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04 - Lost Continent (Beyond Thirty) by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Lost Continent (Beyond Thirty)

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Speaker 1: Chapter four of The Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
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Speaker 1: in the public domain. Recording by Lucillafaro. The Lost Continent
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Speaker 1: by Edgar Rice Burrows, Chapter four. It was during the
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Speaker 1: morning of July sixth, two thousand, one hundred thirty seven,
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Speaker 1: that we entered the mouth of the Tams, to the
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Speaker 1: best of my knowledge, the first western keel to cut
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Speaker 1: those historic waters for two hundred and twenty one years.
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Speaker 1: But where were the tugs, and the lighters, and the barges,
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Speaker 1: the light ships, and the boys, and all those countless
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Speaker 1: attributes which went to make up the myriad life of
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Speaker 1: the ancient Tams Gone all gone? Only silence and desolation
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Speaker 1: reigned where once the commerce of the world had centered.
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Speaker 1: I could not help but compare this once great waterway
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Speaker 1: with the waters about our New York, or Rio, or
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Speaker 1: San Diego, or of Olparaiso. They had become what they
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Speaker 1: are today during the two centuries of the profound peace
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Speaker 1: which we of the Navy have been prone to deplore.
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Speaker 1: And what during this same period had shorn the waters
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Speaker 1: of the Thames of their pristine grandeur. Militarists that i am,
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Speaker 1: I could find but a single word of explanation war,
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Speaker 1: I bowed my head and turned my eyes downward from
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Speaker 1: the lonely and depressing sight, and in a silence which
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Speaker 1: none of us seemed willing to break, we proceeded up
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Speaker 1: the deserted river. We had reached a point which from
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Speaker 1: my map I imagined must have been about the former
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Speaker 1: site of Erith, when I discovered a small band of
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Speaker 1: antelope a short distance inland. As we were now entirely
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Speaker 1: out of meat once more, and as I had given
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Speaker 1: up all expectations of finding a city upon the side
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Speaker 1: of ancient London, I determined to land and bag a
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Speaker 1: couple of the animals. Assured that they would be timid
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Speaker 1: and easily frightened, I decided to stalk them alone, telling
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Speaker 1: the men to wait at the boat until I called
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Speaker 1: to them to come and carry the carcasses back to
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Speaker 1: the shore. Crawling carefully through the vegetation, making use of
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Speaker 1: such trees and bushes as afforded shelter, I came at
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Speaker 1: last almost within easy range of my quarry when the
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Speaker 1: antlered head of the buck went suddenly into the air,
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Speaker 1: and then, as though in accordance with the prearranged signal,
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Speaker 1: the whole band moved slowly off farther inland. As their
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Speaker 1: pace was leisurely, I determined to follow them until I
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Speaker 1: came again within range, as I was sure that they
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Speaker 1: would stop and feed in a short time. They must
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Speaker 1: have led me a mile or more at least before
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Speaker 1: they again halted and commenced to browse upon the rank,
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Speaker 1: luxuriant grasses. All the time that I had followed them,
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Speaker 1: I had kept both eyes and ears alert for sign
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Speaker 1: or sound that would indicate the presence of Phillis tigris.
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Speaker 1: But so far not the slightest indication of the beast
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Speaker 1: had been apparent. As I crept closer to the antelope,
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Speaker 1: sure this time of a good shot at a large buck,
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Speaker 1: I suddenly saw something that caused me to forget all
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Speaker 1: about my prey in wonderment. It was the figure of
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Speaker 1: an immense, gray black creature rearing its colossal shoulders twelve
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Speaker 1: or fourteen feet above the ground. Never in my life
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Speaker 1: had I seen such a beast, nor did I at
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Speaker 1: first first recognize it. So different in appearance is the
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Speaker 1: live reality from the stuffed unnatural specimens preserved to us
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Speaker 1: in our museums. But presently I guessed the identity of
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Speaker 1: the mighty creature as Elephas africanus, or as the ancients
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Speaker 1: commonly described it, African elephant. The antelope, although in plain
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Speaker 1: view of the huge beast, paid not the slightest attention
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Speaker 1: to it. And I was so wrapped up in watching
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Speaker 1: the mighty pacoderm that I quite forgot to shoot at
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Speaker 1: the buck, And presently, and in quite a startling manner,
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Speaker 1: it became impossible to do so. The elephant was browsing
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Speaker 1: upon the young and tender shoots of some low bushes,
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Speaker 1: waving his great ears and switching his short tail. The antelope,
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Speaker 1: scarce twenty paces from him, continued their feeding, when suddenly,
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Speaker 1: from close behind the latter, there came a most terrifying roar,
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Speaker 1: and I saw a great tawny body shoot from the
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Speaker 1: concealing verdure beyond the antelope, full upon the back of
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Speaker 1: a small buck. Instantly the scene changed from one of
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Speaker 1: quiet and peace to indescribable chaos. The startled and terrified
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Speaker 1: buck uttered cries of agony, his fellows broke and leapt
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Speaker 1: off in all directions. The elephant raised his trunk and,
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Speaker 1: trumpeting loudly, lumpered off through the wood, crushing down small
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Speaker 1: trees and trampling bushes in his mad flight, growling horribly.
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Speaker 1: A huge line stood across the body of his prey,
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Speaker 1: Such a creature as no Pan American of the twenty
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Speaker 1: second century had ever beheld until my eyes rested upon
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Speaker 1: this lordly specimen of the king of beasts. But what
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Speaker 1: a different creature was this fear sighed demon, palpitating with
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Speaker 1: life and vigor, glossy of coat, alert, growling magnificent from
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Speaker 1: the dingy, moth eaten replicas beneath their glass cases in
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Speaker 1: the stuffy halls of our public museums. I had never
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Speaker 1: hoped or expected to see a living lion, tiger, or elephant,
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Speaker 1: using the common terms that were familiar to the ancients,
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Speaker 1: since they seemed to me less unwieldly than those now
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Speaker 1: in general use among us. And so it was with
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Speaker 1: sentiments not unmixed with awe that I stood gazing at
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Speaker 1: this regal beast. As above the carcass of his skill,
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Speaker 1: he roared out his challenge to the world. So enthralled
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Speaker 1: was I by the spectacle that I quite forgot myself,
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Speaker 1: and the better to view him, the great lion. I
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Speaker 1: had risen to my feet and stood not fifty paces
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Speaker 1: from him, in full view. For a moment, he did
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Speaker 1: not see me, his attention being directed toward the retreating elephant,
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Speaker 1: and I had ample time to feast my eyes upon
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Speaker 1: his splendid proportions, his great head, and his thick black
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Speaker 1: mane Ah, what thoughts passed through my mind in those
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Speaker 1: brief moments as I stood there in rapt fascination. I
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Speaker 1: had come to find a wondrous civilization, and instead I
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Speaker 1: found a wild beast monarch of the realm where English
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Speaker 1: kings had ruled. A lion reigned undisturbed, within a few
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Speaker 1: miles of the seat of one of the greatest governments
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Speaker 1: the world has ever known. His domain a howling wilderness
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Speaker 1: where yesterday fell the shadows of the largest city in
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Speaker 1: the world. It was appalling, but my reflections upon this
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Speaker 1: depressing subject were doomed to sudden extinction. The lion had
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Speaker 1: discovered me for an instant. He stood silent and motionless,
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Speaker 1: as one of the mangy effortes at home, But only
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Speaker 1: for an instant. Then, with the most ferocious roar, and
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Speaker 1: without the slightest hesitancy or warning, he charged upon me.
