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02 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Daily Sci-Fi Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter two, a forest battle. Tars Tarkas and I found
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  Speaker 1: no time for an exchange of experiences as we stood
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  Speaker 1: there before the great boulder, surrounded by the corpses of
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  Speaker 1: our grotesque assailants, For from all directions down the broad
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  Speaker 1: valley was streaming a perfect torrent of terrifying creatures. In
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  Speaker 1: response to the weird call of the strange figure far
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  Speaker 1: above us, come cried Tars Tarkas. We must make for
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  Speaker 1: the cliffs. There lies our only hope for even temporary escape.
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  Speaker 1: There we may find a cave or a narrow ledge,
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  Speaker 1: which two may defend forever against this motley unarmed horde.
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  Speaker 1: Together we raced across the scarlet sward, I timing my
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  Speaker 1: speed that I might not outdistance my slower companion. We
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  Speaker 1: had perhaps three hundred yards to cover between our boulder
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  Speaker 1: and the cliffs, and then to search out a suitable
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  Speaker 1: shelter for our stand against the terrifying things that were
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  Speaker 1: pursuing us. They were rapidly overhauling us when Tars Tarkas
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  Speaker 1: cried to me to haste ahead and discover, if possible,
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  Speaker 1: the sanctuary we sought. The suggestion was a good one,
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  Speaker 1: for thus many valuable minutes might be saved to us,
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  Speaker 1: and throwing every ounce of my earthly muscles into the effort,
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  Speaker 1: I cleared the remaining distance between myself and the cliffs
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  Speaker 1: in great leaps and bounds that put me at their
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  Speaker 1: base in a moment. The cliffs rose perpendicular directly from
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  Speaker 1: the almost level sword of the valley. There was no
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  Speaker 1: accumulation of fallen debris, forming a more or less rough
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  Speaker 1: ascent to them, as is the case with nearly all
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  Speaker 1: other cliffs I have ever seen. The scattered boulders that
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  Speaker 1: had fallen from above and lay upon or partly buried
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  Speaker 1: in the turf were the only indication that any disintegration
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  Speaker 1: of the massive, towering pile of rocks ever had taken place.
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  Speaker 1: My first cursory inspection of the face of the cliffs
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  Speaker 1: filled my heart with forebodings, since nowhere could I discern
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  Speaker 1: except where the weird herald stood still, shrieking his shrill summons,
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  Speaker 1: the faintest indiation of even a bare foothold upon the
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  Speaker 1: loftiest escarpment to my right. The bottom of the cliff
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  Speaker 1: was lost in dense foliage of the forest, which terminated
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  Speaker 1: at its very foot, rearing its gorgeous foliage, fully a
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  Speaker 1: thousand feet against its stern and forbidding neighbour to the left.
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  Speaker 1: The cliff ran apparently unbroken across the head of the
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  Speaker 1: broad valley, to be lost in the outlines of what
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  Speaker 1: appeared to be a range of mighty mountains that skirted
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  Speaker 1: and confined the valley in every direction. Perhaps a thousand
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  Speaker 1: feet from me. The river broke, as it seemed, directly
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  Speaker 1: from the base of the cliffs, and as there seemed
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  Speaker 1: not the remotest chance for escape in that direction, I
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  Speaker 1: turned my attention again toward the forest. The cliffs towered
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  Speaker 1: above me a good five thousand feet. The sun was
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  Speaker 1: not quite upon them, and they loomed a dull yellow
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  Speaker 1: in their own shade. Here and there they were broken
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  Speaker 1: with streaks and patches of dusky red green, and occasional
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  Speaker 1: areas of white courts. Altogether, they were very beautiful, but
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  Speaker 1: I feared that I did not regard them with a
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  Speaker 1: particularly appreciative eye. On this my first inspection of them.
