II

II

A STRANGE WORLD

I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT,

for as I lunged forward from the crossbeam to which I

had been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floor

of the cabin, the shock brought me to myself.

My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought

that upon the very threshold of salvation he might be dead.

Tearing open his shirt I placed my ear to his breast.

I could have cried with relief--his heart was beating

quite regularly.

At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it

smartly across his forehead and face several times.

In a moment I was rewarded by the raising of his lids.

For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite uncomprehending.

Then his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he sat

up sniffing the air with an expression of wonderment upon

his face.

"Why, David," he cried at last, "it's air, as sure as I live.

Why--why what does it mean? Where in the world are we?

What has happened?"

"It means that we're back at the surface all right, Perry," I

cried;

"but where, I don't know. I haven't opened her up yet.

Been too busy reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a close

squeak!"

"You say we're back at the surface, David? How can

that be? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Not long. We turned in the ice stratum.

Don't you recall the sudden whirling of our seats?

After that the drill was above you instead of below.

We didn't notice it at the time; but I recall it now."

"You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum,

David? That is not possible. The prospector cannot turn

unless its nose is deflected from the outside--by some

external force or resistance--the steering wheel within

would have moved in response. The steering wheel has

not budged, David, since we started. You know that."

I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in

pure air, and copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin.

"We couldn't have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know

as well as you," I replied; "but the fact remains

that we did, for here we are this minute at the surface

of the earth again, and I am going out to see just where."

"Better wait till morning, David--it must be midnight now."

I glanced at the chronometer.

"Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours,

so it must be midnight. Nevertheless I am going to have

a look at the blessed sky that I had given up all hope

of ever seeing again," and so saying I lifted the bars

from the inner door, and swung it open. There was quite

a quantity of loose material in the jacket, and this I

had to remove with a shovel to get at the opposite door

in the outer shell.

In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock

to the floor of the cabin to expose the door beyond.

Perry was directly behind me as I threw it open.

The upper half was above the surface of the ground.

With an expression of surprise I turned and looked at

Perry--it was broad daylight without!

"Something seems to have gone wrong either with our

calculations or the chronometer," I said. Perry shook

his head--there was a strange expression in his eyes.

"Let's have a look beyond that door, David," he cried.

Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation

of a landscape at once weird and beautiful. Before us

a low and level shore stretched down to a silent sea.

As far as the eye could reach the surface of the water

was dotted with countless tiny isles--some of towering,

barren, granitic rock--others resplendent in gorgeous

trappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred with

the magnificent splendor of vivid blooms.

Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant

arborescent ferns intermingled with the commoner types

of a primeval tropical forest. Huge creepers depended

in great loops from tree to tree, dense under-brush

overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches.

Upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid

coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands,

but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy

as the grave.

And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid rays

out of a cloudless sky.

"Where on earth can we be?" I asked, turning to Perry.

For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood

with bowed head, buried in deep thought. But at last

he spoke.

"David," he said, "I am not so sure that we are ON earth."

"What do you mean Perry?" I cried. "Do you think that we

are dead, and this is heaven?" He smiled, and turning,

pointing to the nose of the prospector protruding from

the ground at our backs.

"But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed

come to the country beyond the Styx. The prospector

renders that theory untenable--it, certainly, could never

have gone to heaven. However I am willing to concede

that we actually may be in another world from that

which we have always known. If we are not ON earth,

there is every reason to believe that we may be IN it."

"We may have quartered through the earth's crust and come

out upon some tropical island of the West Indies,"

I suggested. Again Perry shook his head.

"Let us wait and see, David," he replied, "and in the

meantime suppose we do a bit of exploring up and down

the coast--we may find a native who can enlighten us."

As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and

earnestly across the water. Evidently he was wrestling

with a mighty problem.

"David," he said abruptly, "do you perceive anything

unusual about the horizon?"

As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the

strangeness of the landscape that had haunted me from

the first with an illusive suggestion of the bizarre

and unnatural--THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as the eye

could reach out the sea continued and upon its bosom

floated tiny islands, those in the distance reduced

to mere specks; but ever beyond them was the sea,

until the impression became quite real that one was

LOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyes

could fathom--the distance was lost in the distance.

