Latest / The H. G. Wells Library / The War in the Air Chapter 9 Parts 8-10

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The War in the Air Chapter 9 Parts 8-10 · The H. G. Wells Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter nine, Parts eight, nine, and ten of War in
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  Speaker 1: the Air. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by William tom Coe.
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  Speaker 1: War in the Air by H. G. Wells, Chapter nine,
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  Speaker 1: Parts eight, nine and ten, Part eight. There was no
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  Speaker 1: pretense after that moment that Bert was under the orders
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: of the Prince, or that he was going on with
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the repairing of the flying machine. The two Germans took
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: possession of that and set to work upon it. Bert,
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  Speaker 1: with his new weapon, went off to the neighborhood of
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  Speaker 1: Terrapin Rock, and there sat down to examine it. It
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  Speaker 1: was a short rifle with a big cartridge and a
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  Speaker 1: nearly full magazine. He took out the cartridges carefully and
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  Speaker 1: then try the trigger and fittings until he felt sure
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  Speaker 1: he had the use of it. He reloaded carefully. Then
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  Speaker 1: he remembered he was hungry, and went off gun under
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  Speaker 1: his arm, to hunt in and about the refreshment shed.
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  Speaker 1: He had the sense to perceive that he must not
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  Speaker 1: show himself with the gun to the Prince and his companion,
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  Speaker 1: so long as they thought him unarmed, they would leave
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  Speaker 1: him alone, but there was no knowing what the Napoleonic
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: person might do if he saw Bert's weapon. Also, he
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  Speaker 1: did not go near them because he knew that within
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  Speaker 1: himself boiled a reservoir of rage and fear that he
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  Speaker 1: wanted to shoot these two men. He wanted to shoot them,
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  Speaker 1: and he thought that to shoot them would be a
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  Speaker 1: quite horrible thing to do. The two sides of his
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  Speaker 1: inconsistent civilization warred within him. Near the shed, the kitten
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: turned up again, obviously keen for milk. This greatly enhanced
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  Speaker 1: his own angry sense of hunger. He began to talk
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: as he hunted about, and presently stood still, shouting insults.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: He talked of war and pride, and imperialism and the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: other prince. But you would have died with his men
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: at his ship, he cried. The two Germans at the
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: machine heard his voice going ever and again amidst the
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: clamor of the waters. Their eyes met, and they smiled slightly.
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  Speaker 1: He was disposed for a time to sit in the
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  Speaker 1: refreshment shed waiting for them, but then it occurred to
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: him that so he might get them both at close quarters,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: he strolled off presently to the point of Luna Island
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  Speaker 1: to think the situation out. It had seemed a comparatively
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  Speaker 1: simple one at first, but as he turned it over
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: in his mind, its possibilities increased and multiplied. Both these
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: men had swords at either a revolver. Also, if he
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  Speaker 1: shot them both, he might never find the food. So far,
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  Speaker 1: he had been going about with this gun under his
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: arm and a sense of lordly security in his mind.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: But what if they saw the gun and decided to
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: ambush him. Goat Island is nearly all cover, trees, rocks,
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  Speaker 1: thickets and irregularities. Why not go and murder them both?
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  Speaker 1: Now I carn't, said Bert, dismissing that I got to
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  Speaker 1: be worked up. But it was a mistake to get
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  Speaker 1: right away from them. That suddenly became clear. He ought
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  Speaker 1: to keep them under observation, ought to scout them. Then
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  Speaker 1: he would be able to see what they were doing,
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  Speaker 1: whether either of them had a revolver, where they had
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  Speaker 1: hidden the food. He would be better able to determine
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  Speaker 1: what they meant to do to him. If he didn't
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  Speaker 1: scout them presently, they would begin to scout him. This
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: seemed so eminently reasonable that he acted upon it forthwith,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: he thought over his costume, and through his collar and
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  Speaker 1: the tail tale Aeronaut's white cap to the water far below.
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  Speaker 1: He turned his coat collar up to hide any gleam
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  Speaker 1: of his dirty shirt. The tools and nuts in his
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: pockets were disposed to clank, but he rearranged them and
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  Speaker 1: wrapped some letters and his pocket handkerchief about them. He
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  Speaker 1: started off circumspectly and noiselessly, listening and peering at every step.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: As he drew near his antagonists, much grunting and creaking
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  Speaker 1: served to locate them. He discovered them engaged in what
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: looked like a wrestling match with the Asiatic flying machine.
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  Speaker 1: Their coats were off, their swords laid aside. They were
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  Speaker 1: working magnificently. Apparently they were turning it around and were
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  Speaker 1: having a good deal of difficulty with the long tail.
