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