CHAPTER XI

Pellicudar

by Edgar R. Burroughs

CHAPTER XI, PELLICUDAR by Edgar R. Burroughs
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ESCAPE

Dian glanced downward and shuddered. Her tribe
were hill people--they were not accustomed to swim-
ming other than in quiet rivers and placid lakelets.
It was not the steep that appalled her. It was the
ocean--vast, mysterious, terrible.

To dive into it from this great height was beyond
her. I couldn't wonder, either. To have attempted it
myself seemed too preposterous even for thought. Only
one consideration could have prompted me to leap
headforemost from that giddy height--suicide; or at
least so I thought at the moment.

"Quick!" I urged Dian. "You cannot dive; but I can
hold them until you reach safety."

"And you?" she asked once more. "Can you dive
when they come too close? Otherwise you could not
escape if you waited here until I reached the bottom."

I saw that she would not leave me unless she thought
that I could make that frightful dive as we had seen
Juag make it. I glanced once downward; then with a
mental shrug I assured her that I would dive the mo-
ment that she reached the boat. Satisfied, she began
the descent carefully, yet swiftly. I watched her for a
moment, my heart in my mouth lest some slight mis-
step or the slipping of a finger-hold should pitch her
to a frightful death upon the rocks below.

Then I turned toward the advancing Hoojans--
"Hoosiers," Perry dubbed them--even going so far as
to christen this island where Hooja held sway Indiana;
it is so marked now upon our maps. They were coming
on at a great rate. I raised my revolver, took deliberate
aim at the foremost warrior, and pulled the trigger.
With the bark of the gun the fellow lunged forward.
His head doubled beneath him. He rolled over and
over two or three times before he came to a stop, to
lie very quietly in the thick grass among the brilliant
wild flowers.

Those behind him halted. One of them hurled a
javelin toward me, but it fell short--they were just
beyond javelin-range. There were two armed with bows
and arrows; these I kept my eyes on. All of them
appeared awe-struck and frightened by the sound and
effect of the firearm. They kept looking from the corpse
to me and jabbering among themselves.

I took advantage of the lull in hostilities to throw
a quick glance over the edge toward Dian. She was
half-way down the cliff and progressing finely. Then
I turned back toward the enemy. One of the bowmen
was fitting an arrow to his bow. I raised my hand.

"Stop!" I cried. "Whoever shoots at me or advances
toward me I shall kill as I killed him!"

I pointed at the dead man. The fellow lowered his
bow. Again there was animated discussion. I could see
that those who were not armed with bows were urging
something upon the two who were.

At last the majority appeared to prevail, for simul-
taneously the two archers raised their weapons. At the
same instant I fired at one of them, dropping him in
his tracks. The other, however, launched his missile,
but the report of my gun had given him such a start
that the arrow flew wild above my head. A second after
and he, too, was sprawled upon the sward with a round
hole between his eyes. It had been a rather good shot.

I glanced over the edge again. Dian was almost at
the bottom. I could see Juag standing just beneath her
with his hands upstretched to assist her.

A sullen roar from the warriors recalled my attention
toward them. They stood shaking their fists at me and
yelling insults. From the direction of the village I saw
a single warrior coming to join them. He was a huge
fellow, and when he strode among them I could tell
by his bearing and their deference toward him that he
was a chieftain. He listened to all they had to tell of
the happenings of the last few minutes; then with a
command and a roar he started for me with the whole
pack at his heels. All they had needed had arrived--
namely, a brave leader.

I had two unfired cartridges in the chambers of my
gun. I let the big warrior have one of them, thinking
that his death would stop them all. But I guess they
were worked up to such a frenzy of rage by this time
that nothing would have stopped them. At any rate,
they only yelled the louder as he fell and increased
their speed toward me. I dropped another with my
remaining cartridge.

Then they were upon me--or almost. I thought of
my promise to Dian--the awful abyss was behind me
--a big devil with a huge bludgeon in front of me.
I grasped my six-shooter by the barrel and hurled it
squarely in his face with all my strength.