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  Speaker 1: Just then I was absorbed in them only as a
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  Speaker 1: medium of escape, And so as my gaze ran quickly
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  Speaker 1: time and again over their vast expanse, in search of
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  Speaker 1: some crane or crevice. I came suddenly to loathe them,
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  Speaker 1: as the prisoner must loathe the cruel and impegnetrable walls
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  Speaker 1: of his dungeon. Tars Tarkas was approaching me rapidly, and
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  Speaker 1: still more rapidly came the awful horde at his heels.
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  Speaker 1: It seemed the forest now or nothing, and I was
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  Speaker 1: just on the point of motioning tars Tarkas to follow
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  Speaker 1: me in that direction when the sun passed the cliffs zenith,
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  Speaker 1: and as the bright rays touched the dull surface, it
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  Speaker 1: burst out into a million scintillent lights of burnished gold,
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  Speaker 1: a flaming red of soft greens and gleaming whites, A
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  Speaker 1: more gorgeous and in aspiring spectacle human eye has never
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  Speaker 1: rested upon the face of the entire cliff was, as
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  Speaker 1: later inspection conclusively proved, so shot with veins and patches
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  Speaker 1: of solid gold as to quite present the appearance of
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  Speaker 1: a solid wall of that precious metal, except where it
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  Speaker 1: was broken by outcroppings of ruby, emerald and diamond bowlders,
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  Speaker 1: a faint and alluring indication of the vast and unguessable
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  Speaker 1: riches which lay deeply buried behind the magnificent surface. But
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  Speaker 1: what caught my most interested attention at the moment that
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  Speaker 1: the sun's rays set the cliff's face a shimmer, was
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  Speaker 1: the several black spots which now appeared quite plainly in evidence,
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  Speaker 1: high across the gorgeous wall, close to the forest top,
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  Speaker 1: and extending apparently below and behind the branches. Almost immediately
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  Speaker 1: I recognized them for what they were, the dark openings
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  Speaker 1: of caves entering the solid walls, possible avenues of escape
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  Speaker 1: or temporary shelter. Could we but reach them? There was
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  Speaker 1: but a single way, and that led through the mighty
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  Speaker 1: towering trees upon our right. That I could scale them,
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  Speaker 1: I knew full well. But tars Tarkas, with his mighty
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  Speaker 1: bulk and enormous weight, would find it a task, possibly
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  Speaker 1: quite beyond his prowess or his skill, For Martians are
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  Speaker 1: at best but poor climbers. Upon the entire surface of
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  Speaker 1: that ancient planet, I never before had seen a hill
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  Speaker 1: or mountain that exceeded four thousand feet in height above
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  Speaker 1: the dead sea bottoms, And as the ascent was usually
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  Speaker 1: gradual nearly to their summits, they presented but few opportunities
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  Speaker 1: for the practice of climbing, nor would the Martians have
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  Speaker 1: embraced even such opportunities as might present themselves, For they
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  Speaker 1: could always find a circuitous route about the base of
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  Speaker 1: any eminence, and these roads they preferred and followed in
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  Speaker 1: preference to the shorter but more arduous ways. However, there
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  Speaker 1: was nothing else to consider than an attempt to scale
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  Speaker 1: the trees contiguous to the cliff in an effort to
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  Speaker 1: reach the caves above the Tharks the possibilities and the
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  Speaker 1: difficulties of the plan at once, but there was no alternative,
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  Speaker 1: and so we set out rapidly for the trees nearest
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  Speaker 1: the cliff. Our relentless pursuers were now close to us,
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  Speaker 1: so close that it seemed that it would be an
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  Speaker 1: utter impossibility for the Jeddak of Thark to reach the
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  Speaker 1: forest in advance of them. Nor was there any considerable
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  Speaker 1: will in the efforts that tars Tarkas made, for the
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  Speaker 1: green men of Barsoom do not relish flight, Nor ever
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  Speaker 1: before had I seen one fleeing from death in whatsoever
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  Speaker 1: form It might have confronted him. But that Tars Tarkas
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  Speaker 1: was the bravest of the brave He had proven thousands
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  Speaker 1: of times, yes, tens of thousands, in countless mortal combats
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  Speaker 1: with men and beasts, And so I knew that there
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  Speaker 1: was another reason than fear of death behind his flight,
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  Speaker 1: as he knew that a greater power than pride or
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  Speaker 1: honor spurred me to escape these fierce destroyers. In my case,
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  Speaker 1: it was love, love of the divine dejah Thoris, and
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  Speaker 1: the cause of Thark's great and sudden love of life
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  Speaker 1: I could not fathom, for it is oftener that they
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  Speaker 1: seek death in life, these strange, cruel, loveless, unhappy people.
