals, whose distended utters explained the reasons for their
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presence. My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed.
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Then two of the creatures squatted down before the entrance to prevent my escape.
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Doubtless, though where I should have escaped two, I certainly had not
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the remotest conception. I had no more than entered the dark shadows of the
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interior than there fell upon my ears the tone of a familiar voice in prayer.
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Parry, I cried, dear old Perry, thank the Lord, you
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are safe. David, can it be possible that you escaped? And the
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old man stumbled toward me and threw his arms about me. He had seen
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me fall before the dearth, and then he had been seized by a number
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of the apelike creatures and borne through the tree tops to their village. His
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captors had been as inquisitive as to his strange clothing as had mine, with
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the same result. As we looked at each other, we could not help
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but laugh with a tail. David remarked, Perry, you would make a
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very handsome ape. Maybe we can borrow a couple, I rejoined. They
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seem to be quite the thing this season. I wonder what the creatures intend
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doing with us, Perry. They don't seem really savage. What do you
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suppose they can be? You were about to tell me where we are when
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that great hairy frigate bore down upon us. Have you really any idea at
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all? Yes, David, he replied, I know precisely where we are.
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We have made a magnificent discovery, my boy. We have proved that
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the earth is hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust to the inner
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world. Perry, you were mad, not at all, David. For
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two hundred and fifty miles, our prospector bore us through the crust, beneath
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our outer world. At that point it reached the center of gravity of the
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five hundred mile thi crust. Up to that point we had been descending.
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Direction is of course merely relative. Then, at the moment that our seats
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revolved, the thing that made you believe we had turned about and were speeding
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upward, we passed the center of gravity, And though we did not alter
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the direction of our progress, yet we were in reality moving upward toward the
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surface of the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and flora which we
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have seen convince you that you are not in the world of your birth?
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And the horizon? Could it present the strange aspects which we both noted,
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unless we were indeed standing upon the inside of a sphere. But the sun,
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Perry, I urged, How in the world can the sun shine through
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five hundred miles of solid crust. It is not the sun of the outer
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world that we have seen here. It is another son, an entirely different
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sun, that casts turn nal noonday effulgence upon the face of the inner world.
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Look at it now, David, if you can see it from the
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doorway of this hut, and you will see that it is still in the
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exact center of the heavens. We have been here for many hours, yet
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it is still noon. And withal it is very simple, David. The
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Earth was once a nebulous mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it
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shrank at length. A thin crust of solid matter formed upon its outer surface,
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a sort of shell, but within it was partially molten matter and highly
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expanded gases. As it continued to cool, what happened centrifugal forces hurled the
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particles of the nebula center toward the crust as rapidly as they approached a solid
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state. You have seen the same principle practically applied in the modern cream separator.
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Presently there was only a small superheated core of gaseous matter remaining within a
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huge vacant interior left by the contraction of the cooling gases. The equal attraction
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of the solid crust from all directions maintained this luminous core in the exact center
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of the hollow globe. What remains of it is the sun you saw today,
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a relatively tiny thing at the exact center of the Earth equally to every
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part of this inner world. It diffuses its perpetually noonday light and torrid heat.
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This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal life long ages after
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life appeared upon the outer crust. But that the same agencies were at work
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here is evident from the similar forms of both animal and vegetable creation which we
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have already seen. Take the great beast which attacked us, for example,
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unquestionably a counterpart of the megatherium of the post Pliocene period of the Outer Crust,
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whose fossilize skeleton has been found in South America. But the grotesque inhabitants
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of the forest, I urged, surely they have no counterpart in the Earth's
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history. Who can tell he rejoined. They may constitute the link between ape
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and man, all traces of which have been swallowed by the countless convulsions which
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have racked the outer Crust. Or they may be merely the result of evolution
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along slightly different lines. Either is quite possible. Further speculation was interrupted by
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the appearance of several of our captors before the entrance of the hut. Two
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of them entered and dragged us forth. The perilous pathways and the surrounding trees
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were filled with the black ape men, their females, and their young.
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There was not an ornament, a weapon, or a garment among the lot.
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Quite low in the scale of creation, commented Perry, quite high enough
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to play the deuce with us, though I replied, now, what do
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you suppose they intend on doing with us? We were not long in learning,
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as on the occasion of our trip to the village, we were seized
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by a couple of the powerful creatures and whirled away through the tree tops,
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while about us and in our wake, raced a chattering, jabbering, grinning
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horde of sleek, black ape things. Twice my bearers missed their footing,
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and my heart ceased beating as we plunged towards instant death among the tangled deadwood
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beneath. But on both occasions those lithe powerful tales reached out and found sustaining
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branches. Nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp upon me. In
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fact, it seemed that the incidents were of no greater moment to them than
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would be the stubbing of one's toe at a street crossing in the outer world.
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They but laughed uproariously and sped on with me for some time. They
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continued through the forest. How long I could not guess, for I was
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learning what was later borne very forcefully to my mind, that time ceases to
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be a factor the moment means for measuring it ceased to exist. Our watches
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were gone, and we were living beneath a stationary sun. Already I was
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puzzled to compute the period of time which had elapsed since we broke through the
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crust of the inner world. It might be ours, or it might be
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days. Who in the world could tell? Where It was always noon by
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the sun. No time had elapsed, but my judgment told me that we
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must have been several hours in this strange world. Presently, the forest terminated,
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and we came out upon a level plain. A short distance before us
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rose a few low rocky hills. Toward these, our captors urged us,
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and after a short time, led us through a narrow pass into a tiny
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circular valley. Here they got down to work, and we were soon convinced
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that if we were not to die to make a Roman holiday, we were
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to die for some other purpose. The attitude of our captors altered immediately as
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they entered the natural arena within the rocky hills. Their laughter ceased, grim
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ferocity marked their beastial faces, bared fangs menaced us. We were placed in
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the center of the amphitheater, the thousand creatures forming a great ring about us.