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  Speaker 1: Among the trees, he dropped flat at the side of
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  Speaker 1: them and wriggled into a little hollow, and so lay
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  Speaker 1: watching their exertions. Ever and again, to pass the time,
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  Speaker 1: he would cover one or the other of them with
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  Speaker 1: his gun. He found them quite interesting to watch, so
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  Speaker 1: interesting that at times he came near shouting to advise them.
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  Speaker 1: He perceived that when they had the machine turned around,
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  Speaker 1: they would then be in immediate want of the nuts
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  Speaker 1: and tools he carried. Then they would come after him.
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  Speaker 1: They would certainly conclude he had them or had hidden them.
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  Speaker 1: Should he hide his gun and do a deal for
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  Speaker 1: food with these tools, he felt he would not be
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  Speaker 1: able to part with the gun again, now he had
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  Speaker 1: once felt it reassuring company. The kitten turned up again
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  Speaker 1: and made a great fuss with him, and licked and
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  Speaker 1: bit his ear. The sun clamored to midday, and once
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  Speaker 1: that morning he saw, though the Germans did not, an
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  Speaker 1: asiatic airship very far to the south, going swiftly eastward.
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  Speaker 1: At last a flying machine was turned and stood poised
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  Speaker 1: on its wheel, with its hooks pointing up the rapids.
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  Speaker 1: The two officers wiped their faces, resumed jackets and swords,
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  Speaker 1: spoke and bore themselves like men who can congratulated themselves
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  Speaker 1: on a good laborious morning. Then they went off briskly
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  Speaker 1: towards the refreshment shed. The prince leading Bert, became active
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  Speaker 1: in pursuit, but he found it impossible to stalk them
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  Speaker 1: quickly enough and silently enough to discover the hiding place
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  Speaker 1: of the food. He found them when he came into
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: sight of them again, seated with their backs against the shed,
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  Speaker 1: plates on knee, and a tin of corned beef and
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  Speaker 1: a plateful of biscuits between them. They seemed in fairly
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  Speaker 1: good spirits, and once the Prince laughed at this vision
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  Speaker 1: of eating Bert's plans, gave way. Fierce hunger carried him.
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  Speaker 1: He appeared before them suddenly, at a distance of perhaps
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  Speaker 1: twenty yards, gun in hand. Ann's up, he said, in
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  Speaker 1: a hard, ferocious voice. The Prince hesitated, and then up
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  Speaker 1: when two pairs of hands, the gun had surprised them
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  Speaker 1: both completely. Stand up, said Bert, drop that fork. They
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  Speaker 1: obeyed again? What next? Bert to himself or off stage?
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  Speaker 1: I suppose that way, he said. Go. The Prince obeyed
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  Speaker 1: with remarkable alacrity. When he reached the head of the clearing,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: he said something quickly to the bird faced man, and
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: they both with an entire lack of dignity. Ran Bert
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  Speaker 1: was struck with an exasperating afterthought. Guard He cried, with
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  Speaker 1: infinite vexation, Why I ought to have took their swords here?
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: But the Germans were already out of sight, and, no
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: doubt taking cover among the trees. Bert fell back upon imprecations.
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  Speaker 1: Then he went up to the shed, cursorily examined the
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  Speaker 1: possibility of a flank attack, put his gun handy, and
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  Speaker 1: set to work with a convulsive listening pause before each
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  Speaker 1: mouthful on the prince's plate of corned beef. He had
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  Speaker 1: finished that up and handed its gleanings to the kitten,
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  Speaker 1: and he was falling to on the second plateful when
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  Speaker 1: the plate broke in his hand. He stared, with the
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: fact slowly creeping upon him that an instant before he
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: had heard a crack among the thickets. Then he sprang
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  Speaker 1: to his feet, snatched up his gun in one hand
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  Speaker 1: and the tin of corn beef in the other, and
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  Speaker 1: fled round the shed to the other side of the clearing.
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  Speaker 1: As he did so, came a second crack from the thickets,
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  Speaker 1: and something went foot by his ear. He didn't stop
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  Speaker 1: running until he was in what seemed to him a
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  Speaker 1: strongly defensible position near Luna Island. Then he took cover,
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  Speaker 1: panting and crouched. Expectant they got a revolver after all,
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  Speaker 1: he panted, Wonder if they got too, if they have
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  Speaker 1: guard I'm done, where's the kitten finishing up that corn beef?
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  Speaker 1: I suppose, Little Beggar Part nine. So it was that
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  Speaker 1: war began upon Goat Island and lasted a day and
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  Speaker 1: a night, the longest day and the longest night in
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  Speaker 1: Bert's life. He had to lie close and listen and watch.