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  Speaker 1: At length, however, we reached the shadow of the forest,
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  Speaker 1: while right behind us sprang the swiftest of our pursuers,
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  Speaker 1: a giant plant man with claws outreaching to fasten his
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  Speaker 1: blood sucking mouths upon us. He was, I should say,
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  Speaker 1: a hundred yards in advance of his closest companion, And
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  Speaker 1: so I called to tars Tarkas to ascend a great
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  Speaker 1: tree that brushed the cliff's face, while I despatched the fellow,
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  Speaker 1: thus giving the less agile Thark an opportunity to reach
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  Speaker 1: the higher branches before the entire horde should be upon us,
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  Speaker 1: and every vestige of escape cut off. But I had
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  Speaker 1: reckoned without a just appreciation, either of the cunning of
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  Speaker 1: my immediate antagonists or the swiftness with which his fellows
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  Speaker 1: were covering the distance which had separated them from me.
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  Speaker 1: As I raised my long sword to deal the creature
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  Speaker 1: its death thrust, it halted in its charge, and as
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  Speaker 1: my sword cut harmlessly through the empty air, the great
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  Speaker 1: tail of the thing swept, with the power of a
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  Speaker 1: grizzly's arm, across the sward and carried me bodily from
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  Speaker 1: my feet to the ground. In an instant the brute
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  Speaker 1: was upon me, but ere it could fasten its hideous
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  Speaker 1: mouths into my breast and throat, I grasped a rithing
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  Speaker 1: tentacle in either hand. The plant man was well muscled,
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  Speaker 1: heavy and powerful, but my earthly sinews and greater agility,
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  Speaker 1: in conjunction with the deathly stranglehold I had upon him,
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  Speaker 1: would have given me, I think, an eventual victory, had
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  Speaker 1: we had time to discuss the merits of our relative
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  Speaker 1: prowess uninterrupted. But as we strained and struggled about the
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  Speaker 1: trees into which tars Tarkas was clambering with infinite difficulty,
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  Speaker 1: I suddenly caught a glimpse over the shoulder of my
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  Speaker 1: antagonist of the great swarm of pursuers that now were
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  Speaker 1: fairly upon me. Now at last I saw the nature
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  Speaker 1: of the other monsters who had come with the plant
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  Speaker 1: men in response to the weird calling of the man
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  Speaker 1: upon the cliff's face. They were that most dreaded of
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  Speaker 1: Martian creatures, great white apes of Barsoom. My former experiences
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  Speaker 1: upon Mars have familiarized me thoroughly with them and their methods.
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  Speaker 1: And I may say that of all the fearsome and terrible,
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  Speaker 1: weird and grotesque inhabitants of that strange world, it is
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  Speaker 1: the white apes that come nearest to familiarizing me with
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  Speaker 1: the sensation of fear. I think that the cause of
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  Speaker 1: this feeling which these apes engender within me is due
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  Speaker 1: to their remarkable resemblance in form to our earthmen, which
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  Speaker 1: gives them a human appearance that is most uncanny when
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  Speaker 1: coupled with their enormous size. They stand fifteen feet in
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  Speaker 1: height and walk erect upon their hind feet. Like the
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  Speaker 1: green Martians, they have an intermediary set of arms midway
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  Speaker 1: between their upper and lower limbs. Their eyes are very
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  Speaker 1: close set, but do not protrude as do those of
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  Speaker 1: the green men. Of Mars. Their ears are high set,
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  Speaker 1: but more laterally located than are the green men's, while
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  Speaker 1: their snouts and teeth are much like those of our
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  Speaker 1: African gorilla. Upon their heads grows an enormous shock of
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  Speaker 1: bristly hair. It was into the eyes of such as
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  Speaker 1: these and the terrible plant men, that I gazed above
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  Speaker 1: the shoulder of my foe, And then in a mighty
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  Speaker 1: wave of snarling, snapping, screaming, purring rage, they swept over me.