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Speaker 1: He forsook the prey already dead beneath him for the
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Speaker 1: pleasure of the delectable titbit man. From the remorselessness with
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Speaker 1: which the great Carnivora of modern England hunted man, I
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Speaker 1: am constrained to believe that whatever their appetites in times past,
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Speaker 1: they have cultivated a gruesome taste for human flesh. As
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Speaker 1: I threw my rifle to my shoulder, I thanked God,
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Speaker 1: the ancient god of my ancestors, that I had replaced
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Speaker 1: the hard jacketed bullets in my weapon with soft nose projectiles.
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Speaker 1: For though this was my first experience with fairlie Leo,
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Speaker 1: I knew the moment that I faced that charge that
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Speaker 1: even my wonderfully perfect firearm would be as futile as
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Speaker 1: a pea shooter unless I chanced to place my first
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Speaker 1: bullet in a vital spot. Unless you had seen it,
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Speaker 1: you could not believe credible the speed of a charging lion.
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Speaker 1: Apparently the animal is not built for speed, nor can
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Speaker 1: he maintain it for long. But for a matter of
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Speaker 1: forty or fifty yards, there is I believe, no animal
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Speaker 1: on earth that can overtake him. Like a bolt. He
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Speaker 1: bore down upon me, but fortunately for me, I did
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Speaker 1: not lose my head. I guessed that no bullet would
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Speaker 1: kill him instantly, I doubted that I could pierce his skull.
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Speaker 1: There was hope, though, in finding his heart through his
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Speaker 1: exposed chest, or better yet, of breaking his shoulder or
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Speaker 1: fore leg and bringing him up long enough to pump
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Speaker 1: more bullets into him and finish him. I covered his
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Speaker 1: left shoulder and pulled the trigger as he was almost
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Speaker 1: upon me. It stopped him with a terrific howl of
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Speaker 1: pain and rage. The brute rolled over and over upon
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Speaker 1: the ground, almost to my feet. As he came I
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Speaker 1: pumped two more bullets into him, and as he struggled
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Speaker 1: to rise, clawing viciously at me, I put a bullet
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Speaker 1: in his spine that finished him, and I am free
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Speaker 1: to admit that I was mighty glad of it. There
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Speaker 1: was a great tree close behind me, and stepping within
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Speaker 1: its shade, I leaned against it, wiping the perspiration from
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Speaker 1: my face, for the day was hot, and the exertion
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Speaker 1: and excitement left me exhausted. I stood there, resting for
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Speaker 1: a moment, preparatory to turning and retracing my steps to
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Speaker 1: the launch, when without warning, something whizzed through space straight
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Speaker 1: toward me. There was a dull thought of impact as
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Speaker 1: it struck the tree, and as I dodged to one
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Speaker 1: side and turned to look at the thing, I saw
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Speaker 1: a heavy spear embedded in the wood, not three inches
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Speaker 1: from where my head had been. The thing had come
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Speaker 1: from a little to one side of me, and without
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Speaker 1: waiting to investigate at the instant, I leapt behind the tree, and,
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Speaker 1: circling it, peered around to the other side to get
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Speaker 1: a sight of my would be murderer. This time I
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Speaker 1: was pitted against men. The spear told me that all
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Speaker 1: too plainly, But so long as they didn't take me
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Speaker 1: unawares or from behind, I had little fear of them.
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Speaker 1: Cautiously I edged about the far side of the trees
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Speaker 1: until I could obtain a view of the spot from
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Speaker 1: which the spear must have come, And when I did,
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Speaker 1: I saw the head of a man just emerging from
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Speaker 1: behind a bush. The fellow was quite similar in tight
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Speaker 1: to those I had seen upon the Isle of Wight.
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Speaker 1: He was hairy and unkempt, and as he finally stepped
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Speaker 1: into view, I saw that he was garbed in the
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Speaker 1: same primitive fashion. He stood for a moment gazing about
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Speaker 1: in search of me, and then he advanced. As he
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Speaker 1: did so, a number of others precisely like him, stepped
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Speaker 1: from the concealing verdure of nearby bushes and followed in
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Speaker 1: his wake, keeping the trees between them and me. I
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Speaker 1: ran back a short distance until I found a clump
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Speaker 1: of underbrush that would effectually conceal me, for I wished
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Speaker 1: to discover the strength of the party and its armament
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Speaker 1: before attempting to parley with it. The useless destruction of
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Speaker 1: any of these poor creatures was the farthest idea from
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Speaker 1: my mind. I should have liked to have spoken with them,
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Speaker 1: but I did not care to risk having to use
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Speaker 1: my high powered rifle upon them, other than in the
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Speaker 1: last extremity. Once in my new place of concealment, I
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Speaker 1: watched them as they approached the tree. There were about
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Speaker 1: thirty men in the party, and one woman, a girl
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Speaker 1: whose hands seemed to be bound behind her, and who
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Speaker 1: was being pulled along by two of the men. They
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Speaker 1: came forward, wearily, peering cautiously into every bush and halting
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Speaker 1: often at the body of the lion. They paused, and
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Speaker 1: I could see from their gesticulations and the higher pitch
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Speaker 1: of their voices that they were much excited over my kill,
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Speaker 1: but presently they resumed their search for me, and as
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Speaker 1: they advanced, I became suddenly aware of the unnecessary brutality
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Speaker 1: with which the girl's guards were treating her. She stumbled
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Speaker 1: once not far from my place of concealment, and after
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Speaker 1: the balance of the party had passed me. As she
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Speaker 1: did so, one of the men at her side jerked
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Speaker 1: her roughly to her feet and struck her across the
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Speaker 1: mouth with his fist. Instantly, my blood boiled, and forgetting
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Speaker 1: every consideration of caution, I leaped from my concealment, and,
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Speaker 1: springing to the man's side, felled him with a blow.