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  Speaker 1: Also he had to scheme what he should do. It
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  Speaker 1: was clear now that he had to kill these two
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  Speaker 1: men if he could, and that if they could, they
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  Speaker 1: would kill him. The prize was first food, and then
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  Speaker 1: the flying machine, and the doubtful privilege of trying to
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  Speaker 1: ride it. If one failed, one would certainly be killed.
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  Speaker 1: If one succeeded, one would get away somewhere over there.
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  Speaker 1: His mind ran over possibilities, deserts, angry Americans, Japanese, Chinese.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps Red Indians were there still, Red Indians got to
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  Speaker 1: take what comes, said Bert. No way out of it
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  Speaker 1: that I can see was that voices. He realized that
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  Speaker 1: his attention was wandering. For a time. All his senses
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  Speaker 1: were very alert. The uproar of the falls was very confusing,
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  Speaker 1: and it mixed in all sorts of sounds, like feet walking,
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  Speaker 1: like voices, talking, like shouts, and silly great cataract, said Bert.
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  Speaker 1: There ain't no sense in it. Fallen and fallen. Never
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  Speaker 1: mind that, Now, what were the Germans doing? Would they
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  Speaker 1: go back to the flying machine? They couldn't do anything
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  Speaker 1: with it, because he had those nuts and screws and
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: the wrench and other tools. But suppose they found the
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  Speaker 1: second set of tools he had hidden in a tree.
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  Speaker 1: He had hidden the things well, of course, but they
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  Speaker 1: might find them. One wasn't sure, of course, one wasn't sure.
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  Speaker 1: He tried to remember just exactly how he had hidden
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  Speaker 1: those tools. He tried to persuade himself they were certainly
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  Speaker 1: and surely hidden, But his memory began to play antics.
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  Speaker 1: Had he really left the handle of the wrench sticking out,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: shining out at the fork of the branch? Sh What
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: was that? Some one stirring in those bushes? Up went
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  Speaker 1: an expectant nuzzle. No, where was the kitten? No, it
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: was just imagination that even the kitten, the Germans would
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  Speaker 1: certainly miss and hunt about for the tools and nuts
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  Speaker 1: and screws he carried in his pockets. That was clear.
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  Speaker 1: Then they would decide he had them and come for him.
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  Speaker 1: He had only to remain still under cover, therefore, and
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  Speaker 1: he would get them. Was there any flaw in that?
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  Speaker 1: Would they take off more removable parts of the flying
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  Speaker 1: machine and then lie up for him. No, they wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: do that, because they were two to one. They would
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  Speaker 1: have no apprehension of his getting off in the flying machine,
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  Speaker 1: and no sound reason for supposing he would approach it,
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  Speaker 1: and so they would do nothing to damage or disable it.
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  Speaker 1: That he decided was clear. But suppose they lay up
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  Speaker 1: for him by the food, well, that they wouldn't do,
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  Speaker 1: because they would know he had this corned beef. There
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  Speaker 1: was enough in this can to last, with moderation several days.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, they might try to tire him out instead
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  Speaker 1: of attacking him. He roused himself with a start. He
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: had just grasped the real weakness of his position. He
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  Speaker 1: might go to sleep, it needed. But ten minutes under
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  Speaker 1: the suggestion of that idea before he realized that he
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  Speaker 1: was going to sleep, He rubbed his eyes and handled
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  Speaker 1: his gun. He had never before realized the intensely so
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: porific effect of the American son, of the American Air,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: the drowsy sleep, compelling uproar of Niagara. Hitherto these things had,
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  Speaker 1: on the whole seemed stimulating. If he had not eaten
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  Speaker 1: so much and eaten it so fast, he would not
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  Speaker 1: be so heavy. Our vegetarians always bright. He roused himself
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  Speaker 1: with a jerk. Again. If he didn't do something, he
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  Speaker 1: would fall asleep. And if he fell asleep, it was
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  Speaker 1: ten to one they would find him snoring and finish
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  Speaker 1: him forthwith. If he sat motionless and noiseless, he would
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  Speaker 1: inevitably sleep. It was better, he told himself, to take
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  Speaker 1: even the risks of attacking, than that this sleep trouble
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  Speaker 1: he felt was going to beat him, must beat him.
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  Speaker 1: In the end, they were all right. One could sleep
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  Speaker 1: and the other could watch. That came to think of
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  Speaker 1: it was what they would always do. One would do
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  Speaker 1: anything they wanted done. The other would lie under cover
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  Speaker 1: near at hand, ready to shoot. They might even trap
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: him like that. One might act as a decoy. That
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: set him thinking of decoys. What a fool he had
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: been to throw his cap away. It would have been
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: invaluable on a stick, especially at night. He found himself
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: wishing for a drink. He settled that for a time
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: by putting a pebble in his mouth, and then the
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: sleep craving returned. It became clear to him he must attack.