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  Speaker 1: And of all the sounds that assailed my ears as
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  Speaker 1: I went down beneath them, to me, the most hideous
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  Speaker 1: was the horrid purring of the plant men. Instantly a
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  Speaker 1: score of cruel fangs and keen talons were sunk into
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  Speaker 1: my flesh. Cold sucking lips fastened themselves upon my arteries.
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  Speaker 1: I struggled to free myself, and even though weighed down
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  Speaker 1: by these immense bodies, I succeeded in struggling to my feet,
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  Speaker 1: where still grasping my long sword and shortening my grip
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  Speaker 1: upon it until I could use it as a dagger.
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  Speaker 1: I wrought such havoc among them that at one time
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  Speaker 1: I stood for an instant free. What it has taken
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  Speaker 1: minutes to write occurred in but a few seconds. But
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  Speaker 1: during that time Tars Tarkas had seen my plight and
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  Speaker 1: had dropped from the lower branches which he had reached
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  Speaker 1: with such infinite labor. And as I flung the last
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  Speaker 1: of my immediate antagonists from me, the great thark leaped
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  Speaker 1: to my side. And again we fought back to back,
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  Speaker 1: as we had done a hundred times before. Time and
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  Speaker 1: again the ferocious apes sprang in too close with us,
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  Speaker 1: and time and again we beat them back with our swords.
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  Speaker 1: The great tales of the plant men lashed with tremendous
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  Speaker 1: power about us as they charged from various directions, or
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  Speaker 1: sprang with the agility of greyhounds above our heads. But
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  Speaker 1: every attack met a gleaming blade in sword hands that
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  Speaker 1: had been reputed for twenty years the best that Mars
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  Speaker 1: ever had known. For Tars Tarkas and John Carter were
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  Speaker 1: names that the fighting men of the world of Warriors
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  Speaker 1: loved best to speak. But even the two best swords
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  Speaker 1: in the world of fighters could avail not for ever
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  Speaker 1: against overwhelming numbers of fierce and savage brutes that know
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  Speaker 1: not what defeat means until cold steel teaches their hearts
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  Speaker 1: no longer to beat, and so step by step we
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  Speaker 1: were forced back. At length we stood against the giant
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  Speaker 1: tree that we had chosen for ascent, and then, as
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  Speaker 1: charge after charge hurled its weight upon us, we gave
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  Speaker 1: back again and again, until we had been forced half
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  Speaker 1: way around the huge base of the colossal trunk. Tars
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  Speaker 1: Tarkas was in the lead, and suddenly I heard a
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  Speaker 1: little cry of exultations from him. Here is shelter for
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  Speaker 1: one at least, John Carter, he said, And glancing down,
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  Speaker 1: I saw an opening in the base of the tree,
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  Speaker 1: about three feet in diameter. In with you, Tars Tarkas,
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  Speaker 1: I cried, But he would not go, saying that his
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  Speaker 1: bulk was too great for the little aperture. While I
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  Speaker 1: might slip in easily. We shall both die if we
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  Speaker 1: remain without John Carter. Here is a slight chance for
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  Speaker 1: one of us. Take it, and you may live to
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  Speaker 1: avenge me. It is useless for me to attempt to
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  Speaker 1: warm my way into so small an opening, with this
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  Speaker 1: horde of demons besetting us on all sides. Then we
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  Speaker 1: shall die together. Tars Tarkas, I replied, for I shall
