I HASTENED TO THE CLIFF EDGE ABOVE JA AND helped him to a secure
footing. He would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to save
me, which had come so near miscarrying.
"I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple,"
he said, "for not even I could save you from their clutches, and
you may imagine my surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon
the beach of the mainland I discovered your own footprints in the
sand beside it.
"I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you
must be entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers
which lurk upon the mainland both in the form of savage beasts and
reptiles, and men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you to
this point. It is well that I arrived when I did."
"But why did you do it?" I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship
on the part of a man of another world and a different race and
color.
"You saved my life," he replied; "from that moment it became my
duty to protect and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop
had I evaded my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this instance
for I like you. I wish that you would come and live with me. You
shall become a member of my tribe. Among us there is the best of
hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to choose a mate from,
the most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. Will you come?"
I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty
was to them first. Afterward I should return and visit him--if I
could ever find his island.
"Oh, that is easy, my friend," he said. "You need merely to come
to the foot of the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds.
There you will find a river which flows into the Lural Az. Directly
opposite the mouth of the river you will see three large islands
far out, so far that they are barely discernible, the one to the
extreme left as you face them from the mouth of the river is Anoroc,
where I rule the tribe of Anoroc."
"But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?" I asked. "Men
say that they are visible from half Pellucidar," he replied.
"How large is Pellucidar?" I asked, wondering what sort of theory
these primitive men had concerning the form and substance of their
world.
"The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell," he
answered, "but that is ridiculous, since, were it true, we should
fall back were we to travel far in any direction, and all the waters
of Pellucidar would run to one spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar
is quite flat and extends no man knows how far in all directions.
At the edges, so my ancestors have reported and handed down to me,
is a great wall that prevents the earth and waters from escaping
over into the burning sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never
have been so far from Anoroc as to have seen this wall with my
own eyes. However, it is quite reasonable to believe that this is
true, whereas there is no reason at all in the foolish belief of
the Mahars. According to them Pellucidarians who live upon the
opposite side walk always with their heads pointed downward!" and
Ja laughed uproariously at the very thought.
It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had
not advanced far in learning, and the thought that the ugly Mahars
had so outstripped them was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered
how many ages it would take to lift these people out of their
ignorance even were it given to Perry and me to attempt it. Possibly
we would be killed for our pains as were those men of the outer
world who dared challenge the dense ignorance and superstitions
of the earth's younger days. But it was worth the effort if the
opportunity ever presented itself.
And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunity--that I
might make a small beginning upon Ja, who was my friend, and thus
note the effect of my teaching upon a Pellucidarian.
"Ja," I said, "what would you say were I to tell you that in so
far as the Mahars' theory of the shape of Pellucidar is concerned
it is correct?"
"I would say," he replied, "that either you are a fool, or took me
for one."
"But, Ja," I insisted, "if their theory is incorrect how do you
account for the fact that I was able to pass through the earth from
the outer crust to Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a
sea of flame beneath us, where in no peoples could exist, and yet
I come from a great world that is covered with human beings, and
beasts, and birds, and fishes in mighty oceans."
"You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with
your head pointed downward?" he scoffed. "And were I to believe
that, my friend, I should indeed be mad."
I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means
of the dropped fruit to illustrate how impossible it would be for
a body to fall off the earth under any circumstances. He listened
so intently that I thought I had made an impression, and started
the train of thought that would lead him to a partial understanding
of the truth. But I was mistaken.
"Your own illustration," he said finally, "proves the falsity
of your theory." He dropped a fruit from his hand to the ground.
"See," he said, "without support even this tiny fruit falls until
it strikes something that stops it. If Pellucidar were not supported
upon the flaming sea it too would fall as the fruit falls--you have
proven it yourself!" He had me, that time--you could see it in his
eye.
It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for
when I contemplated the necessity explanation of our solar system
and the universe I realized how futile it would be to attempt to
picture to Ja or any other Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the
planets, and the countless stars. Those born within the inner
world could no more conceive of such things than can we of the
outer crust reduce to factors appreciable to our finite minds such
terms as space and eternity.