Then, without waiting to learn the effect of my throw,
I wheeled, ran the few steps to the edge, and leaped
as far out over that frightful chasm as I could. I know
something of diving, and all that I know I put into
that dive, which I was positive would be my last.

For a couple of hundred feet I fell in horizontal
position. The momentum I gained was terrific. I could
feel the air almost as a solid body, so swiftly I hurtled
through it. Then my position gradually changed to the
vertical, and with hands outstretched I slipped through
the air, cleaving it like a flying arrow. Just before I
struck the water a perfect shower of javelins fell all
about. My enemies bad rushed to the brink and hurled
their weapons after me. By a miracle I was untouched.

In the final instant I saw that I had cleared the
rocks and was going to strike the water fairly. Then
I was in and plumbing the depths. I suppose I didn't
really go very far down, but it seemed to me that I
should never stop. When at last I dared curve my
hands upward and divert my progress toward the sur-
face, I thought that I should explode for air before
I ever saw the sun again except through a swirl of
water. But at last my bead popped above the waves,
and I filled my lungs with air.

Before me was the boat, from which Juag and Dian
were clambering. I couldn't understand why they were
deserting it now, when we were about to set out for
the mainland in it; but when I reached its side I under-
stood. Two heavy javelins, missing Dian and Juag by
but a hair's breadth, had sunk deep into the bottom of
the dugout in a straight line with the grain of the
wood, and split her almost in two from stem to stern.
She was useless.

Juag was leaning over a near-by rock, his hand out-
stretched to aid me in clambering to his side; nor did
I lose any time in availing myself of his proffered as-
sistance. An occasional javelin was still dropping
perilously close to us, so we hastened to draw as close
as possible to the cliffside, where we were compara-
tively safe from the missiles.

Here we held a brief conference, in which it was
decided that our only hope now lay in making for the
opposite end of the island as quickly as we could,
and utilizing the boat that I had hidden there, to con-
tinue our journey to the mainland.

Gathering up three of the least damaged javelins
that had fallen about us, we set out upon our journey,
keeping well toward the south side of the island, which
Juag said was less frequented by the Hoojans than
the central portion where the river ran. I think that
this ruse must have thrown our pursuers off our track,
since we saw nothing of them nor heard any sound
of pursuit during the greater portion of our march the
length of the island.

But the way Juag had chosen was rough and round-
about, so that we consumed one or two more marches
in covering the distance than if we had followed the
river. This it was which proved our undoing.

Those who sought us must have sent a party up the
river immediately after we escaped; for when we came
at last onto the river-trail not far from our destination,
there can be no doubt but that we were seen by
Hoojans who were just ahead of us on the stream.
The result was that as we were passing through a
clump of bush a score of warriors leaped out upon us,
and before we could scarce strike a blow in defense,
had disarmed and bound us.

For a time thereafter I seemed to be entirely bereft
of hope. I could see no ray of promise in the future--
only immediate death for Juag and me, which didn't
concern me much in the face of what lay in store for
Dian.

Poor child! What an awful life she had led! From
the moment that I had first seen her chained in the
slave caravan of the Mahars until now, a prisoner of
a no less cruel creature, I could recall but a few brief
intervals of peace and quiet in her tempestuous ex-
istence. Before I had known her, Jubal the Ugly One
had pursued her across a savage world to make her his
mate. She had eluded him, and finally I had slain him;
but terror and privations, and exposure to fierce beasts
had haunted her footsteps during all her lonely flight
from him. And when I had returned to the outer
world the old trials had recommenced with Hooja in
Jubal's role. I could almost have wished for death to
vouchsafe her that peace which fate seemed to deny
her in this life.

I spoke to her on the subject, suggesting that we
expire together.

"Do not fear, David," she replied. "I shall end my
life before ever Hooja can harm me; but first I shall
see that Hooja dies."

She drew from her breast a little leathern thong,
to the end of which was fastened a tiny pouch.

"What have you there?" I asked.

"Do you recall that time you stepped upon the thing
you call viper in your world?" she asked.

I nodded.

