Adventure Books
12 - At The Earth's Core - Edgar Rice Burroughs
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Granger, for the ones who get it done. Chapter 12. Pursuit. For an instant I stood there thinking of her, and then with a sigh, I tucked the book in the thong that supported my loincloth, and turned to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor, which leads a loft from the lower chambers, I whistled in accordance with the pre-arranged signal, which was to announce to Perry and GAC that I had been successful. A moment later they stood beside me, and to my surprise I saw that Huja the sly one accompanied them. He joined us, explained Perry, and would not be denied. The fellow was a fox. He sensed escape, and rather than be thwarted, of our chance now, I told him that I would bring him to you, and let you decide whether he might accompany us. I had no love for Huja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if he thought it would profit him, he would betray us. But I saw no way out of it now, and the fact that I had killed four Mayhars instead of only the three I had expected to, made it possible to include the fellow in our scheme of escape. "Very well," I said. "You may come with us, Huja, but at the first intimation of treachery I shall run my sword through you. Do you understand?" He said that he did. Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mayhars, and so succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves, that there seemed an excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Futra. It was not an easy thing to fasten the hides together, where we had split them along the belly to remove them from their carcasses, but by remaining out until the others had all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving an aperture in the breast of Perry's skin, through which he could pass his hands to sew me up. We were unable to accomplish our design to really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and by the same means were enabled to move them about in a lifelike manner. We had our greatest difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats into which our heads were thrust, permitted us to see well enough to guide our progress. Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Gack headed the strange procession, then came Perry, followed by Huja, while I brought up the rear. After admonishing Huja that I had so arranged my sword that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise, into his vitals were he to show any indication of faltering. As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy corridors of the main level, my heart came up into my mouth. It is with no sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened. Never before in my life nor since did I experience any such agony of soul-searing fear and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I sweat it then. Slowly after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mayhars, when they are not using their wings, we crept through the throngs of busy slaves, seigoths, and Mayhars. After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the outer door which leads into the main avenue of Futra. Many seigoths loitered near the opening. They glanced at Gack as he patted between them, then Perry passed, and then Huja. Now it was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that the warm blood from my wounded arm was trickling down through the dead foot of the Mayhars' skin I wore and leaving its telltale mark upon the pavement. For I saw seigoth call a companion's attention to it. The guard stepped before me, and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to me in the sign language, which these two races employ as a means of communication. Even had I known what he was saying, I could not have replied with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen a great Mayhars freeze, a presumptuous seigoth with a look. It seemed my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I moved my sword so that it made the dead head appear to turn, inquiring eyes upon the Gorilla Man. For a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started slowly on. For a moment all hung in the balance, but before I touched him the guard stepped to one side, and I passed on out into the avenue. On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all sides. Fortunately there was a great concourse of Mayhars, repairing to the shallow lake which lies a mile or more from the city. They go there to indulge their amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish and enjoying the cool depths of the water. It is a freshwater lake, shallow and free from the larger reptiles which make the use of the great seas of Palucidar impossible for any but their own kind. In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the plain. For some distance Gak remained with a stream that was traveling toward the lake, but finally at the bottom of a little gully he halted, and there we remained until all had passed and we were alone. Then still in our disguises we set off directly away from Futra. The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible prisons unbearable, so that after passing a low divide and entering a sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mayhars skins that had brought us thus far in safety. I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we dropped in our tracks. How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions and tigers the size of which would dwarf into pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world. On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between ourselves and Futra as possible. Gak was leading us to his own land, the land of Sarri. No sign of pursuit had developed and yet we were sure that somewhere behind us relentless segoths were dogging our tracks. Gak said they never failed to hunt down their quarry until they had captured it or themselves been turned back by a superior force. Our only hope he said lay in reaching his tribe which was quite strong enough in their mountain fastness to beat off any number of segoths. At last after what seemed months and Mayh I now realize have been years we came inside of the done escarpment which buttress the foothills of Sarri. At almost the same instant Huja who looked ever quite as much behind as before announced that he could see a body of men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake. It was the long expected pursuit. I asked Gak if we could make Sarri in time to escape them. "We may," he replied, "but you will find that the segoths can move with incredible swiftness and as they are almost tireless they are doubtless much fresher than we." Then he paused, glancing at Perry. I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the period of our flight either Gak or I had half supported him on the march. With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers than segoths might easily overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights which confronted us. "You and Huja go on ahead," I said. "Perri and I will make it if we are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two and there is no reason why all should be lost because of that. It can't be helped. We have simply to face it." "I will not desert a companion," was Gak's simple reply. I hadn't known that this great hairy, primeval man had any such nobility of character stowed away inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my liking was added honor and respect. Yes and love, but I still urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach his people he might be able to bring out a sufficient force to drive off the segoths and rescue Perry and myself. No, he wouldn't leave us, and that was all there was to it. But he suggested that Huja might hurry on, warn the serrions of the king's danger. It didn't require much urging to start Huja. The naked idea was enough to send him leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we now had reached. Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Gak's life and mine, and the old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him, although I knew that he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling into the hands of the segoths. 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