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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/149-0.txt b/149-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d321e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/149-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4651 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Continent, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Lost Continent + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Release Date: July, 1994 [EBook #149] +[Most recently updated: November 29, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EBOOK THE LOST CONTINENT *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + +The Lost Continent + +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +The Lost Continent was originally published +under the title Beyond Thirty + + +Contents + + CHAPTER I + CHAPTER II + CHAPTER III + CHAPTER IV + CHAPTER V + CHAPTER VI + CHAPTER VII + CHAPTER VIII + CHAPTER IX + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +Since earliest childhood I have been strangely fascinated by the +mystery surrounding the history of the last days of twentieth century +Europe. My interest is keenest, perhaps, not so much in relation to +known facts as to speculation upon the unknowable of the two centuries +that have rolled by since human intercourse between the Western and +Eastern Hemispheres ceased—the mystery of Europe’s state following the +termination of the Great War—provided, of course, that the war had been +terminated. + +From out of the meagerness of our censored histories we learned that +for fifteen years after the cessation of diplomatic relations between +the United States of North America and the belligerent nations of the +Old World, news of more or less doubtful authenticity filtered, from +time to time, into the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern. + +Then came the fruition of that historic propaganda which is best +described by its own slogan: “The East for the East—the West for the +West,” and all further intercourse was stopped by statute. + +Even prior to this, transoceanic commerce had practically ceased, owing +to the perils and hazards of the mine-strewn waters of both the +Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Just when submarine activities ended we do +not know but the last vessel of this type sighted by a Pan-American +merchantman was the huge Q 138, which discharged twenty-nine torpedoes +at a Brazilian tank steamer off the Bermudas in the fall of 1972. A +heavy sea and the excellent seamanship of the master of the Brazilian +permitted the Pan-American to escape and report this last of a long +series of outrages upon our commerce. God alone knows how many hundreds +of our ancient ships fell prey to the roving steel sharks of +blood-frenzied Europe. Countless were the vessels and men that passed +over our eastern and western horizons never to return; but whether they +met their fates before the belching tubes of submarines or among the +aimlessly drifting mine fields, no man lived to tell. + +And then came the great Pan-American Federation which linked the +Western Hemisphere from pole to pole under a single flag, which joined +the navies of the New World into the mightiest fighting force that ever +sailed the seven seas—the greatest argument for peace the world had +ever known. + +Since that day peace had reigned from the western shores of the Azores +to the western shores of the Hawaiian Islands, nor has any man of +either hemisphere dared cross 30°W. or 175°W. From 30° to 175° is +ours—from 30° to 175° is peace, prosperity and happiness. + +Beyond was the great unknown. Even the geographies of my boyhood showed +nothing beyond. We were taught of nothing beyond. Speculation was +discouraged. For two hundred years the Eastern Hemisphere had been +wiped from the maps and histories of Pan-America. Its mention in +fiction, even, was forbidden. + +Our ships of peace patrol thirty and one hundred seventy-five. What +ships from beyond they have warned only the secret archives of +government show; but, a naval officer myself, I have gathered from the +traditions of the service that it has been fully two hundred years +since smoke or sail has been sighted east of 30° or west of 175°. The +fate of the relinquished provinces which lay beyond the dead lines we +could only speculate upon. That they were taken by the military power, +which rose so suddenly in China after the fall of the republic, and +which wrested Manchuria and Korea from Russia and Japan, and also +absorbed the Philippines, is quite within the range of possibility. + +It was the commander of a Chinese man-of-war who received a copy of the +edict of 1972 from the hand of my illustrious ancestor, Admiral Turck, +on one hundred seventy-five, two hundred and six years ago, and from +the yellowed pages of the admiral’s diary I learned that the fate of +the Philippines was even then presaged by these Chinese naval officers. + +Yes, for over two hundred years no man crossed 30° to 175° and lived to +tell his story—not until chance drew me across and back again, and +public opinion, revolting at last against the drastic regulations of +our long-dead forbears, demanded that my story be given to the world, +and that the narrow interdict which commanded peace, prosperity, and +happiness to halt at 30° and 175° be removed forever. + +I am glad that it was given to me to be an instrument in the hands of +Providence for the uplifting of benighted Europe, and the amelioration +of the suffering, degradation, and abysmal ignorance in which I found +her. + +I shall not live to see the complete regeneration of the savage hordes +of the Eastern Hemisphere—that is a work which will require many +generations, perhaps ages, so complete has been their reversion to +savagery; but I know that the work has been started, and I am proud of +the share in it which my generous countrymen have placed in my hands. + +The government already possesses a complete official report of my +adventures beyond thirty. In the narrative I purpose telling my story +in a less formal, and I hope, a more entertaining, style; though, being +only a naval officer and without claim to the slightest literary +ability, I shall most certainly fall far short of the possibilities +which are inherent in my subject. That I have passed through the most +wondrous adventures that have befallen a civilized man during the past +two centuries encourages me in the belief that, however ill the +telling, the facts themselves will command your interest to the final +page. + +Beyond thirty! Romance, adventure, strange peoples, fearsome beasts—all +the excitement and scurry of the lives of the twentieth century +ancients that have been denied us in these dull days of peace and +prosaic prosperity—all, all lay beyond thirty, the invisible barrier +between the stupid, commercial present and the carefree, barbarous +past. + +What boy has not sighed for the good old days of wars, revolutions, and +riots; how I used to pore over the chronicles of those old days, those +dear old days, when workmen went armed to their labors; when they fell +upon one another with gun and bomb and dagger, and the streets ran red +with blood! Ah, but those were the times when life was worth the +living; when a man who went out by night knew not at which dark corner +a “footpad” might leap upon and slay him; when wild beasts roamed the +forest and the jungles, and there were savage men, and countries yet +unexplored. + +Now, in all the Western Hemisphere dwells no man who may not find a +school house within walking distance of his home, or at least within +flying distance. + +The wildest beast that roams our waste places lairs in the frozen north +or the frozen south within a government reserve, where the curious may +view him and feed him bread crusts from the hand with perfect impunity. + +But beyond thirty! And I have gone there, and come back; and now you +may go there, for no longer is it high treason, punishable by disgrace +or death, to cross 30° or 175°. + +My name is Jefferson Turck. I am a lieutenant in the navy—in the great +Pan-American navy, the only navy which now exists in all the world. + +I was born in Arizona, in the United States of North America, in the +year of our Lord 2116. Therefore, I am twenty-one years old. + +In early boyhood I tired of the teeming cities and overcrowded rural +districts of Arizona. Every generation of Turcks for over two centuries +has been represented in the navy. The navy called to me, as did the +free, wide, unpeopled spaces of the mighty oceans. And so I joined the +navy, coming up from the ranks, as we all must, learning our craft as +we advance. My promotion was rapid, for my family seems to inherit +naval lore. We are born officers, and I reserve to myself no special +credit for an early advancement in the service. + +At twenty I found myself a lieutenant in command of the aero-submarine +Coldwater, of the SS-96 class. The Coldwater was one of the first of +the air and underwater craft which have been so greatly improved since +its launching, and was possessed of innumerable weaknesses which, +fortunately, have been eliminated in more recent vessels of similar +type. + +Even when I took command, she was fit only for the junk pile; but the +world-old parsimony of government retained her in active service, and +sent two hundred men to sea in her, with myself, a mere boy, in command +of her, to patrol thirty from Iceland to the Azores. + +Much of my service had been spent aboard the great merchantmen-of-war. +These are the utility naval vessels that have transformed the navies of +old, which burdened the peoples with taxes for their support, into the +present day fleets of self-supporting ships that find ample time for +target practice and gun drill while they bear freight and the mails +from the continents to the far-scattered island of Pan-America. + +This change in service was most welcome to me, especially as it brought +with it coveted responsibilities of sole command, and I was prone to +overlook the deficiencies of the Coldwater in the natural pride I felt +in my first ship. + +The Coldwater was fully equipped for two months’ patrolling—the +ordinary length of assignment to this service—and a month had already +passed, its monotony entirely unrelieved by sight of another craft, +when the first of our misfortunes befell. + +We had been riding out a storm at an altitude of about three thousand +feet. All night we had hovered above the tossing billows of the +moonlight clouds. The detonation of the thunder and the glare of +lightning through an occasional rift in the vaporous wall proclaimed +the continued fury of the tempest upon the surface of the sea; but we, +far above it all, rode in comparative ease upon the upper gale. With +the coming of dawn the clouds beneath us became a glorious sea of gold +and silver, soft and beautiful; but they could not deceive us as to the +blackness and the terrors of the storm-lashed ocean which they hid. + +I was at breakfast when my chief engineer entered and saluted. His face +was grave, and I thought he was even a trifle paler than usual. + +“Well?” I asked. + +He drew the back of his forefinger nervously across his brow in a +gesture that was habitual with him in moments of mental stress. + +“The gravitation-screen generators, sir,” he said. “Number one went to +the bad about an hour and a half ago. We have been working upon it +steadily since; but I have to report, sir, that it is beyond repair.” + +“Number two will keep us supplied,” I answered. “In the meantime we +will send a wireless for relief.” + +“But that is the trouble, sir,” he went on. “Number two has stopped. I +knew it would come, sir. I made a report on these generators three +years ago. I advised then that they both be scrapped. Their principle +is entirely wrong. They’re done for.” And, with a grim smile, “I shall +at least have the satisfaction of knowing my report was accurate.” + +“Have we sufficient reserve screen to permit us to make land, or, at +least, meet our relief halfway?” I asked. + +“No, sir,” he replied gravely; “we are sinking now.” + +“Have you anything further to report?” I asked. + +“No, sir,” he said. + +“Very good,” I replied; and, as I dismissed him, I rang for my wireless +operator. When he appeared, I gave him a message to the secretary of +the navy, to whom all vessels in service on thirty and one hundred +seventy-five report direct. I explained our predicament, and stated +that with what screening force remained I should continue in the air, +making as rapid headway toward St. Johns as possible, and that when we +were forced to take to the water I should continue in the same +direction. + +The accident occurred directly over 30° and about 52° N. The surface +wind was blowing a tempest from the west. To attempt to ride out such a +storm upon the surface seemed suicidal, for the Coldwater was not +designed for surface navigation except under fair weather conditions. +Submerged, or in the air, she was tractable enough in any sort of +weather when under control; but without her screen generators she was +almost helpless, since she could not fly, and, if submerged, could not +rise to the surface. + +All these defects have been remedied in later models; but the knowledge +did not help us any that day aboard the slowly settling Coldwater, with +an angry sea roaring beneath, a tempest raging out of the west, and 30° +only a few knots astern. + +To cross thirty or one hundred seventy-five has been, as you know, the +direst calamity that could befall a naval commander. Court-martial and +degradation follow swiftly, unless as is often the case, the +unfortunate man takes his own life before this unjust and heartless +regulation can hold him up to public scorn. + +There has been in the past no excuse, no circumstance, that could +palliate the offense. + +“He was in command, and he took his ship across thirty!” That was +sufficient. It might not have been in any way his fault, as, in the +case of the Coldwater, it could not possibly have been justly charged +to my account that the gravitation-screen generators were worthless; +but well I knew that should chance have it that we were blown across +thirty today—as we might easily be before the terrific west wind that +we could hear howling below us, the responsibility would fall upon my +shoulders. + +In a way, the regulation was a good one, for it certainly accomplished +that for which it was intended. We all fought shy of 30° on the east +and 175° on the west, and, though we had to skirt them pretty close, +nothing but an act of God ever drew one of us across. You all are +familiar with the naval tradition that a good officer could sense +proximity to either line, and for my part, I am as firmly convinced of +the truth of this as I am that the compass finds the north without +recourse to tedious processes of reasoning. + +Old Admiral Sanchez was wont to maintain that he could smell thirty, +and the men of the first ship in which I sailed claimed that Coburn, +the navigating officer, knew by name every wave along thirty from 60°N. +to 