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  Speaker 1: Like many great generals before him, He found his baggage,
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  Speaker 1: that is to say, his tin of corned beef, a
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: serious impediment to mobility. At last, he decided to put
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: the beef loose in his pocket and abandon the tin.
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  Speaker 1: It was not, perhaps an ideal arrangement, but one must
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  Speaker 1: make sacrifices when one is campaigning. He crawled perhaps ten yards,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and then for a time the possibilities of the situation
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  Speaker 1: paralyzed him. The afternoon was still. The roar of the
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: cataract simply threw up that immense stillness in relief. He
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: was doing his best to contrive the death of two
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  Speaker 1: better men than himself. Also, they were doing their best
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: to contrive his What behind this silence were they doing?
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  Speaker 1: Suppose he came upon them suddenly and fired and missed
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  Speaker 1: Part ten. He crawled and halted, listening, and crawled again
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  Speaker 1: until nightfall, and no doubt the German Alexander and his
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: lieutenant did the same. A large scale map of Goat Island,
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  Speaker 1: marked with red and blue lines to show these strategic movements,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: would no doubt have displayed much interlacing. But as a
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, neither side saw anything of the other
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: throughout that age long day of tedious alertness. Bert never
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: knew how near he got to them, nor how far
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: he kept from them. Night found him no longer sleepy,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: but athirst, and near the American Fall. He was inspired
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: by the idea that his antagonists might be in the
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: wreckage of the Hohenzoleern cabins that was jammed against Green Island.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: He became enterprising, broke from any attempt to conceal himself,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: and went across the little bridge at the double He
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: found nobody. It was his first visit to these huge
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: fragments of airships, and for a time he explored them curiously.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: In the dim light, he discovered the forward cabin was
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: nearly intact, with its door slanting downward and a corner
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: under water. He crept in, drank, and then was struck
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  Speaker 1: by the brilliant idea of shutting the door and sleeping
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  Speaker 1: on it. But now he could not sleep at all.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: He nodded towards morning and woke up to find it
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  Speaker 1: fully day. He breakfasted on corn, beef and water, and
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: sat for a long time, appreciative of the security of
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: his position. At last he became enterprising and bold he
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: would He decided settle his business fortwith one way or
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: the other. He was tired of all this crawling. He
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: sat out in the morning sunshine, gun in hand, scarcely,
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: troubling to walk softly, He went round the refreshment shed
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: without finding any one, and then through the trees towards
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: the flying machine. He came upon the bird faced man,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: sitting on the ground with his back against a tree,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: bent up over his folded arms, sleeping, his bandage very
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: much over one eye. Bert stopped abruptly and stood perhaps
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: fifteen yards away, gun in hand, read where was the Prince?
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Then sticking out at the side of the tree beyond,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: he saw a shoulder. Burt took five deliberate paces to
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: the left. The great man became visible, leaning up against
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the trunk, pistol in one hand and sword in the other,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: and yawning, yawning. You can't shoot a yawning man. Bert found.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: He advanced upon his antagonist with his gun leveled, some
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: foolish fancy of hands up in his mind. The Prince
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: became aware of him and yawning, mouth shut like a trap,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: and he stood stiffly up. Bert stopped, silent for a moment.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: The two regarded one another, had the Prince been a
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: wise man, he would, I suppose, have dodged behind the tree. Instead,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: he gave vent to a shout and raised pistol and sword.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: At that like an automaton, Bert pulled his trigger. It
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: was his first experience of an oxygen containing bullet. A
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: great flame spurted from the middle of the Prince, a
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: blinding flare, and there came a thud, like the firing
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: of a gun. Something hot and wet struck Bert's face. Then,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: through a whirl of blinding smoke and steam, he saw
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: limbs and a collapsing burst body flinging themselves to earth.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Bert was so astonished that he stood agape, and the
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: bird faced officer might have cut him to the earth
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: without a struggle. But instead the bird faced officer was
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: running away through the undergrowth, dodging as he went. Bert
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: roused himself to a brief, ineffectual pursuit, but he had
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: no stomach for further killing. He returned to the mangled,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: scattered thing that had so recently been the Great Prince
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Karl Albert. He surveyed the scorched and splashed vegetation about it.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: He made some speculative identifications. He advanced gingerly and picked
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: up the hot revolver to find all its chambers strained
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: and burst. He became aware of a cheerful and friendly presence.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: He was greatly shocked that one so young should see
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: so frightful a scene. Ere kitty, he said, this ain't
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: no place for you. He made three strides across the
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: devastated area, captured the kitten neatly, and went his way