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Then a wolf dog was brought Hyenodon. Perry called it, and turned
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loose with us inside the circle. The thing's body was as large as that
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of a full grown mastiff. Its legs were short and powerful, and its
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jaws broad and strong. Dark shaggy hair covered its back and sides, while
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its breast and belly were quite white. As it slunk toward us, it
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presented a most formidable aspect with its upcurled lips bearing its mighty fangs. Perry
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was on his knees praying. I stooped and picked up a small stone.
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At my movement, the beast veered off a bit and commenced circling us.
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Evidently it had been a target for stones before. The ape things were dancing
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up and down, urging the brute on with savage cries, until at last,
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seeing that I did not throw, he charged us at andover and later
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at Yale. I had pitched on winning ball teams. My speed and control
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must both have been above ordinary, for I made such a record during my
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senior year at college that overtures were made to me in behalf of one of
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the great Major League teams, but in the tightest pitch that had ever confronted
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me in the past, I had never been in such need for control as
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now. As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and
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muscles under absolute command, though the grinning jaws were hurtling towards me at terrific
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speed. And then I let go with every ounce of my weight and muscle
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and science. In back of that throw, the stone caught the hyaenodon full
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upon the end of the nose and sent him bowling over upon his back.
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At the same instant, a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from the circle
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of spectators, so that for a moment I thought that the upsetting of their
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champion was the cause. But in this I soon saw I was mistaken.
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As I looked the ape, things broke in all directions towards the surrounding hills,
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and then I distinguished the real cause of their perturbation. Behind them,
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Streaming through the pass which leads into the valley, came a swarm of hairy
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men, guerrilla like creatures armed with spears and hatchets, and bearing long oval
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shields like demons, they set upon the ape things, and before them the
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hyaenodon, which had now regained its senses and its feet, fled howling with
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fright past us swept the pursuit and the pursuers, Nor did the hairy ones
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accord us more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its
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former occupants. Then they returned to us, and one who seemed to have
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authority among them, directed that we be brought with them. When we had
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passed out of the amphitheater on to the great plain, we saw a caravan
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of men and women, human beings like ourselves, and for the first time,
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hope and relief filled my heart, until I could have cried out in
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the exuberance of my happiness. It is true that they were a half naked,
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wild appearing aggregation, but they at least were fashioned along the same lines
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as ourselves. There was nothing grotesque or horrible about them, as about the
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other creatures in the strange, weird world. But as we came closer,
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our hearts sank once more, for we discovered that the poor wretches were chained
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neck to neck in a long line, and that the guerrilla men were their
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guards. With little ceremony, PERI and I were chained at the end of
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the line, and without further ado, the interrupted march was resumed. Up
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to this time, the excitement had kept us both up. But now the
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tiresome monotony of the long march across the sun baked plain brought on all the
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agonies consequent to a long denied sleep. On and on we stumbled beneath that
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hateful noonday sun. If we fell, we were prodded with a sharp point.
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Our companions and chains did not stumble. They strode along proudly, erect.
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Occasionally they would exchange words with one another in a monosyllabic language. They
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were a noble appearing race, with well formed heads and perfect physiques. The
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men were heavily bearded, tall and muscular, the women smaller and more gracefully
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molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into loose knots upon their heads.
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The features of both sexes were well proportioned. There was not a face
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among them that would have been called even plain if judged by earthly standards.
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They wore no ornaments, but this I later learned was due to the fact
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that their captors had stripped them of everything of value as garniture. The women
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possessed a single robe of some light colored spotted hide, rather similar in appearance
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to a leopard skin. This they wore, either supported entirely about the waist
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by a leathern thong, so that it hung partially below the knee on one
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side, or possibly looped gracefully across one shoulder. Their feet were shod with
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skin sandals. The men wore loincloth of the hide of some shaggy beast,
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long ends of which depended before and behind, nearly to the ground. In
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some instances, these ends were finished with the strong talons of the beast from
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which the hides had been taken. Our guards, whom I have already described
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as gorilla like men, were rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but
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even so they were indeed mighty creatures. Their arms and legs were proportioned more
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in conformity with human standards, but their entire bodies were covered with shaggy brown
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hair, and their faces were quite as brutal as those of the few stuffed
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specimens of the gorilla which I had seen in the museums at home. Their
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only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head above and back of the
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ears. In this respect, they were not one whit less human than we.
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They were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth which reached to
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the knees. Beneath this, they wore only a loin cloth of the same
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material, while their feet were shod with thick hide of some mammoth creature of
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this inner world. Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metal,
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silver predominating, and on their tunics were sown the heads of tiny reptiles
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in odd and rather artistic designs. They talked among themselves as they marched along
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on either side of us, but in a language which I perceived differed from
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that employed by our fellow prisoners. When they addressed the latter, they used
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what appeared to be a third language, and which I later learned is a
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mongrel tongue, rather analogous to the pigeon English of the Chinese coolie. How
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far we marched, I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of
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us were asleep much of the time, for hours before a halt was called.
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Then we dropped in our tracks. I say for hours. But how
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may one measure time? Or time does not exist? When our march commenced,
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the sun stood at zenith. When we halted, our shadows still pointed
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towards nadir. Whether an instant or an eternity of earthly time elapsed, Who
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may say that mark may have occupied nine years and eleven months of that ten
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years that I spent in the inner world, or it may have been accomplished
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in the fraction of a second. I cannot tell. But this I do
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know that since you have told me that ten years have elapsed since I departed
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from this earth, I have lost all respect for time. I am commencing
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to doubt that such a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind
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of man. End of Chapter three.