60°S. However, I’d hate to vouch for this. + +Well, to get back to my narrative; we kept on dropping slowly toward +the surface the while we bucked the west wind, clawing away from thirty +as fast as we could. I was on the bridge, and as we dropped from the +brilliant sunlight into the dense vapor of clouds and on down through +them to the wild, dark storm strata beneath, it seemed that my spirits +dropped with the falling ship, and the buoyancy of hope ran low in +sympathy. + +The waves were running to tremendous heights, and the Coldwater was not +designed to meet such waves head on. Her elements were the blue ether, +far above the raging storm, or the greater depths of ocean, which no +storm could ruffle. + +As I stood speculating upon our chances once we settled into the +frightful Maelstrom beneath us and at the same time mentally computing +the hours which must elapse before aid could reach us, the wireless +operator clambered up the ladder to the bridge, and, disheveled and +breathless, stood before me at salute. It needed but a glance at him to +assure me that something was amiss. + +“What now?” I asked. + +“The wireless, sir!” he cried. “My God, sir, I cannot send.” + +“But the emergency outfit?” I asked. + +“I have tried everything, sir. I have exhausted every resource. We +cannot send,” and he drew himself up and saluted again. + +I dismissed him with a few kind words, for I knew that it was through +no fault of his that the mechanism was antiquated and worthless, in +common with the balance of the Coldwaterl’s equipment. There was no +finer operator in Pan-America than he. + +The failure of the wireless did not appear as momentous to me as to +him, which is not unnatural, since it is but human to feel that when +our own little cog slips, the entire universe must necessarily be put +out of gear. I knew that if this storm were destined to blow us across +thirty, or send us to the bottom of the ocean, no help could reach us +in time to prevent it. I had ordered the message sent solely because +regulations required it, and not with any particular hope that we could +benefit by it in our present extremity. + +I had little time to dwell upon the coincidence of the simultaneous +failure of the wireless and the buoyancy generators, since very shortly +after the Coldwater had dropped so low over the waters that all my +attention was necessarily centered upon the delicate business of +settling upon the waves without breaking my shipl’s back. With our +buoyancy generators in commission it would have been a simple thing to +enter the water, since then it would have been but a trifling matter of +a forty-five degree dive into the base of a huge wave. We should have +cut into the water like a hot knife through butter, and have been +totally submerged with scarce a jar—I have done it a thousand times—but +I did not dare submerge the Coldwater for fear that it would remain +submerged to the end of time—a condition far from conducive to the +longevity of commander or crew. + +Most of my officers were older men than I. John Alvarez, my first +officer, is twenty years my senior. He stood at my side on the bridge +as the ship glided closer and closer to those stupendous waves. He +watched my every move, but he was by far too fine an officer and +gentleman to embarrass me by either comment or suggestion. + +When I saw that we soon would touch, I ordered the ship brought around +broadside to the wind, and there we hovered a moment until a huge wave +reached up and seized us upon its crest, and then I gave the order that +suddenly reversed the screening force, and let us into the ocean. Down +into the trough we went, wallowing like the carcass of a dead whale, +and then began the fight, with rudder and propellers, to force the +Coldwater back into the teeth of the gale and drive her on and on, +farther and farther from relentless thirty. + +I think that we should have succeeded, even though the ship was wracked +from stem to stern by the terrific buffetings she received, and though +she were half submerged the greater part of the time, had no further +accident befallen us. + +We were making headway, though slowly, and it began to look as though +we were going to pull through. Alvarez never left my side, though I all +but ordered him below for much-needed rest. My second officer, Porfirio +Johnson, was also often on the bridge. He was a good officer, but a man +for whom I had conceived a rather unreasoning aversion almost at the +first moment of meeting him, an aversion which was not lessened by the +knowledge which I subsequently gained that he looked upon my rapid +promotion with jealousy. He was ten years my senior both in years and +service, and I rather think he could never forget the fact that he had +been an officer when I was a green apprentice. + +As it became more and more apparent that the Coldwater, under my +seamanship, was weathering the tempest and giving promise of pulling +through safely, I could have sworn that I perceived a shade of +annoyance and disappointment growing upon his dark countenance. He left +the bridge finally and went below. I do not know that he is directly +responsible for what followed so shortly after; but I have always had +my suspicions, and Alvarez is even more prone to place the blame upon +him than I. + +It was about six bells of the forenoon watch that Johnson returned to +the bridge after an absence of some thirty minutes. He seemed nervous +and ill at ease—a fact which made little impression on me at the time, +but which both Alvarez and I recalled subsequently. + +Not three minutes after his reappearance at my side the Coldwater +suddenly commenced to lose headway. I seized the telephone at my elbow, +pressing upon the button which would call the chief engineer to the +instrument in the bowels of the ship, only to find him already at the +receiver attempting to reach me. + +“Numbers one, two, and five engines have broken down, sir,” he called. +“Shall we force the remaining three?” + +“We can do nothing else,” I bellowed into the transmitter. + +“They won’t stand the gaff, sir,” he returned. + +“Can you suggest a better plan?” I asked. + +“No, sir,” he replied. + +“Then give them the gaff, lieutenant,” I shouted back, and hung up the +receiver. + +For twenty minutes the Coldwater bucked the great seas with her three +engines. I doubt if she advanced a foot; but it was enough to keep her +nose in the wind, and, at least, we were not drifting toward thirty. + +Johnson and Alvarez were at my side when, without warning, the bow +swung swiftly around and the ship fell into the trough of the sea. + +“The other three have gone,” I said, and I happened to be looking at +Johnson as I spoke. Was it the shadow of a satisfied smile that crossed +his thin lips? I do not know; but at least he did not weep. + +“You always have been curious, sir, about the great unknown beyond +thirty,” he said. “You are in a good way to have your curiosity +satisfied.” And then I could not mistake the slight sneer that curved +his upper lip. There must have been a trace of disrespect in his tone +or manner which escaped me, for Alvarez turned upon him like a flash. + +“When Lieutenant Turck crosses thirty,” he said, “we shall all cross +with him, and God help the officer or the man who reproaches him!” + +“I shall not be a party to high treason,” snapped Johnson. “The +regulations are explicit, and if the Coldwater crosses thirty it +devolves upon you to place Lieutenant Turck under arrest and +immediately exert every endeavor to bring the ship back into +Pan-American waters.” + +“I shall not know,” replied Alvarez, “that the Coldwater passes thirty; +nor shall any other man aboard know it,” and, with his words, he drew a +revolver from his pocket, and before either I or Johnson could prevent +it had put a bullet into every instrument upon the bridge, ruining them +beyond repair. + +And then he saluted me, and strode from the bridge, a martyr to loyalty +and friendship, for, though no man might know that Lieutenant Jefferson +Turck had taken his ship across thirty, every man aboard would know +that the first officer had committed a crime that was punishable by +both degradation and death. Johnson turned and eyed me narrowly. + +“Shall I place him under arrest?” he asked. + +“You shall not,” I replied. “Nor shall anyone else.” + +“You become a party to his crime!” he cried angrily. + +“You may go below, Mr. Johnson,” I said, “and attend to the work of +unpacking the extra instruments and having them properly set upon the +bridge.” + +He saluted, and left me, and for some time I stood, gazing out upon the +angry waters, my mind filled with unhappy reflections upon the unjust +fate that had overtaken me, and the sorrow and disgrace that I had +unwittingly brought down upon my house. + +I rejoiced that I should leave neither wife nor child to bear the +burden of my shame throughout their lives. + +As I thought upon my misfortune, I considered more clearly than ever +before the unrighteousness of the regulation which was to prove my +doom, and in the natural revolt against its injustice my anger rose, +and there mounted within me a feeling which I imagine must have +paralleled that spirit that once was prevalent among the ancients +called anarchy. + +For the first time in my life I found my sentiments arraying themselves +against custom, tradition, and even government. The wave of rebellion +swept over me in an instant, beginning with an heretical doubt as to +the sanctity of the established order of things—that fetish which has +ruled Pan-Americans for two centuries, and which is based upon a blind +faith in the infallibility of the prescience of the long-dead framers +of the articles of Pan-American federation—and ending in an adamantine +determination to defend my honor and my life to the last ditch against +the blind and senseless regulation which assumed the synonymity of +misfortune and treason. + +I would replace the destroyed instruments upon the bridge; every +officer and man should know when we crossed thirty. But then I should +assert the spirit which dominated me, I should resist arrest, and +insist upon bringing my ship back across the dead line, remaining at my +post until we had reached New York. Then I should make a full report, +and with it a demand upon public opinion that the dead lines be wiped +forever from the seas. + +I knew that I was right. I knew that no more loyal officer wore the +uniform of the navy. I knew that I was a good officer and sailor, and I +didn’t propose submitting to degradation and discharge because a lot of +old, preglacial fossils had declared over two hundred years before that +no man should cross thirty. + +Even while these thoughts were passing through my mind I was busy with +the details of my duties. I had seen to it that a sea anchor was +rigged, and even now the men had completed their task, and the +Coldwater was swinging around rapidly, her nose pointing once more into +the wind, and the frightful rolling consequent upon her wallowing in +the trough was happily diminishing. + +It was then that Johnson came hurrying to the bridge. One of his eyes +was swollen and already darkening, and his lip was cut and bleeding. +Without even the formality of a salute, he burst upon me, white with +fury. + +“Lieutenant Alvarez attacked me!” he cried. “I demand that he be placed +under arrest. I found him in the act of destroying the reserve +instruments, and when I would have interfered to protect them he fell +upon me and beat me. I demand that you arrest him!” + +“You forget yourself, Mr. Johnson,” I said. “You are not in command of +the ship. I deplore the action of Lieutenant Alvarez, but I cannot +expunge from my mind the loyalty and self-sacrificing friendship which +has prompted him to his acts. Were I you, sir, I should profit by the +example he has set. Further, Mr. Johnson, I intend retaining command of +the ship, even though she crosses thirty, and I shall demand implicit +obedience from every officer and man aboard until I am properly +relieved from duty by a superior officer in the port of New York.” + +“You mean to say that you will cross thirty without submitting to +arrest?” he almost shouted. + +“I do, sir,” I replied. “And now you may go below, and, when again you +find it necessary to address me, you will please be so good as to bear +in mind the fact that I am your commanding officer, and as such +entitled to a salute.” + +He flushed, hesitated a moment, and then, saluting, turned upon his +heel and left the bridge. Shortly after, Alvarez appeared. He was pale, +and seemed to have aged ten years in the few brief minutes since I last +had seen him. Saluting, he told me very simply what he had done, and +asked that I place him under arrest. + +I put my hand on his shoulder, and I guess that my voice trembled a +trifle as, while reproving him for his act, I made it plain to him that +my gratitude was no less potent a force than his loyalty to me. Then it +was that I outlined to him my purpose to defy the regulation that had +raised the dead lines, and to take my ship back to New York myself. + +I did not ask him to share the responsibility with me. I merely stated +that I should refuse to submit to arrest, and that I should demand of +him and every other officer and man implicit obedience to my every +command until we docked at home. + +His face brightened at my words, and he assured me that I would find +him as ready to acknowledge my command upon the wrong side of thirty as +upon the right, an assurance which I hastened to tell him I did not +need. + +The storm continued to rage for three days, and as far as the wind +scarce varied a point during all that time, I knew that we must be far +beyond thirty, drifting rapidly east by south. All this time it had +been impossible to work upon the damaged engines or the gravity-screen +generators; but we had a full set of instruments upon the bridge, for +Alvarez, after discovering my intentions, had fetched the reserve +instruments from his own cabin, where he had hidden them. Those which +Johnson had seen him destroy had been a third set which only Alvarez +had known was aboard the Coldwater. + +We waited impatiently for the sun, that we might determine our exact +location, and upon the fourth day our vigil was rewarded a few minutes +before noon. + +Every officer and man aboard was tense with nervous excitement as we +awaited the result of the reading. The crew had known almost as soon as +I that we were doomed to cross thirty, and I am inclined to believe +that every man jack of them was tickled to death, for the spirits of +adventure and romance still live in the hearts of men of the +twenty-second century, even though there be little for them to feed +upon between thirty and one hundred seventy-five. + +The men carried none of the burdens of responsibility. They might cross +thirty with impunity, and doubtless they would return to be heroes at +home; but how different the home-coming of their commanding officer! + +The wind had dropped to a steady blow, still from west by north, and +the sea had gone down correspondingly. The crew, with the exception