"Well, Ja," I laughed, "whether we be walking with our feet up or
down, here we are, and the question of greatest importance is not
so much where we came from as where we are going now. For my part
I wish that you could guide me to Phutra where I may give myself
up to the Mahars once more that my friends and I may work out the
plan of escape which the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us
together and drove us to the arena to witness the punishment of the
slaves who killed the guardsman. I wish now that I had not left
the arena for by this time my friends and I might have made good
our escape, whereas this delay may mean the wrecking of all our
plans, which depended for their consummation upon the continued
sleep of the three Mahars who lay in the pit beneath the building
in which we were confined."
"You would return to captivity?" cried Ja.
"My friends are there," I replied, "the only friends I have in Pellucidar,
except yourself. What else may I do under the circumstances?"
He thought for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head
sorrowfully.
"It is what a brave man and a good friend should do," he said; "yet
it seems most foolish, for the Mahars will most certainly condemn
you to death for running away, and so you will be accomplishing
nothing for your friends by returning. Never in all my life have
I heard of a prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free will.
There are but few who escape them, though some do, and these would
rather die than be recaptured."
"I see no other way, Ja," I said, "though I can assure you that
I would rather go to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra. However,
Perry is much too pious to make the probability at all great that
I should ever be called upon to rescue him from the former locality."
Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could,
he said, "You are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming sea upon which
Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried in the ground go
there. Piece by piece they are carried down to Molop Az by the
little demons who dwell there. We know this because when graves
are opened we find that the bodies have been partially or entirely
borne off. That is why we of Anoroc place our dead in high trees
where the birds may find them and bear them bit by bit to the Dead
World above the Land of Awful Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place
his body in the ground that it may go to Molop Az."
As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come
to the great ocean and the sithic. Ja did his best to dissuade me
from returning to Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to
do so, he consented to guide me to a point from which I could see
the plain where lay the city. To my surprise the distance was but
short from the beach where I had again met Ja. It was evident that
I had spent much time following the windings of a tortuous canon,
while just beyond the ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which
I must have come several times.
As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the
flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final effort to persuade me
to abandon my mad purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was
firm in my resolve, and at last he bid me good-bye, assured in his
own mind that he was looking upon me for the last time.
I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much
indeed. With his hidden city upon the island of Anoroc as a base,
and his savage warriors as escort Perry and I could have accomplished
much in the line of exploration, and I hoped that were we successful
in our effort to escape we might return to Anoroc later.
There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished first--at
least it was the great thing to me--the finding of Dian the Beautiful.
I wanted to make amends for the affront I had put upon her in my
ignorance, and I wanted to--well, I wanted to see her again, and
to be with her.
Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers,
and then across the rolling land toward the shadowless columns
that guard the ways to buried Phutra. At a quarter-mile from the
nearest entrance I was discovered by the Sagoth guard, and in an
instant four of the gorilla-men were dashing toward me.
Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches
I paid not the slightest attention to them, walking quietly toward
them as though unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect
upon them that I had hoped, and as we came quite near together
they ceased their savage shouting. It was evident that they had
expected me to turn and flee at sight of them, thus presenting that
which they most enjoyed, a moving human target at which to cast
their spears.
"What do you here?" shouted one, and then as he recognized me,
"Ho! It is the slave who claims to be from another world--he who
escaped when the thag ran amuck within the amphitheater. But why
do you return, having once made good your escape?"
"I did not 'escape'," I replied. "I but ran away to avoid the thag,
as did others, and coming into a long passage I became confused
and lost my way in the foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I
found my way back."
"And you come of your free will back to Phutra!" exclaimed one of
the guardsmen.
"Where else might I go?" I asked. "I am a stranger within Pellucidar
and know no other where than Phutra. Why should I not desire to
be in Phutra? Am I not well fed and well treated? Am I not happy?
What better lot could man desire?"
The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them,
and so being stupid brutes they took me to their masters whom they
felt would be better fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for
riddle they still considered it.
