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09 - Moon Maid by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Moon Maid

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Speaker 1: Chapter eight, a fight with a torho now Yellah and
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Speaker 1: I passed through the village of the Novans undetected, since
0:08
Speaker 1: the people of Gavago were cowering in their huts, terror
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Speaker 1: stricken by the storm. The girl led me immediately to
0:15
Speaker 1: high ground and upward along a barren ridge toward the
0:19
Speaker 1: high mountains in the distance. I could see that she
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Speaker 1: was afraid, though she tried to hide it from me,
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Speaker 1: putting on a brave front that I was sure she
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Speaker 1: was far from feeling. My respect for her increased, as
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Speaker 1: I have always respected courage, and I believe that it
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Speaker 1: requires the highest courage to do that which fills one
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Speaker 1: with fear. The man who performs heroic acts without fear
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Speaker 1: is less brave than he who overcomes his cowardice. Realizing
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Speaker 1: her fear, I retained her hand in mine that the
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Speaker 1: contact might impart to her a little of the confidence
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Speaker 1: that I felt now that I was temporarily at least
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Speaker 1: out of the clutches of the Vagas. We had reached
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Speaker 1: the ridge above the village, when the thought that we
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Speaker 1: were weaponless and without means of protection overwhelmed me. I
1:05
Speaker 1: had been in so much of a hurry to escape
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Speaker 1: the village that I had overlooked this very vital consideration.
1:12
Speaker 1: I spoke to Nailah about it, telling her that I
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Speaker 1: had best returned to the village and make an effort
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Speaker 1: to regain possession of my own weapons and ammunition. She
1:21
Speaker 1: tried to dissuade me, telling me that such an attempt
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Speaker 1: was foredoomed to failure, and prophesying that I would be recaptured.
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Speaker 1: But we cannot cross this savage world of yours, Nailah
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Speaker 1: without means of protection, I urged. We do not know
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Speaker 1: at what minute some fierce preacher may confront us. Think
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Speaker 1: how helpless we shall be without weapons with which to
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Speaker 1: defend ourselves. There are only the Vagas, she said, to
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Speaker 1: fear in this part of Vana. We know no other
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Speaker 1: dangerous beast except the Torho. They are seldom seen. Against
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Speaker 1: the Vagas, your weapons would be useless. As you already
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Speaker 1: have discovered, the risk of meeting at Torjo is infinitely
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Speaker 1: less than that which you will incur if you attempt
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Speaker 1: to enter Gavago's hut to secure your weapons. You simply
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Speaker 1: could not do it and escape. For doubtless, the dwelling
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Speaker 1: of the chief is crowded with warriors. I was compelled
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Speaker 1: finally to admit the wisdom of her reasoning and to
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Speaker 1: forgo an attempt to secure my rifle and pistol, though
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Speaker 1: I can assure you that I felt lost without them,
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Speaker 1: especially when thus venturing forth into a new world so
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Speaker 1: strange to me as vana and so savage. As a
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Speaker 1: matter of fact, from what I gleaned from Naarillah, there
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Speaker 1: was but a single spot upon the entire inner lunar
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Speaker 1: world where she and I could hope to be even
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Speaker 1: reasonably free from danger, and that was her native city
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Speaker 1: of Lathe. Even there I should have enemies, she told me,
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Speaker 1: for her race is ever suspicious of strangers. But the
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Speaker 1: friendship of the princess would be my protection, she assured me,
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Speaker 1: with a friendly pressure of the hand. The rain and
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Speaker 1: wind must have persisted for a considerable time, for when
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Speaker 1: it was finally over and we looked back through a
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Speaker 1: clear atmosphere, we found that a low range of mountains
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Speaker 1: lay between us and the distant sea. We had crossed
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Speaker 1: these and were upon a plateau at the foot of
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Speaker 1: the higher peaks. The sea looked very far away, indeed,
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Speaker 1: and we could not even guess at the location of
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Speaker 1: the Navan's village from which we had escaped. Do you
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Speaker 1: think they will pursue us, I asked her. Yes, she said,
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Speaker 1: they will try to find us, but it will be
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Speaker 1: like looking for a rain drop in the ocean. They
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Speaker 1: are creatures of the lowlands. I'm of the mountains down there,
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Speaker 1: and she pointed into the valley. They might find me easily,
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Speaker 1: but in my own mountains. No, we are near laithe,
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Speaker 1: I asked, I do not know lay this hard to find.