of +those whose duties kept them below, were ranged on deck below the +bridge. When our position was definitely fixed I personally announced +it to the eager, waiting men. + +“Men,” I said, stepping forward to the handrail and looking down into +their upturned, bronzed faces, “you are anxiously awaiting information +as to the shipl’s position. It has been determined at latitude fifty +degrees seven minutes north, longitude twenty degrees sixteen minutes +west.” + +I paused and a buzz of animated comment ran through the massed men +beneath me. “Beyond thirty. But there will be no change in commanding +officers, in routine or in discipline, until after we have docked again +in New York.” + +As I ceased speaking and stepped back from the rail there was a roar of +applause from the deck such as I never before had heard aboard a ship +of peace. It recalled to my mind tales that I had read of the good old +days when naval vessels were built to fight, when ships of peace had +been men-of-war, and guns had flashed in other than futile target +practice, and decks had run red with blood. + +With the subsidence of the sea, we were able to go to work upon the +damaged engines to some effect, and I also set men to examining the +gravitation-screen generators with a view to putting them in working +order should it prove not beyond our resources. + +For two weeks we labored at the engines, which indisputably showed +evidence of having been tampered with. I appointed a board to +investigate and report upon the disaster. But it accomplished nothing +other than to convince me that there were several officers upon it who +were in full sympathy with Johnson, for, though no charges had been +preferred against him, the board went out of its way specifically to +exonerate him in its findings. + +All this time we were drifting almost due east. The work upon the +engines had progressed to such an extent that within a few hours we +might expect to be able to proceed under our own power westward in the +direction of Pan-American waters. + +To relieve the monotony I had taken to fishing, and early that morning +I had departed from the Coldwater in one of the boats on such an +excursion. A gentle west wind was blowing. The sea shimmered in the +sunlight. A cloudless sky canopied the west for our sport, as I had +made it a point never voluntarily to make an inch toward the east that +I could avoid. At least, they should not be able to charge me with a +willful violation of the dead lines regulation. + +I had with me only the boatl’s ordinary complement of men—three in all, +and more than enough to handle any small power boat. I had not asked +any of my officers to accompany me, as I wished to be alone, and very +glad am I now that I had not. My only regret is that, in view of what +befell us, it had been necessary to bring the three brave fellows who +manned the boat. + +Our fishing, which proved excellent, carried us so far to the west that +we no longer could see the Coldwater. The day wore on, until at last, +about mid-afternoon, I gave the order to return to the ship. + +We had proceeded but a short distance toward the east when one of the +men gave an exclamation of excitement, at the same time pointing +eastward. We all looked on in the direction he had indicated, and +there, a short distance above the horizon, we saw the outlines of the +Coldwater silhouetted against the sky. + +“They’ve repaired the engines and the generators both,” exclaimed one +of the men. + +It seemed impossible, but yet it had evidently been done. Only that +morning, Lieutenant Johnson had told me that he feared that it would be +impossible to repair the generators. I had put him in charge of this +work, since he always had been accounted one of the best +gravitation-screen men in the navy. He had invented several of the +improvements that are incorporated in the later models of these +generators, and I am convinced that he knows more concerning both the +theory and the practice of screening gravitation than any living +Pan-American. + +At the sight of the Coldwater once more under control, the three men +burst into a glad cheer. But, for some reason which I could not then +account, I was strangely overcome by a premonition of personal +misfortune. It was not that I now anticipated an early return to +Pan-America and a board of inquiry, for I had rather looked forward to +the fight that must follow my return. No, there was something else, +something indefinable and vague that cast a strange gloom upon me as I +saw my ship rising farther above the water and making straight in our +direction. + +I was not long in ascertaining a possible explanation of my depression, +for, though we were plainly visible from the bridge of the +aero-submarine and to the hundreds of men who swarmed her deck, the +ship passed directly above us, not five hundred feet from the water, +and sped directly westward. + +We all shouted, and I fired my pistol to attract their attention, +though I knew full well that all who cared to had observed us, but the +ship moved steadily away, growing smaller and smaller to our view until +at last she passed completely out of sight. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +What could it mean? I had left Alvarez in command. He was my most loyal +subordinate. It was absolutely beyond the pale of possibility that +Alvarez should desert me. No, there was some other explanation. +Something occurred to place my second officer, Porfirio Johnson, in +command. I was sure of it but why speculate? The futility of conjecture +was only too palpable. The Coldwater had abandoned us in midocean. +Doubtless none of us would survive to know why. + +The young man at the wheel of the power boat had turned her nose about +as it became evident that the ship intended passing over us, and now he +still held her in futile pursuit of the Coldwater. + +“Bring her about, Snider,” I directed, “and hold her due east. We can’t +catch the Coldwater, and we can’t cross the Atlantic in this. Our only +hope lies in making the nearest land, which, unless I am mistaken, is +the Scilly Islands, off the southwest coast of England. Ever heard of +England, Snider?” + +“There’s a part of the United States of North America that used to be +known to the ancients as New England,” he replied. “Is that where you +mean, sir?” + +“No, Snider,” I replied. “The England I refer to was an island off the +continent of Europe. It was the seat of a very powerful kingdom that +flourished over two hundred years ago. A part of the United States of +North America and all of the Federated States of Canada once belonged +to this ancient England.” + +“Europe,” breathed one of the men, his voice tense with excitement. “My +grandfather used to tell me stories of the world beyond thirty. He had +been a great student, and he had read much from forbidden books.” + +“In which I resemble your grandfather,” I said, “for I, too, have read +more even than naval officers are supposed to read, and, as you men +know, we are permitted a greater latitude in the study of geography and +history than men of other professions. + +“Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turck, who lived two +hundred years ago, and from whom I am descended, many volumes still +exist, and are in my possession, which deal with the history and +geography of ancient Europe. Usually I bring several of these books +with me upon a cruise, and this time, among others, I have maps of +Europe and her surrounding waters. I was studying them as we came away +from the Coldwater this morning, and luckily I have them with me.” + +“You are going to try to make Europe, sir?” asked Taylor, the young man +who had last spoken. + +“It is the nearest land,” I replied. “I have always wanted to explore +the forgotten lands of the Eastern Hemisphere. Here’s our chance. To +remain at sea is to perish. None of us ever will see home again. Let us +make the best of it, and enjoy while we do live that which is forbidden +the balance of our race—the adventure and the mystery which lie beyond +thirty.” + +Taylor and Delcarte seized the spirit of my mood but Snider, I think, +was a trifle sceptical. + +“It is treason, sir,” I replied, “but there is no law which compels us +to visit punishment upon ourselves. Could we return to Pan-America, I +should be the first to insist that we face it. But we know thatl’s not +possible. Even if this craft would carry us so far, we haven’t enough +water or food for more than three days. + +“We are doomed, Snider, to die far from home and without ever again +looking upon the face of another fellow countryman than those who sit +here now in this boat. Isn’t that punishment sufficient for even the +most exacting judge?” + +Even Snider had to admit that it was. + +“Very well, then, let us live while we live, and enjoy to the fullest +whatever of adventure or pleasure each new day brings, since any day +may be our last, and we shall be dead for a considerable while.” + +I could see that Snider was still fearful, but Taylor and Delcarte +responded with a hearty, “Aye, aye, sir!” + +They were of different mold. Both were sons of naval officers. They +represented the aristocracy of birth, and they dared to think for +themselves. + +Snider was in the minority, and so we continued toward the east. Beyond +thirty, and separated from my ship, my authority ceased. I held +leadership, if I was to hold it at all, by virtue of personal +qualifications only, but I did not doubt my ability to remain the +director of our destinies in so far as they were amenable to human +agencies. I have always led. While my brain and brawn remain unimpaired +I shall continue always to lead. Following is an art which Turcks do +not easily learn. + +It was not until the third day that we raised land, dead ahead, which I +took, from my map, to be the isles of Scilly. But such a gale was +blowing that I did not dare attempt to land, and so we passed to the +north of them, skirted Landl’s End, and entered the English Channel. + +I think that up to that moment I had never experienced such a thrill as +passed through me when I realized that I was navigating these historic +waters. The lifelong dreams that I never had dared hope to see +fulfilled were at last a reality—but under what forlorn circumstances! + +Never could I return to my native land. To the end of my days I must +remain in exile. Yet even these thoughts failed to dampen my ardor. + +My eyes scanned the waters. To the north I could see the rockbound +coast of Cornwall. Mine were the first American eyes to rest upon it +for more than two hundred years. In vain, I searched for some sign of +ancient commerce that, if history is to be believed, must have dotted +the bosom of the Channel with white sails and blackened the heavens +with the smoke of countless funnels, but as far as eye could reach the +tossing waters of the Channel were empty and deserted. + +Toward midnight the wind and sea abated, so that shortly after dawn I +determined to make inshore in an attempt to effect a landing, for we +were sadly in need of fresh water and food. + +According to my observations, we were just off Ram Head, and it was my +intention to enter Plymouth Bay and visit Plymouth. From my map it +appeared that this city lay back from the coast a short distance, and +there was another city given as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the +mouth of the river Tamar. + +However, I knew that it would make little difference which city we +entered, as the English people were famed of old for their hospitality +toward visiting mariners. As we approached the mouth of the bay I +looked for the fishing craft which I expected to see emerging thus +early in the day for their labors. But even after we rounded Ram Head +and were well within the waters of the bay I saw no vessel. Neither was +there buoy nor light nor any other mark to show larger ships the +channel, and I wondered much at this. + +The coast was densely overgrown, nor was any building or sign of man +apparent from the water. Up the bay and into the River Tamar we motored +through a solitude as unbroken as that which rested upon the waters of +the Channel. For all we could see, there was no indication that man had +ever set his foot upon this silent coast. + +I was nonplused, and then, for the first time, there crept over me an +intuition of the truth. + +Here was no sign of war. As far as this portion of the Devon coast was +concerned, that seemed to have been over for many years, but neither +were there any people. Yet I could not find it within myself to believe +that I should find no inhabitants in England. Reasoning thus, I +discovered that it was improbable that a state of war still existed, +and that the people all had been drawn from this portion of England to +some other, where they might better defend themselves against an +invader. + +But what of their ancient coast defenses? What was there here in +Plymouth Bay to prevent an enemy landing in force and marching where +they wished? Nothing. I could not believe that any enlightened military +nation, such as the ancient English are reputed to have been, would +have voluntarily so deserted an exposed coast and an excellent harbor +to the mercies of an enemy. + +I found myself becoming more and more deeply involved in quandary. The +puzzle which confronted me I could not unravel. We had landed, and I +now stood upon the spot where, according to my map, a large city should +rear its spires and chimneys. There was nothing but rough, broken +ground covered densely with weeds and brambles, and tall, rank grass. + +Had a city ever stood there, no sign of it remained. The roughness and +unevenness of the ground suggested something of a great mass of debris +hidden by the accumulation of centuries of undergrowth. + +I drew the short cutlass with which both officers and men of the navy +are, as you know, armed out of courtesy to the traditions and memories +of the past, and with its point dug into the loam about the roots of +the vegetation growing at my feet. + +The blade entered the soil for a matter of seven inches, when it struck +upon something stonelike. Digging about the obstacle, I presently +loosened it, and when I had withdrawn it from its sepulcher I found the +thing to be an ancient brick of clay, baked in an oven. + +Delcarte we had left in charge of the boat; but Snider and Taylor were +with me, and following my example, each engaged in the fascinating +sport of prospecting for antiques. Each of us uncovered a great number +of these bricks, until we commenced to weary of the monotony of it, +when Snider suddenly gave an exclamation of excitement, and, as I +turned to look, he held up a human skull for my inspection. + +I took it from him and examined it. Directly in the center of the +forehead was a small round hole. The gentleman had evidently come to +his end defending his country from an invader. + +Snider again held aloft another trophy of the search—a metal spike and +some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments. They had lain close beside +the skull. + +With the point of his cutlass Snider scraped the dirt and verdigris +from the face of the larger ornament. + +“An inscription,” he said, and handed the thing to me. + +They were the spike and ornaments of an ancient German helmet. Before +long we had uncovered many other indications that a great battle had +been fought upon the ground where we stood. But I was then, and still +am, at loss to account for the presence of German soldiers upon the +English coast so far from London, which history suggests would have +been the natural goal of an invader. + +I can only account for it by assuming that either England was +temporarily conquered by the Teutons, or that an invasion of so vast +proportions was undertaken that German troops were hurled upon the +England coast in huge numbers and that landings were necessarily +effected at many places simultaneously. Subsequent discoveries tend to +strengthen this view. + +We dug about for a short time with our cutlasses until I became +convinced that a city had stood upon the spot at some time in the past, +and that beneath our feet, crumbled and dead, lay ancient Devonport. + +I could not repress a sigh at the thought of the havoc war had wrought +in this part of England, at least. Farther east, nearer London, we +should find things very different. There would be the civilization that +two centuries must have wrought upon our English cousins as they had +upon us. There would be mighty cities, cultivated fields, happy people. +There we would be welcomed as long-lost brothers. There would we find a +great nation anxious to learn of the world beyond their side of thirty, +as I had been anxious to learn of that which lay beyond our side of the +dead line. + +I turned back toward the boat. + +“Come, men!” I said. “We will go up the river and fill our casks with +fresh water, search for food and fuel, and then tomorrow be in +readiness to push on toward the east. I am going to London.” + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The report of a gun blasted the silence of a dead Devonport with +startling abruptness. + +It came from the direction of the launch, and in an instant we three +were running for the boat as fast as our legs would carry us. As we +came in sight of it we saw Delcarte a hundred yards inland from the +launch, leaning over something which lay upon the ground. As we called +to him he waved his cap, and stooping, lifted a small deer for our +inspection. + +I was about to congratulate him on his trophy when we were startled by +a horrid, half-human, half-bestial scream a little ahead and to the +right of us. It seemed to come from a clump of rank and tangled bush +not far from where Delcarte stood. It was a horrid, fearsome sound, the +like of which never had fallen upon my ears before. + +We looked in the direction from which it came. The smile had died from +Delcarte’s lips. Even at the distance we were from him I saw his face +go suddenly white, and he quickly threw his rifle to his shoulder. At +the same moment the thing that had given tongue to the cry moved from +the concealing brushwood far enough for us, too, to see it. + +Both Taylor and Snider gave little gasps of astonishment and dismay. + +“What is it, sir?” asked the latter. + +The creature stood about the height of a tall manl’s waist, and was +long and gaunt and sinuous, with a tawny coat striped with black, and +with white throat and belly. In conformation it was similar to a cat—a +huge cat, exaggerated colossal cat, with fiendish eyes and the most +devilish cast of countenance, as it wrinkled its bristling snout and +bared its great yellow fangs. + +It was pacing, or rather, slinking, straight for Delcarte, who had now +leveled his rifle upon it. + +“What is it, sir?” mumbled Snider again, and then a half-forgotten +picture from an old natural history sprang to my mind, and I recognized +in the frightful beast the Felis tigris of ancient Asia, specimens of +which had, in former centuries, been exhibited in the Western +Hemisphere. + +Snider and Taylor were armed with rifles and revolvers, while I carried +only a revolver. Seizing Sniderl’s rifle from his trembling hands, I +called to Taylor to follow me, and together we ran forward, shouting, +to attract the beastl’s attention from Delcarte until we should all be +quite close enough to attack with the greatest assurance of success. + +I cried to Delcarte not to fire until we reached his side, for I was +fearful lest our small caliber, steel-jacketed bullets should, far from +killing the beast, tend merely to enrage it still further. But he +misunderstood me, thinking that I had ordered him to fire. + +With the report of his rifle the tiger stopped short in apparent +surprise, then turned and bit savagely at its shoulder for an instant, +after which it wheeled again toward Delcarte, issuing the most terrific +roars and screams, and launched itself, with incredible speed, toward +the brave fellow, who now stood his ground pumping bullets from his +automatic rifle as rapidly as the weapon would fire. + +Taylor and I also opened up on the creature, and as it was broadside to +us it offered a splendid target, though for all the impression we +appeared to make upon the great cat we might as well have been +launching soap bubbles at it. + +Straight as a torpedo it rushed for Delcarte, and, as Taylor and I +stumbled on through the tall grass toward our unfortunate comrade, we +saw the tiger rear upon him and crush him to the earth. + +Not a backward step had the noble Delcarte taken. Two hundred years of +peace had not sapped the red blood from his courageous line. He went +down beneath that avalanche of bestial savagery still working his gun +and with his face toward his antagonist. Even in the instant that I +thought him dead I could not help but feel a thrill of pride that he +was one of my men, one of my class, a Pan-American gentleman of birth. +And that he had demonstrated one of the principal contentions of the +army-and-navy adherents—that military training was necessary for the +salvation of personal courage in the Pan-American race which for +generations had had to face no dangers more grave than those incident +to ordinary life in a highly civilized community, safeguarded by every +means at the disposal of a perfectly organized and all-powerful +government utilizing the best that advanced science could suggest. + +As we ran toward Delcarte, both Taylor and I were struck by the fact +that the beast upon him appeared not to be mauling him, but lay quiet +and motionless upon its prey, and when we were quite close, and the +muzzles of our guns were at the animal’s head, I saw the explanation of +this sudden cessation of hostilities—Felis tigris was dead. + +One of our bullets, or one of the last that Delcarte fired, had +penetrated the heart, and the beast had died even as it sprawled +forward crushing Delcarte to the ground. + +A moment later, with our assistance, the man had scrambled from beneath +the carcass of his would-be slayer, without a scratch to indicate how +close to death he had been. + +Delcarte’s buoyance was entirely unruffled. He came from under the +tiger with a broad grin on his handsome face, nor could I perceive that +a muscle trembled or that his voice showed the least indication of +nervousness or excitement. + +With the termination of the adventure, we began to speculate upon the +explanation of the presence of this savage brute at large so great a +distance from its native habitat. My readings had taught me that it was +practically unknown outside of Asia, and that, so late as the twentieth +century, at least, there had been no savage beasts outside captivity in +England. + +As we talked, Snider joined us, and I returned his rifle to him. Taylor +and Delcarte picked up the slain deer, and we all started down toward +the launch, walking slowly. Delcarte wanted to fetch the tigerl’s skin, +but I had to deny him permission, since we had no means to properly +cure it. + +Upon the beach, we skinned the deer and cut away as much meat as we +thought we could dispose of, and as we were again embarking to continue +up the river for fresh water and fuel, we were startled by a series of +screams from the bushes a short distance away. + +“Another Felis tigris,” said Taylor. + +“Or a dozen of them,” supplemented Delcarte, and, even as he spoke, +there leaped into sight, one after another, eight of the beasts, full +grown—magnificent specimens. + +At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated demons. I +saw that three rifles would be no match for them, and so I gave the +word to put out from shore, hoping that the “tiger,” as the ancients +called him, could not swim. + +Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and forth, +uttering fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the most malevolent +manner. + +As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar animals far +inland. They seemed to be answering the cries of their fellows at the +waterl’s edge, and from the wide distribution and great volume of the +sound we came to the conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts +must roam the adjacent country. + +“They have eaten up the inhabitants,” murmured Snider, shuddering. + +“I imagine you are right,” I agreed, “for their extreme boldness and +fearlessness in the presence of man would suggest either that man is +entirely unknown to them, or that they are extremely familiar with him +as their natural and most easily procured prey.” + +“But where did they come from?” asked Delcarte. “Could they have +traveled here from Asia?” + +I shook my head. The thing was a puzzle to me. I knew that it was +practically beyond reason to imagine that tigers had crossed the +mountain ranges and rivers and all the great continent of Europe to +travel this far from their native lairs, and entirely impossible that +they should have crossed the English Channel at all. Yet here they +were, and in great numbers. + +We continued up the Tamar several miles, filled our casks, and then +landed to cook some of our deer steak, and have the first square meal +that had fallen to our lot since the Coldwater deserted us. But scarce +had we built our fire and prepared the meat for cooking than Snider, +whose eyes had been constantly roving about the landscape from the +moment that we left the launch, touched me on the arm and pointed to a +clump of bushes which grew a couple of hundred yards away. + +Half concealed behind their screening foliage I saw the yellow and +black of a big tiger, and, as I looked, the beast stalked majestically +toward us. A moment later, he was followed by another and another, and +it is needless to state that we beat a hasty retreat to the launch. + +The country was apparently infested by these huge Carnivora, for after +three other attempts to land and cook our food we were forced to +abandon the idea entirely, as each time we were driven off by hunting +tigers. + +It was also equally impossible to obtain the necessary ingredients for +our chemical fuel, and, as we had very little left aboard, we +determined to step our folding mast and proceed under sail, hoarding +our fuel supply for use in emergencies. + +I may say that it was with no regret that we bid adieu to Tigerland, as +we rechristened the ancient Devon, and, beating out into the Channel, +turned the launchl’s nose southeast, to round Bolt Head and continue up +the coast toward the Strait of Dover and the North Sea. + +I was determined to reach London as soon as possible, that we might +obtain fresh clothing, meet with cultured people, and learn from the +lips of Englishmen the secrets of the two centuries since the East had +been divorced from the West. + +Our first stopping place was the Isle of Wight. We entered the Solent +about ten o’clock one morning, and I must confess that my heart sank as +we came close to shore. No lighthouse was visible, though one was +plainly indicated upon my map. Upon neither shore was sign of human +habitation. We skirted the northern shore of the island in fruitless +search for man, and then at last landed upon an eastern point, where +Newport should have stood, but where only weeds and great trees and +tangled wild wood rioted, and not a single manmade thing was visible to +the eye. + +Before landing, I had the men substitute soft bullets for the +steel-jacketed projectiles with which their belts and magazines were +filled. Thus equipped, we felt upon more even terms with the tigers, +but there was no sign of the tigers, and I decided that they must be +confined to the mainland. + +After eating, we set out in search of fuel, leaving Taylor to guard the +launch. For some reason I could not trust Snider alone. I knew that he +looked with disapproval upon my plan to visit England, and I did not +know but what at his first opportunity, he might desert us, taking the +launch with him, and attempt to return to Pan-America. + +That he would be fool enough to venture it, I did not doubt. + +We had gone inland for a mile or more, and were passing through a +park-like wood, when we came suddenly upon the first human beings we +had seen since we sighted the English coast. + +There were a score of men in the party. Hairy, half-naked men they +were, resting in the shade of a great tree. At the first sight of us +they sprang to their feet with wild yells, seizing long spears that had +lain beside them as they rested. + +For a matter of fifty yards they ran from us as rapidly as they could, +and then they turned and surveyed us for a moment. Evidently emboldened +by the scarcity of our numbers, they commenced to advance upon us, +brandishing their spears and shouting horribly. + +They were short and muscular of build, with long hair and beards +tangled and matted with filth. Their heads, however, were shapely, and +their eyes, though fierce and warlike, were intelligent. + +Appreciation of these physical attributes came later, of course, when I +had better opportunity to study the men at close range and under +circumstances less fraught with danger and excitement. At the moment I +saw, and with unmixed wonder, only a score of wild savages charging +down upon us, where I had expected to find a community of civilized and +enlightened people. + +Each of us was armed with rifle, revolver, and cutlass, but as we stood +shoulder to shoulder facing the wild men I was loath to give the +command to fire upon them, inflicting death or suffering upon strangers +with whom we had no quarrel, and so I attempted to restrain them for +the moment that we might parley with them. + +To this end I raised my left hand above my head with the palm toward +them as the most natural gesture indicative of peaceful intentions +which occurred to me. At the same time I called aloud to them that we +were friends, though, from their appearance, there was nothing to +indicate that they might understand Pan-American, or ancient English, +which are of course practically identical. + +At my gesture and words they ceased their shouting and came to a halt a +few paces from us. Then, in deep tones, one who was in advance of the +others and whom I took to be the chief or leader of the party replied +in a tongue which while intelligible to us, was