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Speaker 1: So unexpected had been my act that it found him
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Speaker 1: and his fellow unprepared. But instantly the latter drew the
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Speaker 1: knife that protruded from his belt and lunged viciously at me,
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Speaker 1: at the same time, giving voice to a wild cry
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Speaker 1: of alarm. The girl shrank back at sight of me,
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Speaker 1: her eyes wide in astonishment, and then my antagonist was
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Speaker 1: upon me. I carried his first blow with my forearm,
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Speaker 1: at the same time, delivering a powerful blow to his
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Speaker 1: jaw that sent him reeling back. But he was at
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Speaker 1: me again in an instant. Though in the brief interim
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Speaker 1: I had time to draw my revolver, I saw his
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Speaker 1: companion crawling slowly to his feet, and the others of
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Speaker 1: the party racing down upon me. There was no time
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Speaker 1: to argue now, other than with the weapons we wore,
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Speaker 1: and so as the fellow lunged at me again with
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Speaker 1: the wicked looking knife, I covered his heart and pulled
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Speaker 1: the trigger. Without a sound. He slipped to the earth,
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Speaker 1: and then I turned the weapon upon the other guard,
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Speaker 1: who was now about to attack me. He too collapsed,
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Speaker 1: and I was alone with the astonished girl. The balance
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Speaker 1: of the party was some twenty paces from us, but
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Speaker 1: coming rapidly. I seized her arm and drew her after
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Speaker 1: me behind a near by tree, for I had seen
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Speaker 1: that with both their comrades down, the others were preparing
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Speaker 1: to launch their spears. With the girls safe behind the tree,
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Speaker 1: I stepped out in sight of the advancing foe, shouting
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Speaker 1: to them that I was no enemy and that they
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Speaker 1: should halt and listen to me. But for answer, they
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Speaker 1: only yelled in derision and launched a couple of spears
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Speaker 1: at me, both of which missed. I saw then that
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Speaker 1: I must fight. Yet still I hated to slay them,
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Speaker 1: and it was only as a final resort that I
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Speaker 1: dropped two of them with my rifle, bringing the others
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Speaker 1: to a temporary halt. Again, I appealed to them to desist,
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Speaker 1: but they only mistook my solicitude for them for fear,
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Speaker 1: and with shouts of rage and derision, leapt forward once
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Speaker 1: again to overwhelm me. It was now quite evident that
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Speaker 1: I must punish them severely, or myself die, and relinquish
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Speaker 1: the girl once more to her captors. Neither of these
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Speaker 1: things had I the slightest notion of doing, and so
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Speaker 1: I again stepped from behind the tree, and with all
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Speaker 1: the care and deliberation of target practice, I commenced picking
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Speaker 1: off the foremost of my assailants. One by one the
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Speaker 1: wild men dropped, yet on came the others, fierce and vengeful,
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Speaker 1: until only a few remaining. These seemed to realize the
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Speaker 1: futility of combating my modern weapon with their primitive spears, and,
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Speaker 1: still howling wrathfully, withdrew toward the west. Now, for the
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Speaker 1: first time I had an opportunity to turn my attention
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Speaker 1: toward the girl, who had stood silent and motionless, behind
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Speaker 1: me as I pumped death into my enemies and hers
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Speaker 1: from my automatic rifle. She was of medium height, well
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Speaker 1: formed and with fine, clear cut features. Her forehead was high,
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Speaker 1: and her eyes both intelligent and beautiful. Exposure to the
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Speaker 1: sun had browned a smooth and velvety skin to a
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Speaker 1: shade which seemed to enhance rather than mar an altogether
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Speaker 1: lovely picture of youthful femininity. A trace of apprehension marked
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Speaker 1: her expression. I cannot call it fear, since I have
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Speaker 1: learned to know her, and astonishment was still apparent in
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Speaker 1: her eyes. She stood quite erect, her hands still bound
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Speaker 1: behind her, and met my gaze with level, proud return.
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Speaker 1: What language do you speak, I asked, Do you understand mine? Yes,
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Speaker 1: she replied, it is similar to my own. I am Grebritton.
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Speaker 1: What are you? I am Pan American, I answered. She
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Speaker 1: shook her head. What is that? I pointed toward the west,
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Speaker 1: far away across the ocean. Her expression altered a trifle.
18:36
Speaker 1: A slight frown contracted her brow. The expression of apprehension deepened.
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Speaker 1: Take off your cap, she said, and when to humor
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Speaker 1: her strange request, I did as she bid. She appeared relieved.
18:53
Speaker 1: Then she edged to one side and leaned over seemingly
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Speaker 1: to peer behind me. I turned quickly to see what
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Speaker 1: she discovered, but, finding nothing, wheeled about to see that.
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Speaker 1: Her expression was once more altered. You are not from there,
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Speaker 1: and she pointed toward the east. It was a half question.
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Speaker 1: You are not from across the water there, no, I
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Speaker 1: assured her. I am from pan America, far away to
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Speaker 1: the west. Have you ever heard of pan America? She
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Speaker 1: shook her head in negation. I do not care where
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Speaker 1: you come from, she explained, if you are not from there,
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Speaker 1: and I am sure you are not, for the men
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Speaker 1: from there have horns and tails. It was with difficulty
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Speaker 1: that I restrained a smile. Who are the men from there?
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Speaker 1: I asked? They are bad men, she replied. Some of
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Speaker 1: my people do not believe that there are such creatures.
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Speaker 1: But we have a legend, a very old old legend,
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Speaker 1: that once the men from there came across to Great Britain.
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Speaker 1: They came upon the water, and under the water, and
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Speaker 1: even in the air. They came in great numbers, so
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Speaker 1: that they rolled across the land like a great gray fog.
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Speaker 1: They brought with them thunder and lightning and smoke that killed,
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Speaker 1: and they fell upon us and slew our people by
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Speaker 1: the thousands and the hundreds of thousands. But at last
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Speaker 1: we drove them back to the water's edge, back into
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Speaker 1: the sea, where many were drowned. Some escaped, And these
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Speaker 1: our people followed, men, women, and even children. We followed
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Speaker 1: them back. That is all the legend says. Our people
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Speaker 1: never returned. Maybe they were all killed, maybe they are
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Speaker 1: still there. But this also is in the legend, that
20:59
Speaker 1: as we drove them back across the water, they swore
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Speaker 1: that they would return, and that when they left our shores,
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Speaker 1: they would leave no human being alive behind them. I
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Speaker 1: was afraid that you were from there. By What name
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Speaker 1: were these men called, I asked, We call them only
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Speaker 1: the men from there, she replied, pointing toward the east.
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Speaker 1: I have never heard that they had another name. In
21:29
Speaker 1: the light of what I knew of ancient history, it
21:32
Speaker 1: was not difficult for me to guess the nationality of
21:35
Speaker 1: those she described simply as the men from over there.
21:39
Speaker 1: But what utter and appalling devastation the Great War must
21:44
Speaker 1: have wrought, to have eraised not only every sign of
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Speaker 1: civilization from the face of this great land, but even
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Speaker 1: the name of the enemy, from the knowledge and language
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Speaker 1: of the people. I could only account for it on
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Speaker 1: the hypothesis that the country had been entirely depopulated except
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Speaker 1: for a few scattered and forgotten children, who, in some
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Speaker 1: marvelous manner, had been preserved by providence to repopulate the land.
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Speaker 1: These children had doubtless been too young to retain in
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Speaker 1: their memories to transmit to their children any but the
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Speaker 1: vaguest suggestion of the cataclysm which had overwhelmed their parents.
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Speaker 1: Professor Corteron, since my return to Pan America, has suggested
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Speaker 1: that another theory, which is not entirely without claim to
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Speaker 1: serious consideration. He points out that it is quite beyond
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Speaker 1: the pale of human instinct to desert little children, as
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Speaker 1: my theory suggests the ancient English must have done. He
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Speaker 1: is more inclined to believe that the expulsion of the
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Speaker 1: Foe from England was synchronous with widespread victories by the
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Speaker 1: Allies upon the continent, and that the people of England
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Speaker 1: merely emigrated from their ruined cities and their devastated, blood
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Speaker 1: drenched fields to the mainland in the hope of finding
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Speaker 1: in the domain of the conquered enemy cities and farms
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Speaker 1: which would replace those they had lost. The learned professor
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Speaker 1: assumes that while a long continued war had strengthened, rather
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Speaker 1: than weakened, the instinct of paternal devotion, it had also
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Speaker 1: dulled other humanitarian instincts and raised to the first magnitude
23:37
Speaker 1: the law of the survival of the fittest, with the
23:40
Speaker 1: result that when the exodus took place, the strong, the intelligent,
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Speaker 1: and the cunning, together with their offspring, crossed the waters
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Speaker 1: of the Channel or the North Sea to the continent,
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Speaker 1: leaving in unhappy England only the helpless inmates of asylums
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Speaker 1: for the feeble, minded and insane. My objections to this
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Speaker 1: that the present inhabitants of England are mentally fit, and
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Speaker 1: could therefore not have descended from an ancestry of undiluted lunacy.