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Speaker 1: It is well hidden. It is for this reason that
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Speaker 1: it exists at all. Its founders were pursued by the Kalcars,
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Speaker 1: and had they not found an almost inaccessible spot, they
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Speaker 1: would have been discovered and slain long before they could
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Speaker 1: have constructed an impregnable city. She led me then straight
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Speaker 1: into the mighty mountains of the Moon, past the mouths
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Speaker 1: of huge craters that reached through the lunar crust to
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Speaker 1: the surface of the satellite. Along the edges of yawning
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Speaker 1: chasms that dropped three, four, yes sometimes five miles, sheer
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Speaker 1: into frightful gorges, and then out upon vast plateaus, but
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Speaker 1: ever upward toward the higher peaks that seemed to topple
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Speaker 1: above us in the distance. The craters, as a rule,
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Speaker 1: lay in the deep gorges, but some we found upon
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Speaker 1: the plateaus, and even a few opened into the summits
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Speaker 1: of mountain peaks, as do those upon the outer surface
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Speaker 1: of planets, those in the low places, where I believe
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Speaker 1: the openings through which the original molten lunar core was
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Speaker 1: vomited forth by the surface volcanoes upon the outer crust.
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Speaker 1: Nailah told me that the secret entrance to Lathe lay
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Speaker 1: just below the lip of one of these craters, and
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Speaker 1: it was this she sobbed to me. The quest seemed hopeless,
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Speaker 1: for as far as the roe could reach, lay not
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Speaker 1: but an indescribable jumble of jagged peaks, terrific gorges, and
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Speaker 1: bottomless craters. Yet always the girls seemed to find a
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Speaker 1: way among or about them instinctively. Apparently she found trails
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Speaker 1: and footholes where there were no trails, and where a
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Speaker 1: shammis might have been hard put to it to find
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Speaker 1: secure footing. In these higher altitudes we found a vegetation
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Speaker 1: that differed materially from that which grew in the lowlands.
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Speaker 1: Edible fruits and berries were, however, still sufficiently plentiful, to
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Speaker 1: keep us reasonably well supplied with food. When we were tired,
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Speaker 1: we usually managed to find a cave in which we
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Speaker 1: could rest in comparative security, and when it was possible
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Speaker 1: to do so, naie Llah always insisted upon barricading the
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Speaker 1: entrance with rocks, since there was always the danger, she
6:11
Speaker 1: told me of our being attacked by tor hooes. These
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Speaker 1: bloodthirsty creatures, while rare, were nevertheless very much to be feared,
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Speaker 1: since not only with the voracious meat eaters and of
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Speaker 1: such a savage disposition that they attacked nearly everything they
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Speaker 1: saw in wanted ferocity, but even a minor wound inflicted
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Speaker 1: by their fangs or talons often proved fatal because of
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Speaker 1: the fact that their principal diet was the poisonous flesh
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Speaker 1: of the rimph and the flying toad. I tried to
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Speaker 1: get Nilla to describe the creature to me, but inasmuch
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Speaker 1: as there was no creature with which we were both
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Speaker 1: familiar that she might compare it with, I learned little
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Speaker 1: more from her than that it stood between eighteen inches
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Speaker 1: and two feet in height, had long, sharp fangs, four legs,
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Speaker 1: and was hairless as an aid to climbing as well
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Speaker 1: as to give me some means of protection, I broke
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Speaker 1: a stout and rather heavy branch from one of the
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Speaker 1: mountain trees, the wood of which was harder than any
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Speaker 1: that I had seen growing in the lowlands. To roam
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Speaker 1: a strange and savage world armed only with a wooden
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Speaker 1: stick seemed to me the height of rashness. But there
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Speaker 1: was no alternative until the time arrived when I might
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Speaker 1: find the materials with which to fashion more formidable weapons.