That was all--there was no clear-cut horizontal

line marking the dip of the globe below the line of vision.

"A great light is commencing to break on me," continued Perry,

taking out his watch. "I believe that I have partially

solved the riddle. It is now two o'clock. When we emerged

from the prospector the sun was directly above us.

Where is it now?"

I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless

in the center of the heaven. And such a sun! I had

scarcely noticed it before. Fully thrice the size of

the sun I had known throughout my life, and apparently

so near that the sight of it carried the conviction

that one might almost reach up and touch it.

"My God, Perry, where are we?" I exclaimed. "This thing

is beginning to get on my nerves."

"I think that I may state quite positively, David,"

he commenced, "that we are--" but he got no further.

From behind us in the vicinity of the prospector there

came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever

had fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned

to discover the author of that fearsome noise.

Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the

sight that met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it.

Emerging from the forest was a colossal beast which closely

resembled a bear. It was fully as large as the largest

elephant and with great forepaws armed with huge claws.

Its nose, or snout, depended nearly a foot below its

lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk.

The giant body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair.

Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous,

shuffling trot. I turned to Perry to suggest that it

might be wise to seek other surroundings--the idea had

evidently occurred to Perry previously, for he was already

a hundred paces away, and with each second his prodigious

bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed

what latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed.

I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the

forest which ran out toward the sea not far from where we

had been standing, and as the mighty creature, the sight

of which had galvanized him into such remarkable action,

was forging steadily toward me. I set off after Perry,

though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It was evident

that the massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed,

so all that I considered necessary was to gain the trees

sufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safety

of some great branch before it came up.

Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at

Perry's frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety

of the lower branches of the trees he now had reached.

The stems were bare for a distance of some fifteen feet--at

least on those trees which Perry attempted to ascend,

for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger of

the forest giants had evidently attracted him to them.

A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat

only to fall back to the ground once more, and with each

failure he cast a horrified glance over his shoulder at

the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken

shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest.

At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness

of one's wrist, and when I reached the trees he was racing

madly up it, hand over hand. He had almost reached the lowest

branch of the tree from which the creeper depended when

the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell sprawling

at my feet.

The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast

was already too close to us for comfort. Seizing Perry

by the shoulder I dragged him to his feet, and rushing

to a smaller tree--one that he could easily encircle with

his arms and legs--I boosted him as far up as I could,

and then left him to his fate, for a glance over my

shoulder revealed the awful beast almost upon me.

It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me.

Its enormous bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet

to cope with the agility of my young muscles, and so I was

enabled to dodge out of its way and run completely behind

it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit.

The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me

safely lodged in the branches of a tree a few paces

from that in which Perry had at last found a haven.

Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were

quite safe, and so did Perry. He was praying--raising

his voice in thanksgiving at our deliverance--and had

just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that the thing

couldn't climb a tree when without warning it reared up

beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and reached

those fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon

which he crouched.

The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry's

scream of fright, and he came near tumbling headlong

into the gaping jaws beneath him, so precipitate was

his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb.

It was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him gain

a higher branch in safety.

And then the brute did that which froze us both anew

with horror. Grasping the tree's stem with his powerful

paws he dragged down with all the great weight of his

huge bulk and all the irresistible force of those

mighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began to

bend toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward

as the tree leaned more and more from the perpendicular.

Perry clung chattering in a panic of terror. Higher and

higher into the bending and swaying tree he clambered.

More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward

the ground.

I saw now why the great brute was armed with such

enormous paws. The use that he was putting them to was

precisely that for which nature had intended them.

The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed that mighty

carcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage.

The reason for its attacking us might easily be accounted

for on the supposition of an ugly disposition such as that

which the fierce and stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses.

But these were later reflections. At the moment I was too

frantic with apprehension on Perry's behalf to consider aught

other than a means to save him from the death that loomed so

close.

Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in

the open, I dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only on

distracting the thing's attention from Perry long enough

to enable the old man to gain the safety of a larger tree.

There were many close by which not even the terrific

strength of that titanic monster could bend.

As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from

the tangled mass that matted the jungle-like floor of the

forest and, leaping unnoticed behind the shaggy back,

dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked like magic.