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: towards the shed, with her purring loudly on his shoulder.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: You don't seem to mind, he said. For a time
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: he fussed about the shed and at last discovered the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: rest of the provisions hidden in the roof. Seems hard,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: he said, as he administered a saucerful of milk. When
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: you get three men in an owl like this, they
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: can't work together. But im and is princing was just
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: a bit too thick gaw, he reflected, sitting on the
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: counter and eating. What a thing life is? Ere am.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: I I seen his picture, heard his name since I
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: was a kid in Frocks, Prince Carl Albert, and if
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: anyone had told me I was going to blow him
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: to smithereens there, I shouldn't have believed it. Kitty. That
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: chap at Margaret ought to have told me about it.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: All he told me was that I got a weak chess.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: That other chap he ain't going to do much. Wonder
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: what I ought to do about him. He surveyed the
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: trees with a keen blue eye and fingered the gun
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: on his knee. I don't like this killing kitty, he said.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: It's like Kurt said about being blooded. Seems to me
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: you got to be blooded young. If that prince had
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: come up to me and said shake hands, I'd have
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: shook hands. Now here's that other chap dodging about. He's
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: got his head irt already, and there's something wrong with
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: his leg and burns. Golly, it isn't three weeks ago.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I first set eyes on him, and then he was
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: smart and set up ants full of air brushes and things,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: and swearing at me, a regular gentleman. Now he's off
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: way to a wild man. What am I to do
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: with him? What the hell am I to do with him?
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: I can't leave him ave that flying machine. That's a
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: bit too good. And if I don't kill him, you'll
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: just hang about this island and starve. He's got a sword,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: of course, He resumed his philosophizing after he had lit
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: a cigarette. War's a silly game, Kitty, It's a silly game.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: We common people, we were fools. We thought those big
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: people knew what they were up to, and they didn't
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: look at that chap. He had all Germany behind him,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: and what as he made of it? Smeshin and blunderin
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: and destroyin, and there he is just a mess of
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: blood and boots and things, just an arid splash. Prince
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Carl Albert and all the men he led, and the
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: ships he had, the airships and the dragon flyers all
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: scattered like a paper chase between this owl and Germany.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: And fightin going on and burnin and killin that e
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: started war without end all over the world. I suppose
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: I shall have to kill that other chap. I suppose
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I must, But it ain't at all the sort of
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: job I fancy, Kitty. For a time he hunted about
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: the island amidst the uproar of the waterfall, looking for
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: the wounded officer, And at last he started him out
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: of some bushes near the head of Biddle Stairs. But
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: as he saw the bent and bandage figure in limping
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: flight before him, He found his cockney softness too much
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: for him. Again, he could neither shoot nor pursue. I carn't,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: he said, that's flat. I haven't got the guts for it.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: You'll have to go. He turned his steps towards the
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: flying machine. He never saw the bird faced officer again,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: nor any further evidence of his presence. Towards evening, he
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: grew fearful of ambushes and hunted vigorously for an hour
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: or so, but in vain. He slept in a good
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: defensible position at the extremity of the rocky point that
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: runs out to the Canadian Fall, And in the night
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: he woke in panic terror and fired his gun, but
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: it was nothing. He slept no more that night. In
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: the morning he became curiously concerned for the vanished man
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and hunted for him as one might for an erring brother.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: If I knew some German, he said, I'd holler. It's
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: just not knowing German, does it? You can't explain. He
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: discovered later traces of an attempt to cross the gap
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: in the broken bridge. A rope with a bolt attached
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: had been flung across and had caught in a fenestration
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: of a projecting fragment of railing the end of the
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: rope trailed in the seething water towards the fall. But
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: the bird faced officer was already rubbing shoulders with certain
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: inert matter that had once been Lieutenant Kurt, and the
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: Chinese aeronaut, and a dead cow, and much other uncongenial
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: company in the huge circle of the whirlpool two and
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: a quarter miles away. Never had that great gathering place,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: that incessant, aimless, unprogressive hurry of waste and battered things
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: been so crowded with strange and melancholy derelicts. Round they went,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: and round, and every day brought its new contributions. Luckless brutes,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: shattered fragments of boat and flying machine, endless citizens from
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: the cities upon the shores of the great Lakes above.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Much came from Cleveland. It all gathered here and ruled
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: about indefinitely, and over it all gathered daily a greater
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: abundance of birds. End of Chapter nine, Parts eight, nine
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: and ten. Recording by William tom Co