7:32
Speaker 1: I had in mind a bow and arrows, and was
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Speaker 1: constantly on the lookout for wood, which I considered adapted
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Speaker 1: to the former. And I also determined to forego my
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Speaker 1: cane for a spear whenever that material for the making
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Speaker 1: of one came to hand. I had little time, however,
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Speaker 1: for such things, as it seemed that when we were
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Speaker 1: not sleeping, we were constantly on the move. Ni Illah
7:55
Speaker 1: becoming more and more impatient to find her native city
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Speaker 1: as the chances for doing so less, and it seemed
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Speaker 1: to me that they were constantly lessening. While I was
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Speaker 1: quite sure that she had no more idea where Lathe
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Speaker 1: lay than I, Yet we stumbled on and on and
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Speaker 1: on through the most stupendous mountain ranges that the mind
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Speaker 1: of man can conceive, Nor ever, apparently did Naila discover
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Speaker 1: a single familiar landmark upon which to hang a shred
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Speaker 1: of hope that eventually we might come upon Lathe. I
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Speaker 1: never saw such a sanguine and hopeful person as naih Love.
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Speaker 1: It was her constant belief that Lathe lay just beyond
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Speaker 1: the next mountain, in spite of the fact that she
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Speaker 1: was invariably mistaken, which seemed never to lessen the exuberance
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Speaker 1: of her enthusiasm for the next gas, which I knew
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Speaker 1: beforehand was going to be a wrong gas. Once, just
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Speaker 1: after we had rounded the shoulder of a mountain, we
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Speaker 1: came upon a little strip of level land clinging precariously
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Speaker 1: to the side of a perpendicular cliff. And so I
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Speaker 1: I stood there, waiting, my feeble stick grasped in both hands.
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Speaker 1: Just what I expected to do with it, I scarcely knew.
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Speaker 1: Until the side of a mighty peak. I was in
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Speaker 1: the lead, a position which I tried always to take
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Speaker 1: when it was not absolutely necessary for Naillot to go
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Speaker 1: ahead in order to find a trail. As I came
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Speaker 1: around the shoulder of the mountain and in full sight
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Speaker 1: of the little level area. I was positive that I
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Speaker 1: saw a slight movement among some bushes at my right,
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Speaker 1: about half way along one side of the little plain.
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Speaker 1: As we came abreast of the spot upon which I
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Speaker 1: kept my eye, there broke upon our ears the most
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Speaker 1: hideous scream that I have ever heard, And simultaneously there
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Speaker 1: leaped from the concealment of the bushes a creature about
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Speaker 1: the size of a North American mountain lion, though quite
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Speaker 1: evidently a reptile and probably a torhoe. As such it
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Speaker 1: proved to be. There was something about the head and
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Speaker 1: face which suggested the cat family to me, yet there
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Speaker 1: was really no resemblance between it and any of the
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Speaker 1: earthly felines. It came at me with those terrible curved fangs,
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Speaker 1: bared and bristly, and as it came, it emitted the
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Speaker 1: most terrifying sounds. I have called them screams, because that