I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing
them off the scent of my purposed attempt at escape. If they
thought that I was so satisfied with my lot within Phutra that
I would voluntarily return when I had once had so excellent an
opportunity to escape, they would never for an instant imagine that
I could be occupied in arranging another escape immediately upon
my return to the city.
So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within
the large room that was the thing's office. With cold, reptilian
eyes the creature seemed to bore through the thin veneer of my
deceit and read my inmost thoughts. It heeded the story which the
Sagoths told of my return to Phutra, watching the gorilla-men's
lips and fingers during the recital. Then it questioned me through
one of the Sagoths.
"You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because
you think yourself better off here than elsewhere--do you not know
that you may be the next chosen to give up your life in the interests
of the wonderful scientific investigations that our learned ones
are continually occupied with?"
I hadn't heard of anything of that nature, but I thought best not
to admit it.
"I could be in no more danger here," I said, "than naked and unarmed
in the savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar. I
was fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I
barely escaped death within the jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am
sure that I am safer in the hands of intelligent creatures such
as rule Phutra. At least such would be the case in my own world,
where human beings like myself rule supreme. There the higher races
of man extend protection and hospitality to the stranger within
their gates, and being a stranger here I naturally assumed that a
like courtesy would be accorded me."
The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased
speaking and the Sagoth had translated my words to his master. The
creature seemed deep in thought. Presently he communicated some
message to the Sagoth. The latter turned, and motioning me to follow
him, left the presence of the reptile. Behind and on either side
of me marched the balance of the guard.
"What are they going to do with me?" I asked the fellow at my right.
"You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you
regarding this strange world from which you say you come."
After a moment's silence he turned to me again.
"Do you happen to know," he asked, "what the Mahars do to slaves
who lie to them?"
"No," I replied, "nor does it interest me, as I have no intention
of lying to the Mahars."
"Then be careful that you don't repeat the impossible tale you
told Sol-to-to just now--another world, indeed, where human beings
rule!" he concluded in fine scorn.
"But it is the truth," I insisted. "From where else then did I
come? I am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an eye could see
that."
"It is your misfortune then," he remarked dryly, "that you may not
be judged by one with but half an eye."
"What will they do with me," I asked, "if they do not have a mind
to believe me?"
"You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used
in research work by the learned ones," he replied.
"And what will they do with me there?" I persisted.
"No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with
them, but as the latter never return, their knowledge does them
but little good. It is said that the learned ones cut up their
subjects while they are yet alive, thus learning many useful things.
However I should not imagine that it would prove very useful to
him who was being cut up; but of course this is all but conjecture.
The chances are that ere long you will know much more about it than
I," and he grinned as he spoke. The Sagoths have a well-developed
sense of humor.
"And suppose it is the arena," I continued; "what then?"
"You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you
escaped?" he said.
"Yes. "
"Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for
them," he explained, "though of course the same kinds of animals
might not be employed."
"It is sure death in either event?" I asked.
"What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not
know, nor does any other," he replied; "but those who go to the
arena may come out alive and thus regain their liberty, as did the
two whom you saw."
"They gained their liberty? And how?"
"It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive
within the arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it
has happened that several mighty warriors from far distant lands,
whom we have captured on our slave raids, have battled the brutes
turned in upon them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom.
In the instance which you witnessed the beasts killed each other,
but the result was the same--the man and woman were liberated,
furnished with weapons, and started on their homeward journey.
Upon the left shoulder of each a mark was burned--the mark of the
Mahars--which will forever protect these two from slaving parties."
"There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena,
and none at all if the learned ones drag me to the pits?"
"You are quite right," he replied; "but do not felicitate yourself
too quickly should you be sent to the arena, for there is scarce
one in a thousand who comes out alive."
To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which
I had been confined with Perry and Ghak before my escape. At the
doorway I was turned over to the guards there.
"He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly,"
said he who had brought me back," so have him in readiness."
The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I
had returned of my own volition to Phutra evidently felt that it
would be safe to give me liberty within the building as had been
the custom before I had escaped, and so I was told to return to
whatever duty had been mine formerly.