so distorted from the +English language from which it evidently had sprung, that it was with +difficulty that we interpreted it. + +“Who are you,” he asked, “and from what country?” + +I told him that we were from Pan-America, but he only shook his head +and asked where that was. He had never heard of it, or of the Atlantic +Ocean which I told him separated his country from mine. + +“It has been two hundred years,” I told him, “since a Pan-American +visited England.” + +“England?” he asked. “What is England?” + +“Why this is a part of England!” I exclaimed. + +“This is Grubitten,” he assured me. “I know nothing about England, and +I have lived here all my life.” + +It was not until long after that the derivation of Grubitten occurred +to me. Unquestionably it is a corruption of Great Britain, a name +formerly given to the large island comprising England, Scotland and +Wales. Subsequently we heard it pronounced Grabrittin and Grubritten. + +I then asked the fellow if he could direct us to Ryde or Newport; but +again he shook his head, and said that he never had heard of such +countries. And when I asked him if there were any cities in this +country he did not know what I meant, never having heard the word +cities. + +I explained my meaning as best I could by stating that by city I +referred to a place where many people lived together in houses. + +“Oh,” he exclaimed, “you mean a camp! Yes, there are two great camps +here, East Camp and West Camp. We are from East Camp.” + +The use of the word camp to describe a collection of habitations +naturally suggested war to me, and my next question was as to whether +the war was over, and who had been victorious. + +“No,” he replied to this question. “The war is not yet over. But it +soon will be, and it will end, as it always does, with the Westenders +running away. We, the Eastenders, are always victorious.” + +“No,” I said, seeing that he referred to the petty tribal wars of his +little island, “I mean the Great War, the war with Germany. Is it +ended—and who was victorious?” + +He shook his head impatiently. + +“I never heard,” he said, “of any of these strange countries of which +you speak.” + +It seemed incredible, and yet it was true. These people living at the +very seat of the Great War knew nothing of it, though but two centuries +had passed since, to our knowledge, it had been running in the height +of its titanic frightfulness all about them, and to us upon the far +side of the Atlantic still was a subject of keen interest. + +Here was a lifelong inhabitant of the Isle of Wight who never had heard +of either Germany or England! I turned to him quite suddenly with a new +question. + +“What people live upon the mainland?” I asked, and pointed in the +direction of the Hants coast. + +“No one lives there,” he replied. + +“Long ago, it is said, my people dwelt across the waters upon that +other land; but the wild beasts devoured them in such numbers that +finally they were driven here, paddling across upon logs and driftwood, +nor has any dared return since, because of the frightful creatures +which dwell in that horrid country.” + +“Do no other peoples ever come to your country in ships?” I asked. + +He never heard the word ship before, and did not know its meaning. But +he assured me that until we came he had thought that there were no +other peoples in the world other than the Grubittens, who consist of +the Eastenders and the Westenders of the ancient Isle of Wight. + +Assured that we were inclined to friendliness, our new acquaintances +led us to their village, or, as they call it, camp. There we found a +thousand people, perhaps, dwelling in rude shelters, and living upon +the fruits of the chase and such sea food as is obtainable close to +shore, for they had no boats, nor any knowledge of such things. + +Their weapons were most primitive, consisting of rude spears tipped +with pieces of metal pounded roughly into shape. They had no +literature, no religion, and recognized no law other than the law of +might. They produced fire by striking a bit of flint and steel +together, but for the most part they ate their food raw. Marriage is +unknown among them, and while they have the word, mother, they did not +know what I meant by “father.” The males fight for the favor of the +females. They practice infanticide, and kill the aged and physically +unfit. + +The family consists of the mother and the children, the men dwelling +sometimes in one hut and sometimes in another. Owing to their bloody +duels, they are always numerically inferior to the women, so there is +shelter for them all. + +We spent several hours in the village, where we were objects of the +greatest curiosity. The inhabitants examined our clothing and all our +belongings, and asked innumerable questions concerning the strange +country from which we had come and the manner of our coming. + +I questioned many of them concerning past historical events, but they +knew nothing beyond the narrow limits of their island and the savage, +primitive life they led there. London they had never heard of, and they +assured me that I would find no human beings upon the mainland. + +Much saddened by what I had seen, I took my departure from them, and +the three of us made our way back to the launch, accompanied by about +five hundred men, women, girls, and boys. + +As we sailed away, after procuring the necessary ingredients of our +chemical fuel, the Grubittens lined the shore in silent wonder at the +strange sight of our dainty craft dancing over the sparkling waters, +and watched us until we were lost to their sight. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +It was during the morning of July 6, 2137, that we entered the mouth of +the Thames—to the best of my knowledge the first Western keel to cut +those historic waters for two hundred and twenty-one years! + +But where were the tugs and the lighters and the barges, the lightships +and the buoys, and all those countless attributes which went to make up +the myriad life of the ancient Thames? + +Gone! All gone! Only silence and desolation reigned where once the +commerce of the world had centered. + +I could not help but compare this once great water-way with the waters +about our New York, or Rio, or San Diego, or Valparaiso. They had +become what they are today during the two centuries of the profound +peace which we of the navy have been prone to deplore. And what, during +this same period, had shorn the waters of the Thames of their pristine +grandeur? + +Militarist that I am, I could find but a single word of +explanation—war! + +I bowed my head and turned my eyes downward from the lonely and +depressing sight, and in a silence which none of us seemed willing to +break, we proceeded up the deserted river. + +We had reached a point which, from my map, I imagined must have been +about the former site of Erith, when I discovered a small band of +antelope a short distance inland. As we were now entirely out of meat +once more, and as I had given up all expectations of finding a city +upon the site of ancient London, I determined to land and bag a couple +of the animals. + +Assured that they would be timid and easily frightened, I decided to +stalk them alone, telling the men to wait at the boat until I called to +them to come and carry the carcasses back to the shore. + +Crawling carefully through the vegetation, making use of such trees and +bushes as afforded shelter, I came at last almost within easy range of +my quarry, when the antlered head of the buck went suddenly into the +air, and then, as though in accordance with a prearranged signal, the +whole band moved slowly off, farther inland. + +As their pace was leisurely, I determined to follow them until I came +again within range, as I was sure that they would stop and feed in a +short time. + +They must have led me a mile or more at least before they again halted +and commenced to browse upon the rank, luxuriant grasses. All the time +that I had followed them I had kept both eyes and ears alert for sign +or sound that would indicate the presence of Felis tigris; but so far +not the slightest indication of the beast had been apparent. + +As I crept closer to the antelope, sure this time of a good shot at a +large buck, I suddenly saw something that caused me to forget all about +my prey in wonderment. + +It was the figure of an immense grey-black creature, rearing its +colossal shoulders twelve or fourteen feet above the ground. Never in +my life had I seen such a beast, nor did I at first recognize it, so +different in appearance is the live reality from the stuffed, unnatural +specimens preserved to us in our museums. + +But presently I guessed the identity of the mighty creature as Elephas +africanus, or, as the ancients commonly described it, African elephant. + +The antelope, although in plain view of the huge beast, paid not the +slightest attention to it, and I was so wrapped up in watching the +mighty pachyderm that I quite forgot to shoot at the buck and +presently, and in quite a startling manner, it became impossible to do +so. + +The elephant was browsing upon the young and tender shoots of some low +bushes, waving his great ears and switching his short tail. The +antelope, scarce twenty paces from him, continued their feeding, when +suddenly, from close beside the latter, there came a most terrifying +roar, and I saw a great, tawny body shoot, from the concealing verdure +beyond the antelope, full upon the back of a small buck. + +Instantly the scene changed from one of quiet and peace to +indescribable chaos. The startled and terrified buck uttered cries of +agony. His fellows broke and leaped off in all directions. The elephant +raised his trunk, and, trumpeting loudly, lumbered off through the +wood, crushing down small trees and trampling bushes in his mad flight. + +Growling horribly, a huge lion stood across the body of his prey—such a +creature as no Pan-American of the twenty-second century had ever +beheld until my eyes rested upon this lordly specimen of “the king of +beasts.” But what a different creature was this fierce-eyed demon, +palpitating with life and vigor, glossy of coat, alert, growling, +magnificent, from the dingy, moth-eaten replicas beneath their glass +cases in the stuffy halls of our public museums. + +I had never hoped or expected to see a living lion, tiger, or +elephant—using the common terms that were familiar to the ancients, +since they seem to me less unwieldy than those now in general use among +us—and so it was with sentiments not unmixed with awe that I stood +gazing at this regal beast as, above the carcass of his kill, he roared +out his challenge to the world. + +So enthralled was I by the spectacle that I quite forgot myself, and +the better to view him, the great lion, I had risen to my feet and +stood, not fifty paces from him, in full view. + +For a moment he did not see me, his attention being directed toward the +retreating elephant, and I had ample time to feast my eyes upon his +splendid proportions, his great head, and his thick black mane. + +Ah, what thoughts passed through my mind in those brief moments as I +stood there in rapt fascination! I had come to find a wondrous +civilization, and instead I found a wild-beast monarch of the realm +where English kings had ruled. A lion reigned, undisturbed, within a +few miles of the seat of one of the greatest governments the world has +ever known, his domain a howling wilderness, where yesterday fell the +shadows of the largest city in the world. + +It was appalling; but my reflections upon this depressing subject were +doomed to sudden extinction. The lion had discovered me. + +For an instant he stood silent and motionless as one of the mangy +effigies at home, but only for an instant. Then, with a most ferocious +roar, and without the slightest hesitancy or warning, he charged upon +me. + +He forsook the prey already dead beneath him for the pleasures of the +delectable tidbit, man. From the remorselessness with which the great +Carnivora of modern England hunted man, I am constrained to believe +that, whatever their appetites in times past, they have cultivated a +gruesome taste for human flesh. + +As I threw my rifle to my shoulder, I thanked God, the ancient God of +my ancestors, that I had replaced the hard-jacketed bullets in my +weapon with soft-nosed projectiles, for though this was my first +experience with Felis leo, I knew the moment that I faced that charge +that even my wonderfully perfected firearm would be as futile as a +peashooter unless I chanced to place my first bullet in a vital spot. + +Unless you had seen it you could not believe credible the speed of a +charging lion. Apparently the animal is not built for speed, nor can he +maintain it for long. But for a matter of forty or fifty yards there +is, I believe, no animal on earth that can overtake him. + +Like a bolt he bore down upon me, but, fortunately for me, I did not +lose my head. I guessed that no bullet would kill him instantly. I +doubted that I could pierce his skull. There was hope, though, in +finding his heart through his exposed chest, or, better yet, of +breaking his shoulder or foreleg, and bringing him up long enough to +pump more bullets into him and finish him. + +I covered his left shoulder and pulled the trigger as he was almost +upon me. It stopped him. With a terrific howl of pain and rage, the +brute rolled over and over upon the ground almost to my feet. As he +came I pumped two more bullets into him, and as he struggled to rise, +clawing viciously at me, I put a bullet in his spine. + +That finished him, and I am free to admit that I was mighty glad of it. +There was a great tree close behind me, and, stepping within its shade, +I leaned against it, wiping the perspiration from my face, for the day +was hot, and the exertion and excitement left me exhausted. + +I stood there, resting, for a moment, preparatory to turning and +retracing my steps to the launch, when, without warning, something +whizzed through space straight toward me. There was a dull thud of +impact as it struck the tree, and as I dodged to one side and turned to +look at the thing I saw a heavy spear imbedded in the wood not three +inches from where my head had been. + +The thing had come from a little to one side of me, and, without +waiting to investigate at the instant, I leaped behind the tree, and, +circling it, peered around the other side to get a sight of my would-be +murderer. + +This time I was pitted against men—the spear told me that all too +plainly—but so long as they didn’t take me unawares or from behind I +had little fear of them. + +Cautiously I edged about the far side of the trees until I could obtain +a view of the spot from which the spear must have come, and when I did +I saw the head of a man just emerging from behind a bush. + +The fellow was quite similar in type to those I had seen upon the Isle +of Wight. He was hairy and unkempt, and as he finally stepped into view +I saw that he was garbed in the same primitive fashion. + +He stood for a moment gazing about in search of me, and then he +advanced. As he did so a number of others, precisely