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Speaker 1: word more nearly described them than any other, and yet
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Speaker 1: they were a combination of shrieks and moans, the most
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Speaker 1: blood curdling that I have ever heard. Nailah grasped my arm, run,
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Speaker 1: she cried, run, But I shook her loose and stood
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Speaker 1: my ground. I wanted to run, that, I will admit,
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Speaker 1: but where do The creature was covering the ground at
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Speaker 1: tremendous speed in our only avenue of escape was the
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Speaker 1: narrow trail over which we had just come. When the
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Speaker 1: torhoe was upon me. Then I swung for its head
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Speaker 1: as the batter swings for a pitched ball. I struck
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Speaker 1: it square upon the nose, a terrific blow that not
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Speaker 1: only stopped it but felled it. I could hear the
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Speaker 1: bones crushing beneath the impact of my crude weapon, and
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Speaker 1: I thought that I had done for the thing with
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Speaker 1: that single blow. But I did not know the tremendous
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Speaker 1: vitality of the creature. Almost instantly it was up and
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Speaker 1: at me again, and again I struck it, this time
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Speaker 1: upon the side of the head, and again I heard
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Speaker 1: bones crush, and again it fell heavily to the ground,
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Speaker 1: but appeared to be cold. Blood was oozing slowly from
11:27
Speaker 1: its wounded face as it came at me for the
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Speaker 1: third time, its eyes glaring hideously, its broken jaws agape
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Speaker 1: to seize me, while its shrieks and moans rose to
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Speaker 1: a perfect frenzy of rage and pain. It reared up
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Speaker 1: and struck at me with its talons. Now, but I
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Speaker 1: met it again with my bludgeon, and this time I
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Speaker 1: broke a fore leg. How long I thought that awful
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Speaker 1: thing I cannot even guess. Time and time again it
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Speaker 1: charged me furiously, and each time, though often by but
11:59
Speaker 1: a miracle of fortune, I managed to keep it from closing,
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Speaker 1: and each blow that I delivered crushed and maimed it
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Speaker 1: a little more, until at last it was nothing but
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Speaker 1: a bleeding wreck of pulp, still trying to crawl toward
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Speaker 1: me upon its broken legs, and seized me and drag
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Speaker 1: me down with its broken, toothless jaws. Even then, it
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Speaker 1: was with the greatest difficulty that I killed it, that
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Speaker 1: I might put it out of its misery. Rather exhausted,
12:27
Speaker 1: I turned to look for Naoi Llah, and much to
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Speaker 1: my surprise, I found her standing directly behind me. I
12:35
Speaker 1: thought you would run away, I said, no. She said,
12:39
Speaker 1: you did not run, and so I did not. But
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Speaker 1: I never thought that you would be able to kill it.
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Speaker 1: You thought that it would kill me, then, I asked, certainly,
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Speaker 1: she replied, Even now, I cannot understand how you were
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Speaker 1: able to overcome at her hoe with that pitiful little
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Speaker 1: stick of wood. But if you thought I was going
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Speaker 1: to be killed, I insisted, why was it that you
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Speaker 1: did not seek safety in flight? If you had been killed,
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Speaker 1: I should not have cared to live, she said simply.