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Speaker 1: He brushes aside with the assertion that insanity is not
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Speaker 1: necessarily hereditary, and that, even though it was in many cases,
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Speaker 1: a return to natural conditions from the state of high civilization,
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Speaker 1: which is thought to have induced mental disease in the
24:28
Speaker 1: ancient world, would after several generations have thoroughly expunged every
24:34
Speaker 1: trace of the affliction from the brains and nerves of
24:37
Speaker 1: the descendants of the original maniacs. Personally, I do not
24:42
Speaker 1: place much stock in Professor Carteran's theory, though I admit
24:46
Speaker 1: that I am prejudiced. Naturally, one does not care to
24:50
Speaker 1: believe that the object of his greatest affection is descended
24:54
Speaker 1: from a gibbering idiot and a raving maniac. I am
25:00
Speaker 1: forgetting the continuity of my narrative, a continuity which I
25:04
Speaker 1: desire to maintain, though I fear that I shall often
25:08
Speaker 1: be led astray. So numerous and varied are the by
25:12
Speaker 1: paths of speculation which lead from the present day's story
25:17
Speaker 1: of the Grebitans into the mysterious past of their forebears.
25:22
Speaker 1: As I stood talking with the girl, I presently recollected
25:26
Speaker 1: that she still was bound, and with a word of apology,
25:30
Speaker 1: I drew my knife and cut the raw high thongs
25:33
Speaker 1: which confined her wrists at her back. She thanked me,
25:37
Speaker 1: and with such a sweet smile that I should have
25:40
Speaker 1: been amply repaid by it for a much more arduous service.
25:45
Speaker 1: And now I said, let me accompany you to your
25:48
Speaker 1: home and see you safely again under the protection of
25:51
Speaker 1: your friends. No, she said, with a hint of alarm
25:54
Speaker 1: in her voice. You must not come with me. Buckingham
25:58
Speaker 1: will kill you. Buckingham, the name was famous in ancient
26:03
Speaker 1: English history. Its survival, with many other illustrious names, is
26:08
Speaker 1: one of the strongest arguments in refutal of Professor Carteran's theory.
26:14
Speaker 1: Yet it opens no new doors to the past, and
26:18
Speaker 1: on the whole, rather adds too than dissipates the mystery.
26:25
Speaker 1: And who is Buckingham, i asked, And why should he
26:28
Speaker 1: wish to kill me? He would think that you had
26:31
Speaker 1: stolen me, she replied. And as he wishes me for himself,
26:36
Speaker 1: he will kill any other whom he thinks desires me.
26:40
Speaker 1: He killed Wetton a few days ago. My mother told
26:43
Speaker 1: me once that Wetton was my father. He was king.
26:48
Speaker 1: Now Buckingham is king. Here evidently were a people slightly
26:54
Speaker 1: superior to those of the Isle of Wight. These must
26:58
Speaker 1: have at least the ruddiments civilized government, since they recognized
27:03
Speaker 1: one among them as ruler with the title king. Also,
27:09
Speaker 1: they retained the word father. The girl's pronunciation, while far
27:14
Speaker 1: from identical with ours, was much closer than the tortured
27:18
Speaker 1: dialect of the EastEnders of the Isle of Wight. The
27:23
Speaker 1: longer I talked with her, the more hopeful I became
27:26
Speaker 1: of finding here among her people some records or traditions
27:32
Speaker 1: which might assist in clearing up the historic enigma of
27:35
Speaker 1: the past two centuries. I asked her if we were
27:40
Speaker 1: far from the city of London, but she did not
27:43
Speaker 1: know what I meant. When I tried to explain, describing
27:48
Speaker 1: mighty buildings of stone and brick, broad avenues, parks, palaces,
27:54
Speaker 1: and countless people, she but shook her head. Sadly. There
27:59
Speaker 1: is no such place nearby, she said. Only the camp
28:03
Speaker 1: of the Lions has places of stone where the beasts lay.
28:09
Speaker 1: But there are no people in the camp of the
28:11
Speaker 1: Lions who would dare go there. And she shuddered. The
28:17
Speaker 1: Camp of the Lions are repeated. And where is that?
28:21
Speaker 1: And what it is there? She said, pointing up the
28:24
Speaker 1: river toward the west. I have seen it from a
28:28
Speaker 1: great distance, but I have never been there. We are
28:31
Speaker 1: much afraid of the lions, for this is their country,
28:35
Speaker 1: and they are angry that man has come to live here.
28:40
Speaker 1: Far away. There, and she pointed toward the southwest, is
28:44
Speaker 1: the island of tigers, which is even worse than this
28:49
Speaker 1: the land of the lions, For the tigers are more
28:53
Speaker 1: numerous than the lions, and hungrier for human flesh. There
28:58
Speaker 1: were tigers here long ago, but both the lions and
29:01
Speaker 1: the men said upon them and drove them off. Where
29:06
Speaker 1: did their savage beasts come from? I asked, Ah, she replied,
29:11
Speaker 1: they have been here always. It is their country. Do
29:16
Speaker 1: they not kill and eat your people? I asked, Often
29:21
Speaker 1: when we meet them by accident and we are too
29:24
Speaker 1: few to slay them, or when one goes too close
29:28
Speaker 1: to their camp. But seldom do they hunt us, for
29:32
Speaker 1: they find what food they need among the deer and
29:35
Speaker 1: wild cattle. And too we make them gifts for are
29:40
Speaker 1: we not intruders in their country? Really? We live upon
29:44
Speaker 1: good terms with them. Though I should not care to
29:47
Speaker 1: meet one were there are not many spears in my party,
29:51
Speaker 1: I should like to visit this camp of the lions,
29:54
Speaker 1: I said, Oh no, you must not, cried the girl.
29:58
Speaker 1: That would be terrible. They would eat you. For a
30:01
Speaker 1: moment then she seemed lost in thought, But presently she
30:06
Speaker 1: turned upon me with you must go now, for any
30:11
Speaker 1: minute Buckingham may come in search of me. Long since
30:16
Speaker 1: should they have learnt that I am gone from the camp.
30:19
Speaker 1: They watch over me very closely. And they will set
30:22
Speaker 1: out after me. Go. I shall wait here until they
30:25
Speaker 1: come in search of me. No, I told her, I'll
30:30
Speaker 1: not leave you alone in a land infested by lions
30:33
Speaker 1: and other wild beasts. If you won't let me go
30:36
Speaker 1: as far as your camp with you, then I'll wait
30:39
Speaker 1: here until they come in search of you. Please go,
30:43
Speaker 1: she begged. You have saved me, and I would save you.
30:47
Speaker 1: But nothing will save you if Buckingham gets his hands
30:50
Speaker 1: on you. He is a bad man. He wishes to
30:54
Speaker 1: have me for his woman so that he may be king.
30:58
Speaker 1: He would kill any one who be friends me for
31:00
Speaker 1: fear that I might become another's didn't you say that
31:04
Speaker 1: Buckingham is already the king, I asked, he is. He
31:09
Speaker 1: took my mother for his woman after he had killed Wetton.
31:12
Speaker 1: But my mother will die soon she is very old,
31:16
Speaker 1: and then the man to whom I belong will become king. Finally,
31:21
Speaker 1: after much questioning, I got the thing through my head.
31:25
Speaker 1: It appears that the line of descent is through the women.
31:29
Speaker 1: A man is merely head of his wife's family, that
31:32
Speaker 1: is all. If she chances to be the oldest female
31:36
Speaker 1: member of the royal house, he is king. Very naively.