From the previous slowness of the beast I had been led

to look for no such marvelous agility as he now displayed.

Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all fours

and at the same time swung his great, wicked tail with a

force that would have broken every bone in my body had it

struck me; but, fortunately, I had turned to flee at the

very instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering back.

As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running

along the edge of the forest rather than making for the

open beach. In a moment I was knee-deep in rotting vegetation,

and the awful thing behind me was gaining rapidly

as I floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate myself.

A fallen log gave me an instant's advantage, for climbing

upon it I leaped to another a few paces farther on,

and in this way was able to keep clear of the mush that

carpeted the surrounding ground. But the zigzag course

that this necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap

upon me that my pursuer was steadily gaining upon me.

Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp,

piercing barks--much the sound that a pack of wolves

raises when in full cry. Involuntarily I glanced

backward to discover the origin of this new and menacing

note with the result that I missed my footing and went

sprawling once more upon my face in the deep muck.

My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I

must feel the weight of one of his terrible paws before I

could rise, but to my surprise the blow did not fall upon me.

The howling and snapping and barking of the new element

which had been infused into the melee now seemed centered

quite close behind me, and as I raised myself upon my hands

and glanced around I saw what it was that had distracted

the DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called,

from my trail.

It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-like

creatures--wild dogs they seemed--that rushed growling

and snapping in upon it from all sides, so that they sank

their white fangs into the slow brute and were away again

before it could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping tail.

But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived.

Chattering and gibbering through the lower branches of

the trees came a company of manlike creatures evidently

urging on the dog pack. They were to all appearances

strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa.

Their skins were very black, and their features much

like those of the more pronounced Negroid type except

that the head receded more rapidly above the eyes,

leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were rather

longer and their legs shorter in proportion to the torso

than in man, and later I noticed that their great toes

protruded at right angles from their feet--because of their

arboreal habits, I presume. Behind them trailed long,

slender tails which they used in climbing quite as much as

they did either their hands or feet.

I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered

that the wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay.

At sight of me several of the savage creatures left off

worrying the great brute to come slinking with bared fangs

toward me, and as I turned to run toward the trees again

to seek safety among the lower branches, I saw a number

of the man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliage

of the nearest tree.

Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice,

but at least there was a doubt as to the reception

these grotesque parodies on humanity would accord me,

while there was none as to the fate which awaited me

beneath the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers.

And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass

beneath that which held the man-things and take refuge

in another farther on; but the wolf-dogs were very close

behind me--so close that I had despaired of escaping them,

when one of the creatures in the tree above swung

down headforemost, his tail looped about a great limb,

and grasping me beneath my armpits swung me in safety up

among his fellows.

There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement

and curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair,

and my flesh. They turned me about to see if I had a tail,

and when they discovered that I was not so equipped they

fell into roars of laughter. Their teeth were very large

and white and even, except for the upper canines which were

a trifle longer than the others--protruding just a bit

when the mouth was closed.

When they had examined me for a few moments one of them

discovered that my clothing was not a part of me, with the

result that garment by garment they tore it from me amidst

peals of the wildest laughter. Apelike, they essayed

to don the apparel themselves, but their ingenuity

was not sufficient to the task and so they gave it up.

In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch

a glimpse of Perry, but nowhere about could I see him,

although the clump of trees in which he had first taken

refuge was in full view. I was much exercised by fear

that something had befallen him, and though I called his

name aloud several times there was no response.

Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures

threw it to the ground, and catching me, one on either side,

by an arm, started off at a most terrifying pace through

the tree tops. Never have I experienced such a journey

before or since--even now I oftentimes awake from a deep

sleep haunted by the horrid remembrance of that awful experience.

From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying

squirrels, while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as I

glimpsed the depths beneath, into which a single misstep

on the part of either of my bearers would hurl me.

As they bore me along, my mind was occupied with a thousand

bewildering thoughts. What had become of Perry? Would

I ever see him again? What were the intentions of these

half-human things into whose hands I had fallen? Were they

inhabitants of the same world into which I had been born?

No! It could not be. But yet where else? I had not left

that earth--of that I was sure. Still neither could I

reconcile the things which I had seen to a belief that

I was still in the world of my birth. With a sigh I gave it up.