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Speaker 1: I did not exactly understand her attitude, and scarcely knew
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Speaker 1: what reply to me. It was very foolish of you,
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Speaker 1: I said, at last, rather blunderingly. And if we are
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Speaker 1: attacked again, you must run and save yourself. She looked
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Speaker 1: at me for a moment with a peculiar expression upon
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Speaker 1: her face which I could not interpret, and then turned
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Speaker 1: and resumed her way in the direction in which we
13:33
Speaker 1: had been traveling when our journey had been interrupted by
13:37
Speaker 1: the torjau. She did not say anything, but I felt
13:41
Speaker 1: that I had offended her, and I was sorry. I
13:45
Speaker 1: did not want her falling in love with me, though,
13:47
Speaker 1: and according to earthly standards, her statement that she would
13:51
Speaker 1: rather die than live without me might naturally have been
13:54
Speaker 1: interpreted as a confession of love. The more I thought
13:58
Speaker 1: of it, however, as we moved along in silence, the
14:01
Speaker 1: more possible it seemed to me that her standards might
14:04
Speaker 1: differ widely from mine, and that I was only proving
14:07
Speaker 1: myself to be an egotistical ass in assuming that Nayillah
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Speaker 1: loved me. I wished that I might explain matters to her,
14:16
Speaker 1: but it is one of those things that is rather
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Speaker 1: difficult to explain, and I realized that it might be
14:22
Speaker 1: made much worse if I attempted to do so. We
14:26
Speaker 1: had been such good friends, and our fellowship had been
14:29
Speaker 1: so perfect that the apparently strained silence which existed between
14:33
Speaker 1: us was most depressing. Nillah had always been a talkative
14:38
Speaker 1: little person, and always gay and cheerful, even under the
14:42
Speaker 1: most trying conditions. I was rather tired out after my
14:46
Speaker 1: encounter with the torhoe and should have liked to stop
14:49
Speaker 1: for a rest, but I did not suggest it, neither
14:53
Speaker 1: did nay Llah, and so we continued on our seemingly
14:56
Speaker 1: interminable way. Though almost exhausted as I was, I dropped
15:01
Speaker 1: some little distance behind my beautiful guide. She was quite
15:05
Speaker 1: out of sight ahead of me upon the winding trail,
15:09
Speaker 1: when suddenly I heard her calling my name aloud. I
15:12
Speaker 1: answered her as simultaneously I broke into a run, for
15:15
Speaker 1: I did not know but what she might be in danger,
15:18
Speaker 1: though her voice did not sound at all like it.
15:21
Speaker 1: She was only a short distance ahead, and when I
15:24
Speaker 1: came in sight of her, I saw her standing at
15:26
Speaker 1: the edge of a mighty crater. She was facing me,
15:29
Speaker 1: and she was smiling. Oh, Julia, she cried, I have
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Speaker 1: found it. I am home, and we are safe at last.
15:39
Speaker 1: I am glad, nay Eli said, I have been much
15:42
Speaker 1: worried on account of the dangers to which you have
15:44
Speaker 1: been constantly subjected, as well as because of a growing
15:47
Speaker 1: fear that you would never be able to find Lathe.
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Speaker 1: Oh my, she exclaimed, I knew that I would find it.
15:55
Speaker 1: If I had to hunt through every mountain range in Vana,
15:59
Speaker 1: I would have found it. You are quite sure that
16:02
Speaker 1: this is the crater where lies the entrance to Lathe,
16:05
Speaker 1: I asked her. There is no doubt of it, Julian,
16:08
Speaker 1: she replied, and she pointed downward over the lip of
16:11
Speaker 1: the crater, toward a narrow ledge which lay some twenty
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Speaker 1: feet below, and upon which I saw what appeared to
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Speaker 1: be the mouth of a cave opening into the crater.
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Speaker 1: But how are we going to reach it? I asked.
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Speaker 1: It may be difficult, she replied, but we will find
16:27
Speaker 1: a way. I hope, so, Nila said. But without a
16:32
Speaker 1: rope or wings, I do not see how we are
16:35
Speaker 1: going to accomplish it. In the mouth of the tunnel,
16:38
Speaker 1: explained Nayla, there are long poles, each of which has
16:43
Speaker 1: a hook at one end. Ages ago, there were no
16:46
Speaker 1: other means of ingress or egress to the city, and
16:49
Speaker 1: those who came out to hunt or for any other
16:52
Speaker 1: purpose came through this long tunnel from the city and
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Speaker 1: from the ledge below. They raised their poles and placed
16:59
Speaker 1: the hooked ends over the rim of the crater, after
17:02
Speaker 1: which it was a simple matter to clamber up or
17:06
Speaker 1: down the poles as they wished. But it has been
17:09
Speaker 1: long since these tunnels were used by the people of Vana,
17:13
Speaker 1: who had no further need of them, after the perfection
17:16
Speaker 1: of the flying wings, which you saw me using when
17:19
Speaker 1: I was captured by the Bagas if they use poles,
17:23
Speaker 1: so may we, I said. Since there are plenty of
17:26
Speaker 1: young trees growing close to the rim of the crater,
17:29
Speaker 1: the only difficulty will be in felling one of them.