My first act was to hunt up Perry; whom I found poring as usual
over the great tomes that he was supposed to be merely dusting and
rearranging upon new shelves.
As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me,
only to resume his work as though I had never been away at all.
I was both astonished and hurt at his indifference. And to think
that I was risking death to return to him purely from a sense of
duty and affection!
"Why, Perry!" I exclaimed, "haven't you a word for me after my long
absence?"
"Long absence!" he repeated in evident astonishment. "What do you
mean?"
"Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed
me since that time we were separated by the charging thag within
the arena?"
"'That time'," he repeated. "Why man, I have but just returned
from the arena! You reached here almost as soon as I. Had you
been much later I should indeed have been worried, and as it is I
had intended asking you about how you escaped the beast as soon as
I had completed the translation of this most interesting passage."
"Perry, you ARE mad," I exclaimed. "Why, the Lord only knows how
long I have been away. I have been to other lands, discovered
a new race of humans within Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their
worship in their hidden temple, and barely escaped with my life
from them and from a great labyrinthodon that I met afterward,
following my long and tedious wanderings across an unknown world.
I must have been away for months, Perry, and now you barely look up
from your work when I return and insist that we have been separated
but a moment. Is that any way to treat a friend? I'm surprised
at you, Perry, and if I'd thought for a moment that you cared no
more for me than this I should not have returned to chance death
at the hands of the Mahars for your sake."
The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There
was a puzzled expression upon his wrinkled face, and a look of hurt
sorrow in his eyes.
"David, my boy," he said, "how could you for a moment doubt my love
for you? There is something strange here that I cannot understand.
I know that I am not mad, and I am equally sure that you are not;
but how in the world are we to account for the strange hallucinations
that each of us seems to harbor relative to the passage of time
since last we saw each other. You are positive that months have
gone by, while to me it seems equally certain that not more than
an hour ago I sat beside you in the amphitheater. Can it be that
both of us are right and at the same time both are wrong? First
tell me what time is, and then maybe I can solve our problem. Do
you catch my meaning?"
I didn't and said so.
"Yes," continued the old man, "we are both right. To me, bent over
my book here, there has been no lapse of time. I have done little
or nothing to waste my energies and so have required neither food
nor sleep, but you, on the contrary, have walked and fought and
wasted strength and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by nutriment
and food, and so, having eaten and slept many times since last you
saw me you naturally measure the lapse of time largely by these acts.
As a matter of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction
that there is no such thing as time--surely there can be no time
here within Pellucidar, where there are no means for measuring
or recording time. Why, the Mahars themselves take no account of
such a thing as time. I find here in all their literary works but
a single tense, the present. There seems to be neither past nor
future with them. Of course it is impossible for our outer-earthly
minds to grasp such a condition, but our recent experiences seem
to demonstrate its existence."
It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to
enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it, and after listening
with interest to my account of the adventures through which I had
passed he returned once more to the subject, which he was enlarging
upon with considerable fluency when he was interrupted by the
entrance of a Sagoth.
"Come!" commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. "The investigators
would speak with you."
"Good-bye, Perry!" I said, clasping the old man's hand. "There may
be nothing but the present and no such thing as time, but I feel
that I am about to take a trip into the hereafter from which I shall
never return. If you and Ghak should manage to escape I want you
to promise me that you will find Dian the Beautiful and tell her
that with my last words I asked her forgiveness for the unintentional
affront I put upon her, and that my one wish was to be spared long
enough to right the wrong that I had done her."
Tears came to Perry's eyes.
"I cannot believe but that you will return, David," he said. "It
would be awful to think of living out the balance of my life without
you among these hateful and repulsive creatures. If you are taken
away I shall never escape, for I feel that I am as well off here as
I should be anywhere within this buried world. Good-bye, my boy,
good-bye!" and then his old voice faltered and broke, and as he
hid his face in his hands the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly
by the shoulder and hustled me from the chamber.
Read next: CHAPTER XI - FOUR DEAD MAHARS
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