"The accident gave you the idea for the poisoned
arrows with which we fitted the warriors of the em-
pire," she continued. "And, too, it gave me an idea.
For a long time I have carried a viper's fang in my
bosom. It has given me strength to endure many dan-
gers, for it has always assured me immunity from the
ultimate insult. I am not ready to die yet. First let
Hooja embrace the viper's fang."

So we did not die together, and I am glad now
that we did not. It is always a foolish thing to con-
template suicide; for no matter how dark the future
may appear today, tomorrow may hold for us that
which will alter our whole life in an instant, revealing
to us nothing but sunshine and happiness. So, for my
part, I shall always wait for tomorrow.

In Pellucidar, where it is always today, the wait
may not be so long, and so it proved for us. As we
were passing a lofty, flat-topped hill through a park-
like wood a perfect network of fiber ropes fell suddenly
about our guard, enmeshing them. A moment later
a horde of our friends, the hairy gorilla-men, with the
mild eyes and long faces of sheep leaped among them.

It was a very interesting fight. I was sorry that my
bonds prevented me from taking part in it, but I urged
on the brutemen with my voice, and cheered old
Gr-gr-gr, their chief, each time that his mighty jaws
crunched out the life of a Hoojan. When the battle
was over we found that a few of our captors had
escaped, but the majority of them lay dead about us.
The gorilla-men paid no further attention to them.
Gr-gr-gr turned to me.

"Gr-gr-gr and all his people are your friends," he
said. "One saw the warriors of the Sly One and fol-
lowed them. He saw them capture you, and then he
flew to the village as fast as he could go and told me
all that he had seen. The rest you know. You did much
for Gr-gr-gr and Gr-gr-gr's people. We shall always do
much for you."

I thanked him; and when I had told him of our
escape and our destination, he insisted on accom-
panying us to the sea with a great number of his
fierce males. Nor were we at all loath to accept his
escort. We found the canoe where I had hidden it,
and bidding Gr-gr-gr and his warriors farewell, the
three of us embarked for the mainland.

I questioned Juag upon the feasibility of attempting
to cross to the mouth of the great river of which he
had told me, and up which he said we might paddle
almost to Sari; but he urged me not to attempt it,
since we had but a single paddle and no water or
food. I had to admit the wisdom of his advice, but the
desire to explore this great waterway was strong upon
me, arousing in me at last a determination to make
the attempt after first gaining the mainland and rectify-
ing our deficiencies.

We landed several miles north of Thuria in a little
cove that seemed to offer protection from the heavier
seas which sometimes run, even upon these usually
pacific oceans of Pellucidar. Here I outlined to Dian
and Juag the plans I had in mind. They were to fit
the canoe with a small sail, the purposes of which
I had to explain to them both--since neither had ever
seen or heard of such a contrivance before. Then they
were to hunt for food which we could transport with
us, and prepare a receptacle for water.

These two latter items were more in Juag's line, but
he kept muttering about the sail and the wind for
a long time. I could see that he was not even half
convinced that any such ridiculous contraption could
make a canoe move through the water.

We hunted near the coast for a while, but were pot
rewarded with any particular luck. Finally we decided
to hide the canoe and strike inland in search of game.
At Juag's suggestion we dug a hole in the sand at the
upper edge of the beach and buried the craft, smooth-
ing the surface over nicely and throwing aside the excess
material we had excavated. Then we set out away
from the sea. Traveling in Thuria is less arduous than
under the midday sun which perpetually glares down
on the rest of Pellucidar's surface; but it has its draw-
backs, one of which is the depressing influence exerted
by the everlasting shade of the Land of Awful Shadow.

The farther inland we went the darker it became,
until we were moving at last through an endless twi-
light. The vegetation here was sparse and of a weird,
colorless nature, though what did grow was wondrous
in shape and form. Often we saw huge lidi, or beasts
of burden, striding across the dim landscape, browsing
upon the grotesque vegetation or drinking from the
slow and sullen rivers that run down from the Lidi
Plains to empty into the sea in Thuria.