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Speaker 1: We can do that, said Nayla, if we can find
17:35
Speaker 1: some sharp fragments of stone. It will be slow work,
17:39
Speaker 1: but it can be done, and she started immediately to
17:42
Speaker 1: hunt for a fragment with a cutting edge. I joined
17:46
Speaker 1: her in the search, and it was not long before
17:48
Speaker 1: we had discovered several pieces of subsidium with rather sharp edges.
17:53
Speaker 1: We then started to work upon a young tree about
17:56
Speaker 1: four inches in diameter that grew almost straight for a
18:00
Speaker 1: height of some thirty feet. Cutting the tree down with
18:04
Speaker 1: our bits of lava glass was tedious work, but finally
18:07
Speaker 1: it was accomplished, and we were both much elated when
18:11
Speaker 1: the tree toppled and fell to the ground. Cutting away
18:14
Speaker 1: the branches occupied almost as long a time, but that too,
18:18
Speaker 1: was finally accomplished. The next problem which confronted us was
18:22
Speaker 1: that of making the top of the pole secure enough
18:25
Speaker 1: to hold while we descended to the ledge before the
18:28
Speaker 1: mouth of the tunnel. We had no rope, and nothing
18:32
Speaker 1: with which to fashion one, other than my garments, which
18:35
Speaker 1: I was looked to destroy. In as much as in
18:37
Speaker 1: these higher altitudes it was often cold. Presently, however, I
18:42
Speaker 1: hit upon a plan which, if Nahilla's muscles and my
18:45
Speaker 1: nerves withstood the strain it might put upon them bad
18:48
Speaker 1: fair To assure the success of our undertaking, I lowered
18:52
Speaker 1: the larger end of the pole over the side of
18:55
Speaker 1: the crater, until the butt rested upon the ledge before
18:58
Speaker 1: the mouth of the tunnel. Then I turned to Nailah.
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Speaker 1: Lie down flat at full length. Nayillah, I directed her,
19:06
Speaker 1: and hold this pole securely with both hands. You will
19:10
Speaker 1: only have to keep it from toppling to the sides
19:12
Speaker 1: or outward, and to that I think your strength is equal.
19:17
Speaker 1: While you hold it, I will descend to the mouth
19:19
Speaker 1: of the tunnel and raise one of the regular hooked poles,
19:22
Speaker 1: which you say should be deposited there. If they are not,
19:26
Speaker 1: I believe that I can hold our own poles securely
19:29
Speaker 1: from below while you descend. She looked over into the
19:32
Speaker 1: vast abyss below and shuddered. I can hold it at
19:36
Speaker 1: the top, she said, if the bottom does not slip
19:38
Speaker 1: from the ledge, that is a chance that I shall
19:42
Speaker 1: have to take. I replied, but I will descend very carefully,
19:46
Speaker 1: and I think there will be little danger upon that score.
19:50
Speaker 1: I could see, upon a more careful examination of the
19:53
Speaker 1: ledge below that there was some danger of an accident
19:56
Speaker 1: such as she suggested. Naylah took her position as I
20:00
Speaker 1: had directed, and lay grasping the pole securely in both
20:04
Speaker 1: hands at the rim of the crater, which was absolutely
20:07
Speaker 1: perpendicular at this point, and I prepared to make the
20:10
Speaker 1: perilous descent. I can assure you that my sensations were
20:15
Speaker 1: far from pleasurable as I looked over into that awful abyss.
