THE SAGOTHS WERE GAINING ON US RAPIDLY, FOR once they had sighted
us they had greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled
up the narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the heights
of Sari. On either side rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous,
parti-colored rock, while beneath our feet a thick mountain grass
formed a soft and noiseless carpet. Since we had entered the
canyon we had had no glimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing
to hope that they had lost our trail and that we would reach the
now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to scale them before we should
be overtaken.
Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the
success of Hooja's mission. By now he should have reached the
outposts of the Sarians, and we should at least hear the savage
cries of the tribesmen as they swarmed to arms in answer to their
king's appeal for succor. In another moment the frowning cliffs
ahead should be black with primeval warriors. But nothing of the
kind happened--as a matter of fact the Sly One had betrayed us.
At the moment that we expected to see Sarian spearmen charging to
our relief at Hooja's back, the craven traitor was sneaking around
the outskirts of the nearest Sarian village, that he might come up
from the other side when it was too late to save us, claiming that
he had become lost among the mountains.
Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had
struck in Dian's protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal
to sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon me.
As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians
appeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the
sound of rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called
to me over his shoulder that we were lost.
A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at
the far end of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we
had just passed, and then a sudden turning shut the ugly creature
from my view; but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind
us was evidence that the gorilla-man had sighted us.
Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another
branch ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so
that appeared more like the main canyon than the lefthand branch.
The Sagoths were now not over two hundred and fifty yards behind
us, and I saw that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape other
than by a ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry,
and as I reached the branching of the canyon I took the chance.
Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight.
Ghak and Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon,
and as the Sagoth's savage yell announced that he had seen me I
turned and fled up the right-hand branch. My ruse was successful,
and the entire party of man-hunters raced headlong after me up one
canyon while Ghak bore Perry to safety up the other.
Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when
my very life depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I
ran any better than on the occasions when my pitiful base running
had called down upon my head the rooter's raucous and reproachful
cries of "Ice Wagon," and "Call a cab."
The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular,
fleeter than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon had
become a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep angle toward what
seemed a pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could
not even guess--possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of feet into the
corresponding valley upon the other side. Could it be that I had
plunged into a cul-de-sac?
Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the
top of the canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to
check them temporarily, and to this end had unslung my rudely made
bow and plucked an arrow from the skin quiver which hung behind my
shoulder. As I fitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped and
wheeled toward the gorilla-man.
In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our
escape from Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game
by means of my arrows, and so, through necessity, had developed
a fair degree of accuracy. During our flight from Phutra I had
restrung my bow with a piece of heavy gut taken from a huge tiger
which Ghak and I had worried and finally dispatched with arrows,
spear, and sword. The hard wood of the bow was extremely tough
and this, with the strength and elasticity of my new string, gave
me unwonted confidence in my weapon.
Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then--never were my
nerves and muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully
and deliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had never
before seen a bow and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over
his dull intellect that the thing I held toward him was some sort
of engine of destruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously
swinging his hatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods in
which they employ this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they
achieve, even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is little
short of miraculous.
My shaft was drawn back its full length--my eye had centered
its sharp point upon the left breast of my adversary; and then
he launched his hatchet and I released my arrow. At the instant
that our missiles flew I leaped to one side, but the Sagoth sprang
forward to follow up his attack with a spear thrust. I felt the
swish of the hatchet at it grazed my head, and at the same instant
my shaft pierced the Sagoth's savage heart, and with a single groan
he lunged almost at my feet--stone dead. Close behind him were two
more--fifty yards perhaps--but the distance gave me time to snatch
up the dead guardsman's shield, for the close call his hatchet had
just given me had borne in upon me the urgent need I had for one.
Those which I had purloined at Phutra we had not been able to bring
along because their size precluded our concealing them within the
skins of the Mahars which had brought us safely from the city.
With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with
another arrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his
fellow's hatchet sped toward me I caught it upon the shield, and
fitted another shaft for him; but he did not wait to receive it.
Instead, he turned and retreated toward the main body of gorilla-men.
Evidently he had seen enough of me for the moment.
Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently
overanxious to press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested
I reached the top of the canyon where I found a sheer drop of two
or three hundred feet to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the
left a narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff.
Along this I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond
the canyon's end, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening
to a large cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from
sight about another projecting buttress of the mountain.
Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could
advance upon me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting
him until he came full upon me around the corner of the turn. About
me lay scattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were
of various sizes and shapes, but enough were of handy dimensions
for use as ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering a
number of stones into a little pile beside the mouth of the cave
I waited the advance of the Sagoths.
As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint
sound that should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight
noise from within the cave's black depths attracted my attention.
It might have been produced by the moving of the great body of some
huge beast rising from the rock floor of its lair. At almost the
same instant I thought that I caught the scraping of hide sandals
upon the ledge beyond the turn. For the next few seconds my
attention was considerably divided.
And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes
glaring into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet
above my head. It is true that the beast who owned them might be
standing upon a ledge within the cave, or that it might be rearing
up upon its hind legs; but I had seen enough of the monsters of
Pellucidar to know that I might be facing some new and frightful
Titan whose dimensions and ferocity eclipsed those of any I had
seen before.
Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the
cave, and now, deep and forbidding, it uttered a low and ominous
growl. I waited no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with
the thing which owned that voice. The noise had not been loud--I
doubt if the Sagoths heard it at all--but the suggestion of latent
possibilities behind it was such that I knew it would only emanate
from a gigantic and ferocious beast.
As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the
cave, where I no longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but
an instant later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth
as it warily advanced beyond the cliff's turn on the far side of
the cave's mouth. As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge
in pursuit, and after him came as many of his companions as could
crowd upon each other's heels. At the same time the beast emerged
from the cave, so that he and the Sagoths came face to face upon
that narrow ledge.
The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully
eight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the
end of its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet in length. As it
sighted the Sagoths it emitted a most frightful roar, and with open
mouth charged full upon them. With a cry of terror the foremost
gorilla-man turned to escape, but behind him he ran full upon his
on-rushing companions.
The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth
nearest the cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and
leaped deliberately to an awful death upon the jagged rocks three
hundred feet below. Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered
in the next--there was a sickening sound of crushing bones, and
the mangled corpse was dropped over the cliff's edge. Nor did the
mighty beast even pause in his steady advance along the ledge.
Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to
escape him, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing
the demoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long time I
could hear the horrid roaring of the brute intermingled with the
screams and shrieks of his victims, until finally the awful sounds
dwindled and disappeared in the distance.
Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen
and returned with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is
called, pursued the Sagoths until it had exterminated the entire
band. Ghak was, of course, positive that I had fallen prey to the
terrible creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of
beasts.
Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall
prey either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along
the ledge, believing that by following around the mountain I could
reach the land of Sari from another direction. But I evidently
became confused by the twisting and turning of the canyons and
gullies, for I did not come to the land of Sari then, nor for a
long time thereafter.
Read next: CHAPTER XIV - THE GARDEN OF EDEN
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