like him, stepped +from the concealing verdure of nearby bushes and followed in his wake. +Keeping the trees between them and me, I ran back a short distance +until I found a clump of underbrush that would effectually conceal me, +for I wished to discover the strength of the party and its armament +before attempting to parley with it. + +The useless destruction of any of these poor creatures was the farthest +idea from my mind. I should have liked to have spoken with them, but I +did not care to risk having to use my high-powered rifle upon them +other than in the last extremity. + +Once in my new place of concealment, I watched them as they approached +the tree. There were about thirty men in the party and one woman—a girl +whose hands seemed to be bound behind her and who was being pulled +along by two of the men. + +They came forward warily, peering cautiously into every bush and +halting often. At the body of the lion, they paused, and I could see +from their gesticulations and the higher pitch of their voices that +they were much excited over my kill. + +But presently they resumed their search for me, and as they advanced I +became suddenly aware of the unnecessary brutality with which the +girl’s guards were treating her. She stumbled once, not far from my +place of concealment, and after the balance of the party had passed me. +As she did so one of the men at her side jerked her roughly to her feet +and struck her across the mouth with his fist. + +Instantly my blood boiled, and forgetting every consideration of +caution, I leaped from my concealment, and, springing to the manl’s +side, felled him with a blow. + +So unexpected had been my act that it found him and his fellow +unprepared; but instantly the latter drew the knife that protruded from +his belt and lunged viciously at me, at the same time giving voice to a +wild cry of alarm. + +The girl shrank back at sight of me, her eyes wide in astonishment, and +then my antagonist was upon me. I parried his first blow with my +forearm, at the same time delivering a powerful blow to his jaw that +sent him reeling back; but he was at me again in an instant, though in +the brief interim I had time to draw my revolver. + +I saw his companion crawling slowly to his feet, and the others of the +party racing down upon me. There was no time to argue now, other than +with the weapons we wore, and so, as the fellow lunged at me again with +the wicked-looking knife, I covered his heart and pulled the trigger. + +Without a sound, he slipped to the earth, and then I turned the weapon +upon the other guard, who was now about to attack me. He, too, +collapsed, and I was alone with the astonished girl. + +The balance of the party was some twenty paces from us, but coming +rapidly. I seized her arm and drew her after me behind a nearby tree, +for I had seen that with both their comrades down the others were +preparing to launch their spears. + +With the girl safe behind the tree, I stepped out in sight of the +advancing foe, shouting to them that I was no enemy, and that they +should halt and listen to me. But for answer they only yelled in +derision and launched a couple of spears at me, both of which missed. + +I saw then that I must fight, yet still I hated to slay them, and it +was only as a final resort that I dropped two of them with my rifle, +bringing the others to a temporary halt. Again, I appealed to them to +desist. But they only mistook my solicitude for them for fear, and, +with shouts of rage and derision, leaped forward once again to +overwhelm me. + +It was now quite evident that I must punish them severely, +or—myself—die and relinquish the girl once more to her captors. Neither +of these things had I the slightest notion of doing, and so I again +stepped from behind the tree, and, with all the care and deliberation +of target practice, I commenced picking off the foremost of my +assailants. + +One by one the wild men dropped, yet on came the others, fierce and +vengeful, until, only a few remaining, these seemed to realize the +futility of combating my modern weapon with their primitive spears, +and, still howling wrathfully, withdrew toward the west. + +Now, for the first time, I had an opportunity to turn my attention +toward the girl, who had stood, silent and motionless, behind me as I +pumped death into my enemies and hers from my automatic rifle. + +She was of medium height, well formed, and with fine, clear-cut +features. Her forehead was high, and her eyes both intelligent and +beautiful. Exposure to the sun had browned a smooth and velvety skin to +a shade which seemed to enhance rather than mar an altogether lovely +picture of youthful femininity. + +A trace of apprehension marked her expression—I cannot call it fear +since I have learned to know her—and astonishment was still apparent in +her eyes. She stood quite erect, her hands still bound behind her, and +met my gaze with level, proud return. + +“What language do you speak?” I asked. “Do you understand mine?” + +“Yes,” she replied. “It is similar to my own. I am Grabritin. What are +you?” + +“I am a Pan-American,” I answered. She shook her head. “What is that?” + +I pointed toward the west. “Far away, across the ocean.” + +Her expression altered a trifle. A slight frown contracted her brow. +The expression of apprehension deepened. + +“Take off your cap,” she said, and when, to humor her strange request, +I did as she bid, she appeared relieved. Then she edged to one side and +leaned over seemingly to peer behind me. I turned quickly to see what +she discovered, but finding nothing, wheeled about to see that her +expression was once more altered. + +“You are not from there?” and she pointed toward the east. It was a +half question. “You are not from across the water there?” + +“No,” I assured her. “I am from Pan-America, far away to the west. Have +you ever heard of Pan-America?” + +She shook her head in negation. “I do not care where you are from,” she +explained, “if you are not from there, and I am sure you are not, for +the men from there have horns and tails.” + +It was with difficulty that I restrained a smile. + +“Who are the men from there?” I asked. + +“They are bad men,” she replied. “Some of my people do not believe that +there are such creatures. But we have a legend—a very old, old legend, +that once the men from there came across to Grabritin. They came upon +the water, and under the water, and even in the air. They came in great +numbers, so that they rolled across the land like a great gray fog. +They brought with them thunder and lightning and smoke that killed, and +they fell upon us and slew our people by the thousands and the hundreds +of thousands. But at last we drove them back to the waterl’s edge, back +into the sea, where many were drowned. Some escaped, and these our +people followed—men, women, and even children, we followed them back. +That is all. The legend says our people never returned. Maybe they were +all killed. Maybe they are still there. But this, also, is in the +legend, that as we drove the men back across the water they swore that +they would return, and that when they left our shores they would leave +no human being alive behind them. I was afraid that you were from +there.” + +“By what name were these men called?” I asked. + +“We call them only the ‘men from there,’” she replied, pointing toward +the east. “I have never heard that they had another name.” + +In the light of what I knew of ancient history, it was not difficult +for me to guess the nationality of those she described simply as “the +men from over there.” But what utter and appalling devastation the +Great War must have wrought to have erased not only every sign of +civilization from the face of this great land, but even the name of the +enemy from the knowledge and language of the people. + +I could only account for it on the hypothesis that the country had been +entirely depopulated except for a few scattered and forgotten children, +who, in some marvelous manner, had been preserved by Providence to +re-populate the land. These children had, doubtless, been too young to +retain in their memories to transmit to their children any but the +vaguest suggestion of the cataclysm which had overwhelmed their +parents. + +Professor Cortoran, since my return to Pan-America, has suggested +another theory which is not entirely without claim to serious +consideration. He points out that it is quite beyond the pale of human +instinct to desert little children as my theory suggests the ancient +English must have done. He is more inclined to believe that the +expulsion of the foe from England was synchronous with widespread +victories by the allies upon the continent, and that the people of +England merely emigrated from their ruined cities and their devastated, +blood-drenched fields to the mainland, in the hope of finding, in the +domain of the conquered enemy, cities and farms which would replace +those they had lost. + +The learned professor assumes that while a long-continued war had +strengthened rather than weakened the instinct of paternal devotion, it +had also dulled other humanitarian instincts, and raised to the first +magnitude the law of the survival of the fittest, with the result that +when the exodus took place the strong, the intelligent, and the +cunning, together with their offspring, crossed the waters of the +Channel or the North Sea to the continent, leaving in unhappy England +only the helpless inmates of asylums for the feebleminded and insane. + +My objections to this, that the present inhabitants of England are +mentally fit, and could therefore not have descended from an ancestry +of undiluted lunacy he brushes aside with the assertion that insanity +is not necessarily hereditary; and that even though it was, in many +cases a return to natural conditions from the state of high +civilization, which is thought to have induced mental disease in the +ancient world, would, after several generations, have thoroughly +expunged every trace of the affliction from the brains and nerves of +the descendants of the original maniacs. + +Personally, I do not place much stock in Professor Cortoranl’s theory, +though I admit that I am prejudiced. Naturally one does not care to +believe that the object of his greatest affection is descended from a +gibbering idiot and a raving maniac. + +But I am forgetting the continuity of my narrative—a continuity which I +desire to maintain, though I fear that I shall often be led astray, so +numerous and varied are the bypaths of speculation which lead from the +present day story of the Grabritins into the mysterious past of their +forbears. + +As I stood talking with the girl I presently recollected that she still +was bound, and with a word of apology, I drew my knife and cut the +rawhide thongs which confined her wrists at her back. + +She thanked me, and with such a sweet smile that I should have been +amply repaid by it for a much more arduous service. + +“And now,” I said, “let me accompany you to your home and see you +safely again under the protection of your friends.” + +“No,” she said, with a hint of alarm in her voice; “you must not come +with me—Buckingham will kill you.” + +Buckingham. The name was famous in ancient English history. Its +survival, with many other illustrious names, is one of the strongest +arguments in refutal of Professor Cortoranl’s theory; yet it opens no +new doors to the past, and, on the whole, rather adds to than +dissipates the mystery. + +“And who is Buckingham,” I asked, “and why should he wish to kill me?” + +“He would think that you had stolen me,” she replied, “and as he wishes +me for himself, he will kill any other whom he thinks desires me. He +killed Wettin a few days ago. My mother told me once that Wettin was my +father. He was king. Now Buckingham is king.” + +Here, evidently, were a people slightly superior to those of the Isle +of Wight. These must have at least the rudiments of civilized +government since they recognized one among them as ruler, with the +title, king. Also, they retained the word father. The girl’s +pronunciation, while far from identical with ours, was much closer than +the tortured dialect of the Eastenders of the Isle of Wight. The longer +I talked with her the more hopeful I became of finding here, among her +people, some records, or traditions, which might assist in clearing up +the historic enigma of the past two centuries. I asked her if we were +far from the city of London, but she did not know what I meant. When I +tried to explain, describing mighty buildings of stone and brick, broad +avenues, parks, palaces, and countless people, she but shook her head +sadly. + +“There is no such place near by,” she said. “Only the Camp of the Lions +has places of stone where the beasts lair, but there are no people in +the Camp of the Lions. Who would dare go there!” And she shuddered. + +“The Camp of the Lions,” I repeated. “And where is that, and what?” + +“It is there,” she said, pointing up the river toward the west. “I have +seen it from a great distance, but I have never been there. We are much +afraid of the lions, for this is their country, and they are angry that +man has come to live here. + +“Far away there,” and she pointed toward the south-west, “is the land +of tigers, which is even worse than this, the land of the lions, for +the tigers are more numerous than the lions and hungrier for human +flesh. There were tigers here long ago, but both the lions and the men +set upon them and drove them off.” + +“Where did these savage beasts come from?” I asked. + +“Oh,” she replied, “they have been here always. It is their country.” + +“Do they not kill and eat your people?” I asked. + +“Often, when we meet them by accident, and we are too few to slay them, +or when one goes too close to their camp. But seldom do they hunt us, +for they find what food they need among the deer and wild cattle, and, +too, we make them gifts, for are we not intruders in their country? +Really we live upon good terms with them, though I should not care to +meet one were there not many spears in my party.” + +“I should like to visit this Camp of the Lions,” I said. + +“Oh, no, you must not!” cried the girl. “That would be terrible. They +would eat you.” For a moment, then, she seemed lost in thought, but +presently she turned upon me with: “You must go now, for any minute +Buckingham may come in search of me. Long since should they have +learned that I am gone from the camp—they watch over me very +closely—and they will set out after me. Go! I shall wait here until +they come in search of me.” + +“No,” I told her. “I’ll not leave you alone in a land infested by lions +and other wild beasts. If you won’t let me go as far as your camp with +you, then I’ll wait here until they come in search of you.” + +“Please go!” she begged. “You have saved me, and I would save you, but +nothing will save you if Buckingham gets his hands on you. He is a bad +man. He wishes to have me for his woman so that he may be king. He +would kill anyone who befriended me, for fear that I might become +anotherl’s.” + +“Didn’t you say that Buckingham is already the king?” I