31:41
Speaker 1: The girl explained that there was seldom any doubt as
31:45
Speaker 1: to whom a child's mother was. This accounted for the
31:49
Speaker 1: girl's importance in the community and for Buckingham's anxiety to
31:54
Speaker 1: claim her. Though she told me that she did not
32:00
Speaker 1: wished to become his woman, for he was a bad
32:03
Speaker 1: man and would make a bad king. But he was powerful,
32:08
Speaker 1: and there was no other man who dared dispute his wishes.
32:13
Speaker 1: Why not come with me, I suggested, If you do
32:16
Speaker 1: not wish to become Buckingham's where would you take me?
32:20
Speaker 1: She asked where? Indeed I had not thought of that,
32:25
Speaker 1: But before I could reply to her question, she shook
32:29
Speaker 1: her head and said, no, I cannot leave my people.
32:33
Speaker 1: I must stay and do my best, even if Buckingham
32:37
Speaker 1: gets me. But you must go at once. Do not
32:41
Speaker 1: wait until it is too late. The lions have had
32:44
Speaker 1: no offering for a long time, and Buckingham would seize
32:48
Speaker 1: upon the first stranger as a gift to them. I
32:53
Speaker 1: did not perfectly understand what she meant, and was about
32:56
Speaker 1: to ask her when a heavy body leapt upon me
33:00
Speaker 1: from behind, and great arms encircled my neck. I struggled
33:06
Speaker 1: to free myself and turn upon my antagonist. But in
33:10
Speaker 1: another instant I was overwhelmed by a half dozen powerful,
33:15
Speaker 1: half naked men, while a score of others surrounded me,
33:18
Speaker 1: a couple of whom seized the girl. I fought as
33:22
Speaker 1: best I could for my liberty and for hers, but
33:25
Speaker 1: the weight of numbers was too great, though I had
33:29
Speaker 1: the satisfaction at least of giving them a good fight.
33:33
Speaker 1: When they had overpowered me, and I stood my hands
33:36
Speaker 1: bound behind me at the girl's side, she gazed commiseratingly
33:41
Speaker 1: at me. It is too bad that you did not
33:44
Speaker 1: do as I bid you, she said, For now it
33:47
Speaker 1: has happened just as I feared. Buckingham has you? Which
33:53
Speaker 1: is Buckingham? I asked? I am Buckingham, growled a burly,
33:58
Speaker 1: unwashed brute, swaggering truciantly before me. And who are you
34:04
Speaker 1: who would have stolen my woman? The girl spoke up
34:09
Speaker 1: then and tried to explain that I had not stolen her,
34:13
Speaker 1: but on the contrary, I had saved her from the
34:16
Speaker 1: men from the Elephant Country who were carrying her away.
34:21
Speaker 1: Buckingham only sneered at her explanation, and a moment later
34:26
Speaker 1: gave the command that started us all off. Toward the west.
34:30
Speaker 1: We marched for a matter of an hour or so,
34:33
Speaker 1: coming at last to a collection of rude huts fashioned
34:37
Speaker 1: from branches of trees, covered with skins and grasses, and
34:41
Speaker 1: sometimes plastered with mud. All about the camp they had
34:46
Speaker 1: erected a wall of saplings pointed at the tops and
34:50
Speaker 1: fire hardened. This palisade was a protection against both man
34:56
Speaker 1: and beasts, and within it dwelt upward of two thousand persons,
35:02
Speaker 1: the shelters being built very close together and sometimes partially underground,
35:08
Speaker 1: like deep trenches, with the poles and hides above merely
35:12
Speaker 1: as protection from the sun and rain. The older part
35:16
Speaker 1: of the camp consisted almost wholly of trenches, as though
35:20
Speaker 1: this had been the original form of dwellings, which was
35:24
Speaker 1: slowly giving way to the drier and area surfaced domiciles.
35:29
Speaker 1: In these trench habitations, I saw a survival of the
35:32
Speaker 1: military trenches which formed so famous a part of the
35:36
Speaker 1: operation of the warring nations during the twentieth century. The
35:40
Speaker 1: women wore a single light disk in about their hips,
35:43
Speaker 1: for it was summer and quite warm. The men, too,
35:48
Speaker 1: were clothed in a single garment, usually the pelt of
35:51
Speaker 1: some beast of prey. The hair of both men and
35:54
Speaker 1: women was confined by a raw hide thong passing about
35:59
Speaker 1: the forehead and tied behind. In this leathern band were
36:03
Speaker 1: suck feathers, flowers, or the tails of small mammals, or
36:08
Speaker 1: wore necklaces of the teeth or claws of wild beasts.
36:12
Speaker 1: And there were numerous metal wristlets and anklets among them.
36:16
Speaker 1: They wore, in fact, every indication of a most primitive people,
36:21
Speaker 1: a race which had not yet risen to the heights
36:25
Speaker 1: of agriculture or even the possession of domestic animals. They
36:30
Speaker 1: were hunters, the lowest plane in the evolution of the
36:34
Speaker 1: human race, of which science takes cognizance. And yet as
36:39
Speaker 1: I looked at their well shaped heads, their handsome features,
36:43
Speaker 1: and their intelligent eyes, it was difficult to believe that
36:47
Speaker 1: I was not among my own. It was only when
36:50
Speaker 1: I took into consideration their mode of living, their scant apparel,
36:55
Speaker 1: the lack of every least luxury among them, that I
36:59
Speaker 1: was forced to admit that they were, in truth, but
37:03
Speaker 1: ignorant savages. Buckingham had relieved me of my weapons, though
37:08
Speaker 1: he had not the slightest idea of their purpose or uses,
37:12
Speaker 1: and When we reached the camp, he exhibited both me
37:15
Speaker 1: and my arms with every indication of pride in this
37:19
Speaker 1: great capture. The inhabitants flocked around me, examining my clothing
37:25
Speaker 1: and exclaiming in wonderment at each new discovery of button, buckle,
37:30
Speaker 1: pocket and flap. It seemed incredible that such a thing
37:34
Speaker 1: could be almost within a stone's throw of the spot
37:38
Speaker 1: where but a brief two centuries before, had stood the
37:41
Speaker 1: greatest city of the world. They bound me to a
37:45
Speaker 1: small tree that grew in the middle of one of
37:47
Speaker 1: their crooked streets. But the girl they released as soon
37:51
Speaker 1: as we had entered the enclosure. The people greeted her
37:54
Speaker 1: with every mark of respect as she hastened to a
37:58
Speaker 1: large hut near the center of the camp. Camp. Presently
38:01
Speaker 1: she returned with a fine looking, white haired woman who
38:05
Speaker 1: proved to be her mother. The older woman carried herself
38:09
Speaker 1: with a regal dignity that seemed quite remarkable in a
38:13
Speaker 1: place of such primitive squalor. The people fell aside as
38:17
Speaker 1: she approached, making a wide way for her and her daughter.
38:21
Speaker 1: When they had come near and stopped before me, the
38:24
Speaker 1: older woman addressed me. My daughter has told me, she said,
38:30
Speaker 1: of the manner in which you rescued her from the
38:33
Speaker 1: men of the elephant country. If Wetton lived, you would
38:38
Speaker 1: be well treated. But Buckingham has taken me now and
38:42
Speaker 1: is king. You can hope for nothing from such a
38:46
Speaker 1: beast as Buckingham. The fact that Buckingham stood within a
38:50
Speaker 1: pace of us and was an interested listener appeared not
38:54
Speaker 1: to temper her expressions in the slightest. Buckingham is a pig,
39:00
Speaker 1: she continued. He is a coward. He came upon Wetton
39:04
Speaker 1: from behind and ran his spear through him. He will
39:08
Speaker 1: not be king for long. Some one will make a
39:11
Speaker 1: face at him, and he will run away and jump
39:14
Speaker 1: into the river. The people began to titter and clap
39:18
Speaker 1: their hands. Buckingham became red in the face. It was
39:22
Speaker 1: evident that he was far for popular. If he dared
39:27
Speaker 1: went on the old lady, he would kill me now.