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  Speaker 1: not go first. Let me defend the opening while you
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  Speaker 1: get in. Then my smaller stature will permit me to
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  Speaker 1: slip in with you before they can prevent. We were
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  Speaker 1: still fighting ferociously as we talked in broken sentences punctuated
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  Speaker 1: with vicious cuts and thrusts at our swarming enemy. At length,
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  Speaker 1: he yielded, for it seemed the only way in which
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  Speaker 1: either of us might be saved from the ever increasing
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  Speaker 1: numbers of our assailants, who were still swarming upon us
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  Speaker 1: from all directions across the broad valley. It was ever
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  Speaker 1: your way, John Carter, to think last of your own life,
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  Speaker 1: he said, but still more your way to command the
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  Speaker 1: lives and actions of others, even to the greatest of
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  Speaker 1: Jeddaks who rule upon barsoom. There was a grim smile
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  Speaker 1: upon his cruel, hard face as he, the greatest Jeddak
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  Speaker 1: of them all, turned to obey the dictates of a
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  Speaker 1: creature of another world, of a man whose stature was
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  Speaker 1: less than half his own. If you fail, John Carter,
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  Speaker 1: he said, know that the cruel and heartless thark to
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  Speaker 1: whom you taught the meaning of friendship will come out
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  Speaker 1: to die beside you as you will, my friend, I replied,
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  Speaker 1: but quickly now head first, while I cover your retreat.
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  Speaker 1: He hesitated a little at that word, for never before
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  Speaker 1: in his whole life of continual strife had he turned
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  Speaker 1: his back upon aught than a dead or defeated enemy.
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  Speaker 1: Haste tars tarkas, I urged, or we shall both go
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  Speaker 1: down to profitless defeat. I cannot hold them forever alone.
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  Speaker 1: As he dropped to the ground to force his way
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  Speaker 1: into the tree, the whole howling pack of hideous devils
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  Speaker 1: hurled themselves upon me. To right and left flew my
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  Speaker 1: shimmering blade, now green with the sticky juice of a plantman,
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  Speaker 1: now red with the crimson blood of a great white ape,
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  Speaker 1: but always flying from one opponent to another, hesitating but
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  Speaker 1: the barest fraction of a second to drink the life
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  Speaker 1: blood in the center of some savage heart. And thus
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: I fought, as I never had fought before, against such
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  Speaker 1: frightful odds that I cannot realize even now that human
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  Speaker 1: muscles could have withstood that awful onslaught that terrific weight
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  Speaker 1: of hurtling tons of ferocious, battling flesh. With the fear
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  Speaker 1: that we would escape them, the creatures redoubled their efforts
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  Speaker 1: to pull me down, And though the ground about me
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  Speaker 1: was piled high with their dead and dying comrades. They
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  Speaker 1: succeeded at last in overwhelming me, and I went down
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  Speaker 1: beneath them for the second time that day, and once
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  Speaker 1: again felt those awful sucking lips against my flesh. But
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  Speaker 1: scarce had I fallen air. I felt the powerful hands
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  Speaker 1: grip my ankles, and in another second I was being
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  Speaker 1: drawn within the shelter of the tree's interior. For a
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  Speaker 1: moment it was a tug of war between tars Tarkas
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  Speaker 1: and a great plant man, who clung tenuously to my breast.
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  Speaker 1: But presently I got the point of my long sword
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  Speaker 1: beneath him, and with a mighty thrust, pierced his vitals.