20:19
Speaker 1: The crater itself was some four or five miles in diameter,
20:23
Speaker 1: and as I had every reason to suspect, extended fully
20:26
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty miles through the lunar crust to
20:30
Speaker 1: the surface of the Moon. It was one of the
20:33
Speaker 1: most impressive moments of my life. As I clung balancing
20:36
Speaker 1: upon the edge of that huge orifice, gazing into the silent,
20:40
Speaker 1: mysterious depths below. And then I seized the pole very
20:45
Speaker 1: gently and lowered myself over the edge. Courage Julian whispered, Nayillah,
20:51
Speaker 1: I shall hold very tight. I shall be quite safe. Naylah,
20:55
Speaker 1: I assured her. I must be safe, for if I
20:58
Speaker 1: am not you to reach the ledge and lathe. As
21:03
Speaker 1: it ascended very slowly, I tried not to think at all,
21:06
Speaker 1: but to exclude from my mind every consideration of the
21:10
Speaker 1: appalling depths beneath me. I could not have been more
21:13
Speaker 1: than two feet from the ledge when the very thing
21:16
Speaker 1: that we both tried so hard to guard against transpired.
21:20
Speaker 1: A splintered fragment of the pole's butt crumbled beneath my weight,
21:25
Speaker 1: and that slight jar was just sufficient to start the
21:29
Speaker 1: base of my precarious ladder sliding toward the edge of
21:33
Speaker 1: the narrow projection upon which I had rested it, and
21:36
Speaker 1: beyond which lay eternity. Above me, I heard a slight scream,
21:41
Speaker 1: and then the pole slipped from the edge, and I
21:43
Speaker 1: felt myself falling. It was over in an instant. My
21:48
Speaker 1: feet struck the ledge, and I threw myself within the
21:50
Speaker 1: mouth of the tunnel. And then above me I heard
21:54
Speaker 1: Nighilah's voice, crying in agonized tones. Julian, Julian, I am falling. Instantly,
22:01
Speaker 1: I sprang to my feet and peered upward from the
22:04
Speaker 1: mouth of the tunnel upon a sight that froze my blood.
22:07
Speaker 1: So horrifying did it seem, For there above me, still
22:10
Speaker 1: clinging to the pole, hung nighila her body, with the
22:14
Speaker 1: exception of her legs, completely over the edge of the crater.
22:19
Speaker 1: Just as I looked up, she dropped the pole, and
22:22
Speaker 1: although I made a grab for it, I missed it,
22:24
Speaker 1: and it fell past me into the maw of the crater. Julian, Julian,
22:28
Speaker 1: you are safe. She cried, I am glad oft that
22:32
Speaker 1: it terrified me so when I thought you were falling,
22:34
Speaker 1: and I tried my best to hold the pole, but
22:37
Speaker 1: your weight dragged me over the edge of the crater.
22:40
Speaker 1: Good Bye, Julian, I cannot hold on much longer. You must, Naillah,
22:45
Speaker 1: I cried, do not forget the hooked poles that you
22:48
Speaker 1: told me of. I will find one and have you
22:50
Speaker 1: down in no time. And even as I spoke, I
22:53
Speaker 1: turned and dove into the tunnel, but my heart stood
22:56
Speaker 1: still at the thought that the poles might not be there.
23:00
Speaker 1: First glance revealed only the bare rock of walls and
23:03
Speaker 1: floor and ceiling, and no hoop poles in sight. I
23:07
Speaker 1: sprang quickly farther into the tunnel, which turned abruptly a
23:10
Speaker 1: few yards ahead of me, and just around the bend,
23:13
Speaker 1: my eyes were gladdened by the sight of a dozen
23:15
Speaker 1: or more of the poles which Nahillah had described. Seizing
23:19
Speaker 1: one of them, I ran quickly back to the entrance.
23:22
Speaker 1: I was almost afraid to look up, but as I
23:24
Speaker 1: did so, I was rewarded by the sight of Naoilla's
23:27
Speaker 1: face smiling down at me. She could smile even in
23:31
Speaker 1: the face of death could Nailah just a moment more, Naila,
23:36
Speaker 1: I cried to her as I raised the pole and
23:38
Speaker 1: caught the hook upon the crater's rim. There were small
23:42
Speaker 1: protuberances on either side of the pole for its entire length,
23:46
Speaker 1: which made climbing it comparatively simple. Make haste, Julian, she cried,
23:50
Speaker 1: I am slipping. It wasn't necessary for her to tell
23:54
Speaker 1: me to make haste. I think that I never did
23:57
Speaker 1: anything more quickly in my life than I climbed that pole.