39:30
Speaker 1: But he does not dare. He is too great a coward.
39:34
Speaker 1: If I could help you, I should gladly do so.
39:38
Speaker 1: But I am only Queen, the vehicle that has helped
39:42
Speaker 1: carry down unsullied the royal blood from the days when
39:45
Speaker 1: Grebritton was a mighty country. The old Queen's words had
39:51
Speaker 1: a noticeable effect upon the mob of curious savages which
39:55
Speaker 1: surrounded me. The moment they discovered that the the old
40:00
Speaker 1: Queen was friendly to me, and that I had rescued
40:03
Speaker 1: her daughter, they commenced to accord me a more friendly interest,
40:09
Speaker 1: and I heard many words spoken in my behalf, and
40:12
Speaker 1: demands were made that I not be harmed. But now
40:16
Speaker 1: Buckingham interfered. He had no intention of being robbed of
40:21
Speaker 1: his prey. Blustering and storming, he ordered the people back
40:25
Speaker 1: to their huts, at the same time directing two of
40:30
Speaker 1: his warriors to confine me in a dugout in one
40:33
Speaker 1: of the trenches close to his own shelter. Here they
40:38
Speaker 1: threw me upon the ground, binding my ankles together and
40:41
Speaker 1: trussing them up to my wrists. Behind there they left
40:45
Speaker 1: me lying upon my stomach, a most uncomfortable and strained position,
40:50
Speaker 1: to which was added the pain where the cords cut
40:53
Speaker 1: into my flesh. Just a few days ago, my mind
40:57
Speaker 1: had been filled with the anticipation of the friendly welcome
41:01
Speaker 1: I should find among the cultured englishmen of London. To
41:04
Speaker 1: day I should be sitting in the place of honor
41:09
Speaker 1: at the banquet board of one of London's most exclusive clubs,
41:13
Speaker 1: fettered and lionized the actuality. Here I lay bound, hand
41:19
Speaker 1: and foot, doubtless, almost upon the very sight of a
41:24
Speaker 1: part of ancient London. Yet all about me was a
41:28
Speaker 1: primeval wilderness, and I was a captive of half naked
41:33
Speaker 1: wild men. I wondered what had become of Delcarte and
41:37
Speaker 1: Taylor and Snyder. Would they search for me? They could
41:41
Speaker 1: never find me, I feared. Yet if they did, what
41:44
Speaker 1: could they accomplish against this hart of savage warriors? Would
41:49
Speaker 1: that I could warn them? I thought of the girl.
41:52
Speaker 1: Doubtless she could get word to them, But how was
41:55
Speaker 1: I to communicate with her? Would she come to see
41:58
Speaker 1: me before I was killed? It seemed incredible that she
42:02
Speaker 1: should not make some slight attempt to befriend me. Yet,
42:06
Speaker 1: as I recalled, she had made no effort to speak
42:10
Speaker 1: with me. After we had reached the village. She had
42:14
Speaker 1: hastened to her mother the moment she had been liberated.
42:18
Speaker 1: Though she had returned with the old Queen, she had
42:22
Speaker 1: not spoken to me. Even then. I began to have
42:26
Speaker 1: my doubts. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I
42:31
Speaker 1: was absolutely friendless, except for the old Queen. For some
42:36
Speaker 1: unaccountable reason, my rage against the girl for her ingratitude
42:41
Speaker 1: rose to colossal proportions. For a long time I waited
42:47
Speaker 1: for some one to come to my prison, whom I
42:50
Speaker 1: might ask to bear word to the Queen. But I
42:54
Speaker 1: seemed to have been forgotten. The strange position in which
42:57
Speaker 1: I lay became unbearable. I wriggled and twisted until I
43:02
Speaker 1: managed to turn myself partially upon my side, where I
43:06
Speaker 1: lay half facing the entrance to the dugout. Presently, my
43:11
Speaker 1: attention was attracted by the shadow of something moving in
43:14
Speaker 1: the trench without, and a moment later the figure of
43:18
Speaker 1: a child appeared, creeping upon all fours as wide eyed
43:23
Speaker 1: and prompted by childish curiosity, A little girl crawled to
43:28
Speaker 1: the entrance of my hut and peered cautiously and fearfully in.
43:36
Speaker 1: I did not speak at first, for fear of frightening
43:39
Speaker 1: the little one away. But when I was satisfied that
43:43
Speaker 1: her eyes had become sufficiently accustomed to the subdued light
43:47
Speaker 1: of the interior, I smiled instantly. The expression of fear
43:52
Speaker 1: faded from her eyes, to be replaced with an answering smile.
43:58
Speaker 1: Who are you, little girl, I asked, My name is Mary?
44:03
Speaker 1: She replied, I am Victory's sister, and who is Victory?
44:08
Speaker 1: You do not know who Victory is, she asked, in astonishment.
44:13
Speaker 1: I shook my head in negation. You saved her from
44:16
Speaker 1: the elephant country people, and yet you say you do
44:20
Speaker 1: not know her. She exclaimed. Oh, so she is Victory
44:26
Speaker 1: and you are her sister. I have not heard her
44:29
Speaker 1: name before. That is why I did not know whom
44:32
Speaker 1: you meant. I explained, here was just the messenger for me.
44:37
Speaker 1: Fate was becoming more kind. Will you do something for me? Mary?
44:42
Speaker 1: I asked, if I can go to your mother, the
44:47
Speaker 1: queen and ask her to come to me. I said,
44:50
Speaker 1: I have a favor to ask. She said that she would,
44:55
Speaker 1: and with a parting smile, she left me. For what
44:59
Speaker 1: seemed many hours, I awaited her return, chafing with impatience.
45:03
Speaker 1: The afternoon wore on, and night came, and yet no
45:07
Speaker 1: one came near me. My captors brought me neither food
45:10
Speaker 1: nor water. I was suffering considerable pain where the raw
45:15
Speaker 1: high thongs cut into my swollen flesh. I thought that
45:19
Speaker 1: they had either forgotten me, or that it was their
45:22
Speaker 1: intention to leave me here to die of starvation. Once
45:26
Speaker 1: I heard a great uproar in the village. Men were shouting,
45:30
Speaker 1: women were screaming and moaning. After a time this subsided,
45:35
Speaker 1: and again there was a long interval of silence. Half
45:40
Speaker 1: the night must have been spent when I heard a
45:42
Speaker 1: sound in the trench near the hut. It resembled muffled sobs.
45:48
Speaker 1: Presently a figure appeared, silhouetted against the lesser darkness beyond
45:53
Speaker 1: the doorway. It crept inside the hut. Are you here?
45:58
Speaker 1: Whispered the childlike voice. It was Mary. She had returned.
46:04
Speaker 1: The thongs no longer hurt me. The pangs of hunger
46:07
Speaker 1: and thirst disappeared. I realized that it had been loneliness
46:12
Speaker 1: from which I suffered most. Mary, I exclaimed, you are
46:16
Speaker 1: a good girl. You have come back after all I
46:20
Speaker 1: had commenced to think that you would not. Did you
46:23
Speaker 1: give my message to the queen? Will she come? Where
46:26
Speaker 1: is she? The girl's sobs increased, and she flung herself
46:31
Speaker 1: upon the dirt floor of the hut, apparently overcome by grief.