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  Speaker 1: Torn and bleeding from my cruel wounds, I lay panting
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  Speaker 1: upon the ground within the hollow of the tree, while
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  Speaker 1: tars Tarkas defended the opening from the ferocious mob without
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  Speaker 1: For an hour they howled about the tree, but after
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  Speaker 1: a few attempts to reach us, they confined their efforts
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  Speaker 1: to terrorizing shrieks and screams, to hoard growling on the
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  Speaker 1: part of the great white apes, and the fearsome and
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  Speaker 1: indescribable purring by the plant men at length. All but
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  Speaker 1: a score who had apparently been left to prevent our escape,
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  Speaker 1: had left us, and our adventures seemed destined to result
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  Speaker 1: in a siege, the only outcome of which could be
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  Speaker 1: our death by starvation. For even should we be able
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  Speaker 1: to slip out after dark, whither in this unknown and
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  Speaker 1: hostile valley could we hope to turn our steps toward
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  Speaker 1: possible escape. As the attacks of our enemies ceased and
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: our eyes became accustomed to the semi darkness of the
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: interior of our strange retreat, I took the opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: explore our shelter. The tree was hollow to an extent
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  Speaker 1: of about fifty feet in diameter, and from its flat,
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  Speaker 1: hard floor, I judged that it had often been used
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  Speaker 1: to dominile others before our occupancy. As I raised my
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  Speaker 1: eyes towards its roof to note the height, I saw
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  Speaker 1: far above me a faint glow of light. There was
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  Speaker 1: an opening above. If we could but reach it, we
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  Speaker 1: might still hope to make the shelter of the cliff caves.
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  Speaker 1: My eyes had not become quite used to the subdued
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  Speaker 1: light of the interior, and as I pursued my investigation,
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  Speaker 1: I presently came upon a rough ladder at the far
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  Speaker 1: side of the cave. Quickly I mounted it, only to
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  Speaker 1: find that it connected at the top with the lower
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: of a series of horizontal wooden bars that spanned the
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  Speaker 1: now narrow and shaft like interior of the tree's stem.
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  Speaker 1: These bars were set one above another, about three feet apart,
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  Speaker 1: and formed a perfect ladder as far above me as
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  Speaker 1: I could see. Dropping to the floor once more, I
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  Speaker 1: detailed my discovery to tars Tarkas, who suggested that I
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: explore aloft as far as I could go in safety,
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  Speaker 1: while he guarded the entrance against a possible attack. As
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  Speaker 1: I hastened above to explore the strange shaft, I found
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  Speaker 1: that the ladder of horizontal bars mounted always as far
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  Speaker 1: above me as my eyes could reach, and as I ascended,
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  Speaker 1: the light from above grew brighter and brighter. For fully
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  Speaker 1: five hundred feet. I continued to climb until at length
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  Speaker 1: I reached the opening in the stem which admitted the light.
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  Speaker 1: It was of about the same diameter as the entrance
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: at the foot of the tree, and opened directly upon
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: a large flat limb, the well worn surface of which
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: testified to its long continued use as an avenue for
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: some creature to and from this remarkable shaft. I did
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: not venture out upon the limb for fear that I
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: might be discovered and our retreat in this direction cut off,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: but instead hurried to retrace my steps to Tars Tarkas.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: I soon reached him, and presently we were both ascending
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: the long ladder toward the opening above. Tars Tarkas went
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in advance, and as I reached the first of the
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: horizontal bars, I drew the ladder up after me, and
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: handing it to him, he carried it a hundred feet
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: farther aloft, where he wedged it safely between one of
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: the bars and the side of the shaft. In like manner,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I dislodged the lower bars as I passed them, so
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: that we soon had the interior of the tree denuded
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: of all possible means of ascent for a distance of
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: a hundred feet from the base, thus precluding possible pursuit
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: and attack from the rear. As we were to learn later,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: this precaution saved us from dire predicament and was eventually
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: the means of our salvation. When we reached the opening
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: at the top tars Tarkas drew to one side that
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I might pass out and investigate, as owing to my
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: lesser weight and greater agility, I was better fitted for
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: the perilous threading of this dizzy hanging pathway. The limb
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: upon which I found myself ascended at a slight angle
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: toward the cliff, and as I followed it, I found
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: that it terminated a few feet above a narrow ledge
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: which protruded from the cliff's face at the entrance to
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: a narrow cave. As I approached the slightly more slender