What we sought was either a thag--a sort of gigantic
elk--or one of the larger species of antelope, the flesh
of either of which dries nicely in the sun. The bladder
of the thag would make a fine water-bottle, and its
skin, I figured, would be a good sail. We traveled a
considerable distance inland, entirely crossing the Land
of Awful Shadow and emerging at last upon that portion
of the Lidi Plains which lies in the pleasant sunlight.
Above us the pendent world revolved upon its axis,
filling me especially--and Dian to an almost equal state
--with wonder and insatiable curiosity as to what
strange forms of life existed among the hills and valleys
and along the seas and rivers, which we could plainly
see.

Before us stretched the horizonless expanses of vast
Pellucidar, the Lidi Plains rolling up about us, while
hanging high in the heavens to the northwest of us
I thought I discerned the many towers which marked
the entrances to the distant Mahar city, whose in-
habitants preyed upon the Thurians.

Juag suggested that we travel to the northeast, where,
he said, upon the verge of the plain we would find
a wooded country in which game should be plentiful.
Acting upon his advice, we came at last to a forest-
jungle, through which wound innumerable game-paths.
In the depths of this forbidding wood we came upon
the fresh spoor of thag.

Shortly after, by careful stalking, we came within
javelin-range of a small herd. Selecting a great bull,
Juag and I hurled our weapons simultaneously, Dian
reserving hers for an emergency. The beast staggered
to his feet, bellowing. The rest of the herd was up and
away in an instant, only the wounded bull remaining,
with lowered head and roving eyes searching for the
foe.

Then Juag exposed himself to the view of the bull--
it is a part of the tactics of the hunt--while I stepped
to one side behind a bush. The moment that the savage
beast saw Juag he charged him. Juag ran straight away,
that the bull might be lured past my hiding-place. On
he came--tons of mighty bestial strength and rage.

Dian had slipped behind me. She, too, could fight a
thag should emergency require. Ah, such a girl! A
rightful empress of a stone age by every standard which
two worlds might bring to measure her!

Crashing down toward us came the bull thag, bel-
lowing and snorting, with the power of a hundred
outer-earthly bulls. When he was opposite me I sprang
for the heavy mane that covered his huge neck. To
tangle my fingers in it was the work of but an instant.
Then I was running along at the beast's shoulder.

Now, the theory upon which this hunting custom is
based is one long ago discovered by experience, and
that is that a thag cannot be turned from his charge
once he has started toward the object of his wrath,
so long as he can still see the thing he charges. He
evidently believes that the man clinging to his mane
is attempting to restrain him from overtaking his prey,
and so he pays no attention to this enemy, who, of
course, does not retard the mighty charge in the least.

Once in the gait of the plunging bull, it was but
a slight matter to vault to his back, as cavalrymen
mount their chargers upon the run. Juag was still run-
ning in plain sight ahead of the bull. His speed was
but a trifle less than that of the monster that pursued
him. These Pellucidarians are almost as fleet as deer;
because I am not is one reason that I am always chosen
for the close-in work of the thag-hunt. I could not keep
in front of a charging thag long enough to give the
killer time to do his work. I learned that the first--
and last--time I tried it.

Once astride the bull's neck, I drew my long stone
knife and, setting the point carefully over the brute's
spine, drove it home with both hands. At the same in-
stant I leaped clear of the stumbling animal. Now, no
vertebrate can progress far with a knife through his
spine, and the thag is no exception to the rule.

The fellow was down instantly. As he wallowed
Juag returned, and the two of us leaped in when an
opening afforded the opportunity and snatched our
javelins from his side. Then we danced about him,
more like two savages than anything else, until we
got the opening we were looking for, when simulta-
neously, our javelins pierced his wild heart, stilling
it forever.

The thag had covered considerable ground from the
point at which I had leaped upon him. When, after
despatching him, I looked back for Dian, I could see
nothing of her. I called aloud, but receiving no reply,
set out at a brisk trot to where I had left her. I had
no difficulty in finding the self-same bush behind which
we had hidden, but Dian was not there. Again and
again I called, to be rewarded only by silence. Where
could she be? What could have become of her in
the brief interval since I had seen her standing just
behind me?