46:35
Speaker 1: What is it? I asked, Why do you cry? The queen?
46:40
Speaker 1: My mother will not come to you. She said, between sobs.
46:45
Speaker 1: She is dead. Buckingham has killed her. Now he will
46:49
Speaker 1: take victory. For victory is queen. He kept us fastened
46:54
Speaker 1: up in our shelter for fear that victory would escape him.
46:57
Speaker 1: But I dug a hole beneath the back wall and
46:59
Speaker 1: got out. I came to you because you saved victory
47:03
Speaker 1: once before, and I thought that you might save her
47:05
Speaker 1: again and me also tell me that you will. I
47:10
Speaker 1: am bound and helpless, Mary, I replied, otherwise I would
47:15
Speaker 1: do what I could to save you and your sister.
47:17
Speaker 1: I will set you free, cried the girl creeping up
47:20
Speaker 1: to my side. I will set you free, and then
47:24
Speaker 1: you may come and slay Buckingham. Gladly, I assented. We
47:29
Speaker 1: must hurry, she went on as she fumbled with the
47:32
Speaker 1: hard knots in the stiffened raw hide, for Buckingham will
47:36
Speaker 1: be after you soon. He must make an offering to
47:39
Speaker 1: the lions at dawn before he can take victory. The
47:43
Speaker 1: taking of a queen requires a human offering, and I
47:47
Speaker 1: am to be the offering, I asked, yes, she said,
47:51
Speaker 1: tugging at a knot. Buckingham has been wanting a sacrifice
47:55
Speaker 1: ever since he killed Wetton, that he might slay my
47:58
Speaker 1: mother and take VICI. The thought was horrible, not solely
48:03
Speaker 1: because of the hideous fate to which I was condemned,
48:07
Speaker 1: but from the contemplation it engendered of the sad decadence
48:12
Speaker 1: of a once enlightened race to these depths of ignorance, brutality,
48:18
Speaker 1: and superstition. Had the vaunted civilization of twentieth century England
48:24
Speaker 1: been plunged, and by what war? I felt the structure
48:29
Speaker 1: of our time honored militaristic arguments. Crumbling about me, Mary
48:35
Speaker 1: labored with the thongs that confined me. They proved refractory,
48:40
Speaker 1: defying her tender, childish fingers. She assured me, however, that
48:45
Speaker 1: she would release me if they did not come too soon.
48:49
Speaker 1: But alas they came, we heard them coming down the trench,
48:54
Speaker 1: and I bade Mary hide in a corner lest she
48:56
Speaker 1: be discovered and punished. There was naught else she could do,
49:01
Speaker 1: and so she crawled away into the stygian blackness behind me.
49:06
Speaker 1: Presently two warriors entered. The leader exhibited a unique method
49:11
Speaker 1: of discovering my whereabouts in the darkness. He advanced slowly,
49:16
Speaker 1: kicking out viciously before him. Finally he kicked me in
49:20
Speaker 1: the face. Then he knew where I was. A moment later,
49:26
Speaker 1: I had been jerked roughly to my feet. One of
49:29
Speaker 1: the fellows stopped and severed the bonds that held my ankles.
49:33
Speaker 1: I could scarcely stand alone. The two pulled and hauled
49:37
Speaker 1: me through the low doorway and along the trench. A
49:41
Speaker 1: party of forty or fifty warriors were awaiting us at
49:44
Speaker 1: the brink of the excavation, some hundred yards from the hut.
49:49
Speaker 1: Hands were lowered to us and we were dragged to
49:53
Speaker 1: the surface. Then commenced a long march. We stumbled through
49:58
Speaker 1: the underbrush, wet with dew, our way lighted by a
50:02
Speaker 1: score of torch bearers who surrounded us. But the torches
50:06
Speaker 1: were not to light the way, that was but incidental.
50:11
Speaker 1: They were carried to keep off the huge carnivora that
50:15
Speaker 1: moaned and coughed and roared about us. The noises were hideous.
50:21
Speaker 1: The whole country seemed alive with lions. Yellow green eyes
50:25
Speaker 1: blazed wickedly at us from out the surrounding darkness. My
50:31
Speaker 1: escort carried long, heavy spears. These they kept ever pointed
50:37
Speaker 1: toward the beast of prey, and I learned from snatches
50:41
Speaker 1: of the conversation I overheard that occasionally there might be
50:45
Speaker 1: a lion who would brave even the terrors of fire
50:49
Speaker 1: to leap in upon human prey. It was for such
50:53
Speaker 1: that the spears were always couched. But nothing of the
50:57
Speaker 1: sort occurred during this hideous death march. And with the
51:00
Speaker 1: first pale heralding of dawn, we wretched our goal, an
51:05
Speaker 1: open place in the midst of a tangled wild wood.
51:09
Speaker 1: Here rose, in crumbling grandeur, the first evidences I had
51:13
Speaker 1: seen of the ancient civilization which once had graced fair Albion.
51:19
Speaker 1: A single time worn ark of masonry the entrance to
51:24
Speaker 1: the camp of the lions, murmured one of the party
51:27
Speaker 1: in a voice husky with awe. Here the party knelt
51:31
Speaker 1: while Buckingham recited a weird prayer like chant. It was
51:35
Speaker 1: rather long, and I recall only a portion of it,
51:39
Speaker 1: which ran. If my memory serves me somewhat as follows,
51:43
Speaker 1: Lord of Grebritin, we fall on our knees to thee
51:48
Speaker 1: this gift to bring greatest of kings, Art thou to thee.
51:52
Speaker 1: We humbly bow peace to our camp. Alow God save
51:58
Speaker 1: thee king. When the party rose, and dragging me to
52:02
Speaker 1: the crumbling ark, made me fast to a huge corroded
52:07
Speaker 1: copper ring which was dangling from an eyebolt embedded in
52:10
Speaker 1: the masonry. None of them, not even Buckingham, seemed to
52:15
Speaker 1: feel any personal animosity toward me. They were naturally rough
52:20
Speaker 1: and brutal, as primitive men are supposed to have been
52:24
Speaker 1: since the dawn of humanity, but they did not go
52:28
Speaker 1: out of their way to maltreat me. With the coming
52:32
Speaker 1: of dawn, the number of lions about us seemed to
52:34
Speaker 1: have greatly diminished. At least they made less noise, and
52:39
Speaker 1: as Buckingham and his party disappeared into the woods, leaving
52:43
Speaker 1: me alone to my terrible fate, I could hear the
52:46
Speaker 1: grumblings and growlings of the beasts diminishing with the sound
52:49
Speaker 1: of the chant which the party still continued. It appeared
52:54
Speaker 1: that the lions had failed to note that I had
52:57
Speaker 1: been left for their breakfast, and had followed off after
53:01
Speaker 1: their worshipers instead. But I knew the reprieve would be
53:05
Speaker 1: but for a short time, and though I had no
53:07
Speaker 1: wish to die, I must confess that I rather wish
53:11
Speaker 1: the ordeal over and the peace of oblivion upon me.
53:15
Speaker 1: The voices of the men and the lions receded in
53:17
Speaker 1: the distance, until finally quiet reigned about me, broken only
53:23
Speaker 1: by the sweet voices of birds and the sighing of
53:26
Speaker 1: the summer wind in the trees. It seemed impossible to
53:30
Speaker 1: believe that in this peaceful woodland setting, the frightful thing
53:34
Speaker 1: was to occur, which must come with the passing of
53:37
Speaker 1: the next lion who chanced within sight or smell of
53:40
Speaker 1: the crumbling arc. I strove to tear myself loose from
53:44
Speaker 1: my bonds, but succeeded only in tightening them about my arms.