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: extremity of the branch, it bent beneath my weight, until
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: as I balanced perilously upon its outer tip, it swayed
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: gently on a level with the ledge. At a distance
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: of a couple feet. Five hundred feet below me lay
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: the vivid scarlet carpet of the valley. Nearly five thousand
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: feet above towered the mighty, gleaming face of the gorgeous cliffs.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: The cave that I faced was not one of those
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: that I had seen from the ground, and which lay
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: much higher, possibly a thousand feet, But so far as
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I might know, it was as good for our purpose
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: as another, and saw I returned to the tree for
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: tars Tarkas. Together we wormed our way along the waving pathway,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: but when we reached the end of the branch, we
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: found that our combined weight so depressed the limb that
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: the cave's mouth was now too far above us to
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: be reached. We finally agreed that tars Tarkas should return
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: along the branch, leaving his longest leather harnessed strap with me,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: and that when the limb had risen to a height
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: that would permit me to enter the cave, I was
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: to do so, and on tars Tarkas's return, I could
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: then lower the strap and haul him up to the
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: safety of the ledge. This we did without mishap, and
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: soon found ourselves together upon the verge of a dizzy
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: little balcony, with a magnificent view of the valley spreading
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: out below us as far as the eye could reach.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Gorgeous force and crimson swords skirted a silent sea, and
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: about all towered the brilliant monster Guardian cliffs. Once we thought,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: we discerned a gilded minaret glimming in the sun amidst
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: the waving top of far distant trees. But we soon
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: abandoned the idea, in the belief that it was but
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: a hallucination born of our great desire to discover the
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: haunts of civilized men in this beautiful, yet forbidding spot.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Below us, upon the river's bank, the great white apes
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: were devouring the last remnants of tars tarkas former companions,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: while great herds of plant men grazed in ever widening
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: circles about the sward, which they kept as close clipped
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: as the smoothest of lawns. Knowing that attack from the
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: tree was now improbable, we determined to explore the cave,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: which we had ever reason to believe was but a
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: continuation of the path we had already traversed, leading the
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: gods alone new where, but quite evidently away from this
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: valley of grim veracity. As we advanced, we found a
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: well proportioned tunnel cut from the solid cliff. Its walls
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: rose some twenty feet above the floor, which was about
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: five feet in in width. The roof was arched. We
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: had no means of making a light, and so groped
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: our way slowly into the ever increasing darkness, tars Tarkas
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: keeping in touch with one wall while I felt along
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: the other, while to prevent our wandering into diverging branches
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: and becoming separated or lost in some intricate and lamberthine maze,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: we clasped hands. How far we traversed the tunnel in
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: this manner I do not know, but presently we came
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: to an obstruction which blocked our further progress. It seemed
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: more like a partition than a sudden ending of the cave,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: for it was constructed not of the material of the cliff,
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: but of something which felt like very hard wood. Silently
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: I groped over its surface with my hands, and presently
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: was rewarded by the feel of the button, which as
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: commonly denotes a door on Mars as does a door
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: knob on Earth. Gently pressing it, I had the satisfaction
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: of feeling the door slowly give before me, and in
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: another instant we were looking into a dimly lighted apartment, which,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: so far as we could see, was unoccupied. Without more ado,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: I swung the door wide open, and, followed by the
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: huge thark, stepped into the chamber. As we stood for
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: a moment in the silence gazing about the room, a
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: slight noise behind caused me to turn quickly, when, to
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: my astonishment I saw the door close with a sharp click,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: as though by an unseen hand. Instantly I sprang toward
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: it to wrench it open again. For something in the
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: uncanny movement of the thing and the tense and almost
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: palpable silence of the chamber seemed to pretend a lurking
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: evil lying hidden in this rock bound chamber within the
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: bowels of the Golden cliffs. My fingers clawed futilely at
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the unyielding portal, while my eyes sought in vain for
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: a duplicate of the button which had given us ingress.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: And then from unseen lips, a cruel and mocking peal
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: of laughter rang through the desolate place. End of Chapter
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: two