24:01
Speaker 1: But I reached her not an instant too soon, for
24:04
Speaker 1: even as my arm slipped about her, her hold upon
24:07
Speaker 1: the ledge above gave way, and she came down head
24:10
Speaker 1: foremost upon me. I had no difficulty in catching her
24:14
Speaker 1: and supporting a weight. My only fear was that the
24:17
Speaker 1: hook above might not sustain the added weight under the
24:20
Speaker 1: strain of her falling body. But it held, and I
24:24
Speaker 1: blessed the artisan who had made it thus strong. A
24:28
Speaker 1: moment later I descended to the mouth of the tunnel
24:31
Speaker 1: and drawn Nahillah into the safety of its interior. My
24:35
Speaker 1: arm was still around her, and hers about me. As
24:38
Speaker 1: she stood there, sobbing upon my breast. She was utterly
24:42
Speaker 1: relaxed and her supple body felt so helpless against me
24:46
Speaker 1: that there was suddenly aroused within me no feeling such
24:49
Speaker 1: as I had never experienced before, a rather indescribable feeling,
24:55
Speaker 1: yet one which induced seemingly an irresistible and redem Gula's
25:00
Speaker 1: desire to go forth and slay whole armies of men
25:04
Speaker 1: in protection of this little moon Maad. It must have
25:07
Speaker 1: been a sudden mental reversion to some ancient type of
25:11
Speaker 1: crusading ancestor of the Middle Ages, some knight in armor
25:15
Speaker 1: from whose loins I had sprung, transmitting to me his
25:19
Speaker 1: own flamboyant, yet none the less admirable chivalry. The feeling
25:24
Speaker 1: rather surprised me, for I have always considered myself more
25:27
Speaker 1: or less practical and hard headed, but more sober thought
25:32
Speaker 1: finally convinced me that it was but a nervous reaction
25:35
Speaker 1: from the thrilling moments through which we had both just passed,
25:39
Speaker 1: coupled with her entire helplessness and dependence upon me. Be
25:43
Speaker 1: that as it may. I disengaged her arms from about
25:46
Speaker 1: my neck as gently and as quickly as I could,
25:50
Speaker 1: and lowered her carefully to the floor of the tunnel,
25:53
Speaker 1: so that she sat at her back, leaning against one
25:55
Speaker 1: of the walls. You are very brave, Julian, she said,
26:00
Speaker 1: and very strong. I am afraid. I am not very brave,
26:04
Speaker 1: I told her. I am almost weak from fright. Even now,
26:08
Speaker 1: I was so afraid that I would not reach you
26:10
Speaker 1: in time. Thygh Love, it is the brave man who
26:14
Speaker 1: is afraid after the danger has passed, she said. He
26:17
Speaker 1: has no time to think of fear until after the
26:20
Speaker 1: happening is all over. You may have been afraid from me, Julian,
26:25
Speaker 1: but you could not have been afraid for yourself, for
26:28
Speaker 1: otherwise you would not have taken the risk of catching
26:31
Speaker 1: me as I fell. Even now I cannot understand how
26:34
Speaker 1: you were able to hold me. Perhaps, I reminded her,
26:39
Speaker 1: I am stronger than the men of Vanna, for my
26:42
Speaker 1: earthly muscles are accustomed to overcoming a gravity six times
26:46
Speaker 1: as great as that upon your world. Had the same
26:50
Speaker 1: accident happened upon earth, I might not have been able
26:53
Speaker 1: to hold you when you fell. End of Chapter eight
26:58
Speaker 1: recording by Thomas co