53:49
Speaker 1: Then I remained passive for a long time, letting the
53:53
Speaker 1: scenes of my lifetime pass in review before my mind's eye.
53:58
Speaker 1: I try to imagine the astonishment, incredulity, and horror with
54:03
Speaker 1: which my family and friends would be overwhelmed if for
54:07
Speaker 1: an instant space could be annihilated and they could see
54:11
Speaker 1: me at the gates of London, the gates of London.
54:16
Speaker 1: Where was the multitude hurrying to the marts of trade
54:20
Speaker 1: after a night of pleasure or rest? Where was the
54:23
Speaker 1: clang of tram car gongs, the screech of motor horns,
54:28
Speaker 1: the vast murmur of a dense throng. Where were they? And?
54:34
Speaker 1: As I asked, the question. A lone, gaunt lion strode
54:38
Speaker 1: from the tangled jungle upon the far side of the clearing,
54:43
Speaker 1: majestically and noiselessly. Upon his padded feet. The king of
54:47
Speaker 1: beasts smoothed slowly toward the gates of London and toward me.
54:53
Speaker 1: Was I afraid? I feared that I was almost afraid.
54:58
Speaker 1: I know that I thought that fear was coming to me.
55:01
Speaker 1: And so I straightened up and squared my shoulders, and
55:05
Speaker 1: looked the lion straight in the eyes and waited. It
55:10
Speaker 1: is not a nice way to die alone with one's
55:14
Speaker 1: hands fast bound beneath the fangs and talons of a
55:17
Speaker 1: beast of prey. No, it is not a nice way
55:21
Speaker 1: to die, not a pretty way. The lion was half
55:26
Speaker 1: way across the clearing when I heard a slight sound
55:29
Speaker 1: behind me. The great cat stopped in his tracks. He
55:35
Speaker 1: lashed his tail against his sides now instead of simply
55:40
Speaker 1: twitching its tip, and his low moan became a thunderous roar.
55:46
Speaker 1: As I crammed my neck to catch a glimpse of
55:49
Speaker 1: the thing that had aroused the fury of the beast
55:51
Speaker 1: before me, it sprang through the arched gateway and was
55:55
Speaker 1: at my side, with parted lips and heaving bosom and
56:00
Speaker 1: disheveled hair, a bronzed and lovely vision to eyes that
56:04
Speaker 1: had never harbored hope of rescue. It was victory. And
56:09
Speaker 1: in her arms she clutched my rifle and revolver. A
56:13
Speaker 1: long knife was in the doe skin belt that supported
56:16
Speaker 1: the doe skin skirt tightly about her lithe limbs. She
56:21
Speaker 1: dropped my weapons at my feet, and snatching the knife
56:24
Speaker 1: from its resting place, severed the bonds that held me.
56:28
Speaker 1: I was free, and the lion was preparing to charge run.
56:33
Speaker 1: I cried to the girl as I bent and seized
56:36
Speaker 1: my rifle, but she only stood there at my side,
56:40
Speaker 1: her bed blade ready in her hand. The lion was
56:44
Speaker 1: bounding toward us, now in prodigious leaps. I raised the
56:48
Speaker 1: rifle and fired. It was a lucky shot, for I
56:52
Speaker 1: had no time to aim carefully, and when the beast
56:55
Speaker 1: crumpled and rolled lifeless to the ground, I went upon
56:59
Speaker 1: my knees and gave thanks to the God of my ancestors.
57:04
Speaker 1: And still upon my knees, I turned, and taking the
57:07
Speaker 1: girl's hand in mine, I kissed it. She smiled at
57:10
Speaker 1: that and laid her other hand upon my head. You
57:14
Speaker 1: have strange customs in your country, she said. I could
57:19
Speaker 1: not but smile at that when I thought how strange
57:21
Speaker 1: it would seem to my countrymen. Could they but see
57:24
Speaker 1: me kneeling there on the sight of London, kissing the
57:28
Speaker 1: hand of England's Queen? And now, I said, as I rose,
57:33
Speaker 1: you must return to the safety of your camp. I
57:36
Speaker 1: will go with you until you are near enough to
57:38
Speaker 1: continue alone in safety. Then I shall try to return
57:42
Speaker 1: to my comrades. I will not return to the camp,
57:46
Speaker 1: she replied. But what shall you do. I do not know.
57:51
Speaker 1: Only I shall never go back. While Buckingham lives, I
57:54
Speaker 1: should rather die than go back to him. Mary came
57:59
Speaker 1: to me after they had taken you from the camp
58:02
Speaker 1: and told me I found your strange weapons and followed
58:05
Speaker 1: with them. It took me a little longer, for often
58:09
Speaker 1: I had to hide in the trees that the lions
58:11
Speaker 1: might not get me. But I came in time. And
58:14
Speaker 1: now you are free to go back to your friends
58:17
Speaker 1: and leave you here, I exclaimed. She nodded, but I
58:21
Speaker 1: could see through all her brave front that she was
58:24
Speaker 1: frightened at the thought I could not leave her. Of course,
58:28
Speaker 1: But what in the world was I to do, cumbered
58:32
Speaker 1: with the care of a young woman and a queen.
58:35
Speaker 1: At that I was at a loss to know. I
58:38
Speaker 1: pointed out that phase of it to her, but she
58:41
Speaker 1: only shrugged her shapely shoulders and pointed to her knife.
58:46
Speaker 1: It was evident that she felt entirely competent to protect herself.
58:50
Speaker 1: As we stood there, we heard the sound of voices.
58:54
Speaker 1: They were coming from the forest through which we had
58:56
Speaker 1: passed when we had come from camp. They are searching
59:00
Speaker 1: for me, said the girl. Where shall we hide? I
59:04
Speaker 1: didn't relish hiding, but when I thought of the innumerable
59:08
Speaker 1: dangers which surrounded us, and the comparatively small amount of
59:12
Speaker 1: ammunition that I had with me, I hesitated to provoke
59:15
Speaker 1: a battle with Buckingham and his warriors, when by flight
59:19
Speaker 1: I could avoid them and preserve my cartridges against emergencies
59:23
Speaker 1: which could not be escaped. Would they follow us there,
59:27
Speaker 1: I asked, pointing through the archway into the camp of
59:30
Speaker 1: the lions. Never, she replied, for in the first place,
59:35
Speaker 1: they would know that we would not dare go there,
59:38
Speaker 1: and in the second they themselves would not dare. Then
59:42
Speaker 1: we shall take refuge in the camp of the lions,
59:44
Speaker 1: I said, She shuddered and drew closer to me. You dare,
59:50
Speaker 1: she asked, Why not? I returned. We shall be safe
59:53
Speaker 1: from Buckingham, and you have seen for the second time
59:58
Speaker 1: in two days that lie are harmless before my weapons.
1:00:02
Speaker 1: Then too, I can find my friend's easiest in this direction,
1:00:07
Speaker 1: for the river Tams runs through this place you call
1:00:10
Speaker 1: the Camp of the Lions, and it is farther down
1:00:13
Speaker 1: the Thames that my friends are awaiting me. Do you
1:00:17
Speaker 1: not dare come with me? I dare follow wherever you lead,
1:00:21
Speaker 1: she answered simply, And so I turned and passed beneath
1:00:25
Speaker 1: the Great Arch into the city of London. End of
1:00:32
Speaker 1: chapter four.