asked. + +“He is. He took my mother for his woman after he had killed Wettin. But +my mother will die soon—she is very old—and then the man to whom I +belong will become king.” + +Finally, after much questioning, I got the thing through my head. It +appears that the line of descent is through the women. A man is merely +head of his wife’s family—that is all. If she chances to be the oldest +female member of the “royal” house, he is king. Very naively the girl +explained that there was seldom any doubt as to whom a childl’s mother +was. + +This accounted for the girl’s importance in the community and for +Buckinghaml’s anxiety to claim her, though she told me that she did not +wish to become his woman, for he was a bad man and would make a bad +king. But he was powerful, and there was no other man who dared dispute +his wishes. + +“Why not come with me,” I suggested, “if you do not wish to become +Buckinghaml’s?” + +“Where would you take me?” she asked. + +Where, indeed! I had not thought of that. But before I could reply to +her question she shook her head and said, “No, I cannot leave my +people. I must stay and do my best, even if Buckingham gets me, but you +must go at once. Do not wait until it is too late. The lions have had +no offering for a long time, and Buckingham would seize upon the first +stranger as a gift to them.” + +I did not perfectly understand what she meant, and was about to ask her +when a heavy body leaped upon me from behind, and great arms encircled +my neck. I struggled to free myself and turn upon my antagonist, but in +another instant I was overwhelmed by a half dozen powerful, half-naked +men, while a score of others surrounded me, a couple of whom seized the +girl. + +I fought as best I could for my liberty and for hers, but the weight of +numbers was too great, though I had the satisfaction at least of giving +them a good fight. + +When they had overpowered me, and I stood, my hands bound behind me, at +the girl’s side, she gazed commiseratingly at me. + +“It is too bad that you did not do as I bid you,” she said, “for now it +has happened just as I feared—Buckingham has you.” + +“Which is Buckingham?” I asked. + +“I am Buckingham,” growled a burly, unwashed brute, swaggering +truculently before me. “And who are you who would have stolen my +woman?” + +The girl spoke up then and tried to explain that I had not stolen her; +but on the contrary I had saved her from the men from the “Elephant +Country” who were carrying her away. + +Buckingham only sneered at her explanation, and a moment later gave the +command that started us all off toward the west. We marched for a +matter of an hour or so, coming at last to a collection of rude huts, +fashioned from branches of trees covered with skins and grasses and +sometimes plastered with mud. All about the camp they had erected a +wall of saplings pointed at the tops and fire hardened. + +This palisade was a protection against both man and beasts, and within +it dwelt upward of two thousand persons, the shelters being built very +close together, and sometimes partially underground, like deep +trenches, with the poles and hides above merely as protection from the +sun and rain. + +The older part of the camp consisted almost wholly of trenches, as +though this had been the original form of dwellings which was slowly +giving way to the drier and airier surface domiciles. In these trench +habitations I saw a survival of the military trenches which formed so +famous a part of the operation of the warring nations during the +twentieth century. + +The women wore a single light deerskin about their hips, for it was +summer, and quite warm. The men, too, were clothed in a single garment, +usually the pelt of some beast of prey. The hair of both men and women +was confined by a rawhide thong passing about the forehead and tied +behind. In this leathern band were stuck feathers, flowers, or the +tails of small mammals. All wore necklaces of the teeth or claws of +wild beasts, and there were numerous metal wristlets and anklets among +them. + +They wore, in fact, every indication of a most primitive people—a race +which had not yet risen to the heights of agriculture or even the +possession of domestic animals. They were hunters—the lowest plane in +the evolution of the human race of which science takes cognizance. + +And yet as I looked at their well shaped heads, their handsome +features, and their intelligent eyes, it was difficult to believe that +I was not among my own. It was only when I took into consideration +their mode of living, their scant apparel, the lack of every least +luxury among them, that I was forced to admit that they were, in truth, +but ignorant savages. + +Buckingham had relieved me of my weapons, though he had not the +slightest idea of their purpose or uses, and when we reached the camp +he exhibited both me and my arms with every indication of pride in this +great capture. + +The inhabitants flocked around me, examining my clothing, and +exclaiming in wonderment at each new discovery of button, buckle, +pocket, and flap. It seemed incredible that such a thing could be, +almost within a stone’s throw of the spot where but a brief two +centuries before had stood the greatest city of the world. + +They bound me to a small tree that grew in the middle of one of their +crooked streets, but the girl they released as soon as we had entered +the enclosure. The people greeted her with every mark of respect as she +hastened to a large hut near the center of the camp. + +Presently she returned with a fine looking, white-haired woman, who +proved to be her mother. The older woman carried herself with a regal +dignity that seemed quite remarkable in a place of such primitive +squalor. + +The people fell aside as she approached, making a wide way for her and +her daughter. When they had come near and stopped before me the older +woman addressed me. + +“My daughter has told me,” she said, “of the manner in which you +rescued her from the men of the elephant country. If Wettin lived you +would be well treated, but Buckingham has taken me now, and is king. +You can hope for nothing from such a beast as Buckingham.” + +The fact that Buckingham stood within a pace of us and was an +interested listener appeared not to temper her expressions in the +slightest. + +“Buckingham is a pig,” she continued. “He is a coward. He came upon +Wettin from behind and ran his spear through him. He will not be king +for long. Some one will make a face at him, and he will run away and +jump into the river.” + +The people began to titter and clap their hands. Buckingham became red +in the face. It was evident that he was far from popular. + +“If he dared,” went on the old lady, “he would kill me now, but he does +not dare. He is too great a coward. If I could help you I should gladly +do so. But I am only queen—the vehicle that has helped carry down, +unsullied, the royal blood from the days when Grabritin was a mighty +country.” + +The old queenl’s words had a noticeable effect upon the mob of curious +savages which surrounded me. The moment they discovered that the old +queen was friendly to me and that I had rescued her daughter they +commenced to accord me a more friendly interest, and I heard many words +spoken in my behalf, and demands were made that I not be harmed. + +But now Buckingham interfered. He had no intention of being robbed of +his prey. Blustering and storming, he ordered the people back to their +huts, at the same time directing two of his warriors to confine me in a +dugout in one of the trenches close to his own shelter. + +Here they threw me upon the ground, binding my ankles together and +trussing them up to my wrists behind. There they left me, lying upon my +stomach—a most uncomfortable and strained position, to which was added +the pain where the cords cut into my flesh. + +Just a few days ago my mind had been filled with the anticipation of +the friendly welcome I should find among the cultured Englishmen of +London. Today I should be sitting in the place of honor at the banquet +board of one of Londonl’s most exclusive clubs, feted and lionized. + +The actuality! Here I lay, bound hand and foot, doubtless almost upon +the very site of a part of ancient London, yet all about me was a +primeval wilderness, and I was a captive of half-naked wild men. + +I wondered what had become of Delcarte and Taylor and Snider. Would +they search for me? They could never find me, I feared, yet if they +did, what could they accomplish against this horde of savage warriors? + +Would that I could warn them. I thought of the girl—doubtless she could +get word to them, but how was I to communicate with her? Would she come +to see me before I was killed? It seemed incredible that she should not +make some slight attempt to befriend me; yet, as I recalled, she had +made no effort to speak with me after we had reached the village. She +had hastened to her mother the moment she had been liberated. Though +she had returned with the old queen, she had not spoken to me, even +then. I began to have my doubts. + +Finally, I came to the conclusion that I was absolutely friendless +except for the old queen. For some unaccountable reason my rage against +the girl for her ingratitude rose to colossal proportions. + +For a long time I waited for some one to come to my prison whom I might +ask to bear word to the queen, but I seemed to have been forgotten. The +strained position in which I lay became unbearable. I wriggled and +twisted until I managed to turn myself partially upon my side, where I +lay half facing the entrance to the dugout. + +Presently my attention was attracted by the shadow of something moving +in the trench without, and a moment later the figure of a child +appeared, creeping upon all fours, as, wide-eyed, and prompted by +childish curiosity, a little girl crawled to the entrance of my hut and +peered cautiously and fearfully in. + +I did not speak at first for fear of frightening the little one away. +But when I was satisfied that her eyes had become sufficiently +accustomed to the subdued light of the interior, I smiled. + +Instantly the expression of fear faded from her eyes to be replaced +with an answering smile. + +“Who are you, little girl?” I asked. + +“My name is Mary,” she replied. “I am Victoryl’s sister.” + +“And who is Victory?” + +“You do not know who Victory is?” she asked, in astonishment. + +I shook my head in negation. + +“You saved her from the elephant country people, and yet you say you do +not know her!” she exclaimed. + +“Oh, so she is Victory, and you are her sister! I have not heard her +name before. That is why I did not know whom you meant,” I explained. +Here was just the messenger for me. Fate was becoming more kind. + +“Will you do something for me, Mary?” I asked. + +“If I can.” + +“Go to your mother, the queen, and ask her to come to me,” I said. “I +have a favor to ask.” + +She said that she would, and with a parting smile she left me. + +For what seemed many hours I awaited her return, chafing with +impatience. The afternoon wore on and night came, and yet no one came +near me. My captors brought me neither food nor water. I was suffering +considerable pain where the rawhide thongs cut into my swollen flesh. I +thought that they had either forgotten me, or that it was their +intention to leave me here to die of starvation. + +Once I heard a great uproar in the village. Men were shouting—women +were screaming and moaning. After a time this subsided, and again there +was a long interval of silence. + +Half the night must have been spent when I heard a sound in the trench +near the hut. It resembled muffled sobs. Presently a figure appeared, +silhouetted against the lesser darkness beyond the doorway. It crept +inside the hut. + +“Are you here?” whispered a childlike voice. + +It was Mary! She had returned. The thongs no longer hurt me. The pangs +of hunger and thirst disappeared. I realized that it had been +loneliness from which I suffered most. + +“Mary!” I exclaimed. “You are a good girl. You have come back, after +all. I had commenced to think that you would not. Did you give my +message to the queen? Will she come? Where is she?” + +The childl’s sobs increased, and she flung herself upon the dirt floor +of the hut, apparently overcome by grief. + +“What is it?” I asked. “Why do you cry?” + +“The queen, my mother, will not come to you,” she said, between sobs. +“She is dead. Buckingham has killed her. Now he will take Victory, for +Victory is queen. He kept us fastened up in our shelter, for fear that +Victory would escape him, but I dug a hole beneath the back wall and +got out. I came to you, because you saved Victory once before, and I +thought that you might save her again, and me, also. Tell me that you +will.” + +“I am bound and helpless, Mary,” I replied. “Otherwise I would do what +I could to save you and your sister.” + +“I will set you free!” cried the girl, creeping up to my side. “I will +set you free, and then you may come and slay Buckingham.” + +“Gladly!” I assented. + +“We must hurry,” she went on, as she fumbled with the hard knots in the +stiffened rawhide, “for Buckingham will be after you soon. He must make +an offering to the lions at dawn before he can take Victory. The taking +of a queen requires a human offering!” + +“And I am to be the offering?” I asked. + +“Yes,” she said, tugging at a knot. “Buckingham has been wanting a +sacrifice ever since he killed Wettin, that he might slay my mother and +take Victory.” + +The thought was horrible, not solely because of the hideous fate to +which I was condemned, but from the contemplation it engendered of the +sad decadence of a once enlightened race. To these depths of ignorance, +brutality, and superstition had the vaunted civilization of twentieth +century England been plunged, and by what? War! I felt the structure of +our time-honored militaristic arguments crumbling about me. + +Mary labored with the thongs that confined me. They proved +refractory—defying her tender, childish fingers. She assured me, +however, that she would release me, if “they” did not come too soon. + +But, alas, they came. We heard them coming down the trench, and I bade +Mary hide in a corner, lest she be discovered and punished. There was +naught else she could do, and so she crawled away into the Stygian +blackness behind me. + +Presently two warriors entered. The leader exhibited a unique method of +discovering my whereabouts in the darkness. He advanced slowly, kicking +out viciously before him. Finally he kicked me in the face. Then he +knew where I was. + +A moment later I had been jerked roughly to my feet. One of the fellows +stopped and severed the bonds that held my ankles. I could scarcely +stand alone. The two pulled and hauled me through the low doorway and +along the trench. A party of forty or fifty warriors were awaiting us +at the brink of the excavation some hundred yards from the hut. + +Hands were lowered to us, and we were dragged to the surface. Then +commenced a long march. We stumbled through the underbrush wet with +dew, our way lighted by a score of torchbearers who surrounded us. But +the torches were not to light the way—that was but incidental. They +were carried to keep off the huge Carnivora that moaned and coughed and +roared about us. + +The noises were hideous. The whole country seemed alive with lions. +Yellow-green eyes blazed wickedly at us from out the surrounding +darkness. My escort carried long, heavy spears. These they kept ever +pointed toward the beast of prey, and I learned from snatches of the +conversation I overheard that occasionally there might be a lion who +would brave even the terrors of fire to leap in upon human prey. It was +for such that the spears were always couched. + +But nothing of the sort occurred during this hideous death march, and +with the first pale heralding of dawn we reached our goal—an open place +in the midst of a tangled wildwood. Here rose in crumbling grandeur the +first evidences I had seen of the ancient civilization which once had +graced fair Albion—a single, time-worn arch of masonry. + +“The entrance to the Camp of the Lions!” murmured one of the party in a +voice husky with awe. + +Here the party knelt, while Buckingham recited a weird, prayer-like +chant. It was rather long, and I recall only a portion of it, which +ran, if my memory serves me, somewhat as follows: + + +Lord of Grabritin, we +Fall on our knees to thee, +This gift to bring. +Greatest of kings are thou! +To thee we humbly bow! +Peace to our camp allow. +God save thee, king! + + +Then the party rose, and dragging me to the crumbling arch, made me +fast to a huge, corroded, copper ring which was dangling from an +eyebolt imbedded in the masonry. + +None of them, not even Buckingham, seemed to feel any personal +animosity toward me. They were naturally rough and brutal, as primitive +men are supposed to have been since the dawn of humanity, but they did +not go out of their way to maltreat me. + +With the coming of dawn the number of lions about us seemed to have +greatly diminished—at least they made less noise—and as Buckingham and +his party disappeared into the woods, leaving me alone to my terrible +fate, I could hear the grumblings and growlings of the beasts +diminishing with the sound of the chant, which the party still +continued. It appeared that the lions had failed to note that I had +been left for their breakfast, and had followed off after their +worshippers instead. + +But I knew the reprieve would be but for a short time, and though I had +no wish to die, I must confess that I rather wished the ordeal over and +the peace of oblivion upon me. + +The voices of the men and the lions receded in the distance, until +finally quiet reigned about me, broken only by the sweet voices of +birds and the sighing of the summer wind in the trees. + +It seemed impossible to believe that in this peaceful woodland setting +the frightful thing was to occur which must come with the passing of +the next lion who chanced within sight or smell of the crumbling arch. + +I strove to tear myself loose from my bonds, but succeeded only in +tightening them about my arms. Then I remained passive for a long time, +letting the scenes of my lifetime pass in review before my mindl’s eye. + +I tried to imagine the astonishment, incredulity, and horror with which +my family and friends would be overwhelmed if, for an instant, space +could be annihilated and they could see me at the gates of London. + +The gates of London! Where was the multitude hurrying to the marts of +trade after a night of pleasure or rest? Where was the clang of tramcar +gongs, the screech of motor horns, the vast murmur of a dense throng? + +Where were they? And as I asked the question a lone, gaunt lion strode +from the tangled jungle upon the far side of the clearing. Majestically +and noiselessly upon his padded feet the king of beasts moved slowly +toward the gates of London and toward me. + +Was I afraid? I fear that I was almost afraid. I know that I thought +that fear was coming to me, and so I straightened up and squared my +shoulders and looked the lion straight in the eyes—and waited. + +It is not a nice way to die—alone, with one’s hands fast bound, beneath +the fangs and talons of a beast of prey. No, it is not a nice way to +die, not a pretty way. + +The lion was halfway across the clearing when I heard a slight sound +behind me. The great cat stopped in his tracks. He lashed his tail +against his sides now, instead of simply twitching its tip, and his low +moan became a thunderous roar. + +As I craned my neck to catch a glimpse of the thing that had aroused +the fury of the beast before me, it sprang through the arched gateway +and was at my side—with parted lips and heaving bosom and disheveled +hair—a bronzed and lovely vision to eyes that had never harbored hope +of rescue. + +It was Victory, and in her arms she clutched my rifle and revolver. A +long knife was in the doeskin belt that supported the doeskin skirt +tightly about her lithe limbs. She dropped my weapons at my feet, and, +snatching the knife from its resting place, severed the bonds that held +me. I was free, and the lion was preparing to charge. + +“Run!” I cried to the girl, as I bent and seized my rifle. But she only +stood there at my side, her bared blade ready in her hand. + +The lion was bounding toward us now in prodigious leaps. I raised the +rifle and fired. It was a lucky shot, for I had no time to aim +carefully, and when the beast crumpled and rolled, lifeless, to the +ground, I went upon my knees and gave thanks to the God of my +ancestors. + +And, still upon my knees, I turned, and taking the girl’s hand in mine, +I kissed it. She smiled at that, and laid her other hand upon my head. + +“You have strange customs in your country,” she said. + +I could not but smile at that when I thought how strange it would seem +to my countrymen could they but see me kneeling there on the site of +London, kissing the hand of Englandl’s queen. + +“And now,” I said, as I rose, “you must return to the safety of your +camp. I will go with you until you are near enough to continue alone in +safety. Then I shall try to return to my comrades.” + +“I will not return to the camp,” she replied. + +“But what shall you do?” I asked. + +“I do not know. Only I shall never go back while Buckingham lives. I +should rather die than go back to him. Mary came to me, after they had +taken you from the camp, and told me. I found your strange weapons and +followed with them. It took me a little longer, for often I had to hide +in the trees that the lions might not get me, but I came in time, and +now you are free to go back to your friends.” + +“And leave you here?” I exclaimed. + +She nodded, but I could see through all her brave front that she was +frightened at the thought. I could not leave her, of course, but what +in the world I was to do, cumbered with the care of a young woman, and +a queen at that, I was at a loss to know. I pointed out that phase of +it to her, but she only shrugged her shapely shoulders and pointed to +her knife. + +It was evident that she felt entirely competent to protect herself. + +As we stood there we heard the sound of voices. They were coming from +the forest through which we had passed when we had come from camp. + +“They are searching for me,” said the girl. “Where shall we hide?” + +I didn’t relish hiding. But when I thought of the innumerable dangers +which surrounded us and the comparatively small amount of ammunition +that I had with me, I hesitated to provoke a battle with Buckingham and +his warriors when, by flight, I could avoid them and preserve my +cartridges against emergencies which could not be escaped. + +“Would they follow us there?” I asked, pointing through the archway +into the Camp of the Lions. + +“Never,” she replied, “for, in the first place, they would know that we +would not dare go there, and in the second they themselves would not +dare.” + +“Then we shall take refuge in the Camp of the Lions,” I said. + +She shuddered and drew closer to me. + +“You dare?” she asked. + +“Why not?” I returned. “We shall be safe from Buckingham, and you have +seen, for the second time in two days, that lions are harmless before +my weapons. Then, too, I can find my friends easiest in this direction, +for the River Thames runs through this place you call the Camp of the +Lions, and it is farther down the Thames that my friends are awaiting +me. Do you not dare come with me?” + +“I dare follow wherever you lead,” she answered simply. + +And so I turned and passed beneath the great arch into the city of +London. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +As we entered deeper into what had once been the city, the evidences of +manl’s past occupancy became more frequent. For a mile from the arch +there was only a riot of weeds and undergrowth and trees covering small +mounds and little hillocks that, I was sure, were formed of the ruins +of stately buildings of the dead past. + +But presently we came upon a district where shattered walls still +raised their crumbling tops in sad silence above the grass-grown +sepulchers of their fallen fellows. Softened and mellowed by ancient +ivy stood these sentinels of sorrow, their scarred faces still +revealing the rents and gashes of shrapnel and of bomb. + +Contrary to our expectations, we found little indication that lions in +any great numbers laired in this part of ancient London. Well-worn +pathways, molded by padded paws, led through the cavernous windows or +doorways of a few of the ruins we passed, and once we saw the savage +face of a great, black-maned lion scowling down upon us from a +shattered stone balcony. + +We followed down the bank of the Thames after we came upon it. I was +anxious to look with my own eyes upon the famous bridge, and I guessed, +too, that the river would lead me into the part of London where stood +Westminster Abbey and the Tower. + +Realizing that the section through which we had been passing was +doubtless outlying, and therefore not so built up with large structures +as the more centrally located part of the old town, I felt sure that +farther down the river I should find the ruins larger. The bridge would +be there in part, at least, and so would remain the walls of many of +the great edifices of the past. There would be no such complete ruin of +large structures as I had seen among the smaller buildings. + +But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged to have +contained the relics I sought I found havoc that had been wrought there +even greater than elsewhere. + +At one point upon the bosom of the Thames there rises a few feet above +the water a single, disintegrating mound of masonry. Opposite it, upon +either bank of the river, are tumbled piles of ruins overgrown with +vegetation. + +These, I am forced to believe, are all that remain of London Bridge, +for nowhere else along the river is there any other slightest sign of +pier or abutment. + +Rounding the base of a large pile of grass-covered debris, we came +suddenly upon the best preserved ruin we had yet discovered. The entire +lower story and part of the second story of what must once have been a +splendid public building rose from a great knoll of shrubbery and +trees, while ivy, thick and luxuriant, clambered upward to the summit +of the broken walls. + +In many places the gray stone was still exposed, its smoothly chiseled +face pitted with the scars of battle. The massive portal yawned, somber +and sorrowful, before us, giving a glimpse of marble halls within. + +The temptation to enter was too great. I wished to explore the interior +of this one remaining monument of civilization now dead beyond recall. +Through this same portal, within these very marble halls, had Gray and +Chamberlin and Kitchener and Shaw, perhaps, come and gone with the +other great ones of the past. + +I took Victoryl’s hand in mine. + +“Come!” I said. “I do not know the name by which this great pile was +known, nor the purposes it fulfilled. It may have been the palace of +your sires, Victory. From some great throne within, your forebears may +have directed the destinies of half the world. Come!” + +I must confess to a feeling of awe as we entered the rotunda of the +great building. Pieces of massive furniture of another day still stood +where man had placed them centuries ago. They were littered with dust +and broken stone and plaster, but, otherwise, so perfect was their +preservation I could hardly believe that two centuries had rolled by +since human eyes were last set upon them. + +Through one great room after another we wandered, hand in hand, while +Victory asked many questions and for the first time I began to realize +something of the magnificence and power of the race from whose loins +she had sprung. + +Splendid tapestries, now mildewed and rotting, hung upon the walls. +There were mural paintings, too, depicting great historic events of the +past. For the first time Victory saw the likeness of a horse, and she +was much affected by a huge oil which depicted some ancient cavalry +charge against a battery of field guns. + +In other pictures there were steamships, battleships, submarines, and +quaint looking railway trains—all small and antiquated in appearance to +me, but wonderful to Victory. She told me that she would like to remain +for the rest of her life where she could look at those pictures daily. + +From room to room we passed until presently we emerged into a mighty +chamber, dark and gloomy, for its high and narrow windows were choked +and clogged by ivy. Along one paneled wall we groped, our eyes slowly +becoming accustomed to the darkness. A rank and pungent odor pervaded +the atmosphere. + +We had made our way about half the distance across one end of the great +apartment when a low growl from the far end brought us to a startled +halt. + +Straining my eyes through the gloom, I made out a raised dais at the +extreme opposite end of the hall. Upon the dais stood two great chairs, +highbacked and with great arms. + +The throne of England! But what were those strange forms about it? + +Victory gave my hand a quick, excited little squeeze. + +“The lions!” she whispered. + +Yes, lions indeed! Sprawled about the dais were a dozen huge forms, +while upon the seat of one of the thrones a small cub lay curled in +slumber. + +As we stood there for a moment, spellbound by the sight of those +fearsome creatures occupying the very thrones of the sovereigns of +England, the low growl was repeated, and a great male rose slowly to +his feet. + +His devilish eyes bored straight through the semi-darkness toward us. +He had discovered the interloper. What right had man within this palace +of the beasts? Again he opened his giant jaws, and this time there +rumbled forth a warning roar. + +Instantly eight or ten of the other beasts leaped to their feet. +Already the great fellow who had spied us was advancing slowly in our +direction. I held my rifle ready, but how futile it appeared in the +face of this savage horde. + +The foremost beast broke into a slow trot, and at his heels came the +others. All were roaring now, and the din of their great voices +reverberating through the halls and corridors of the palace formed the +most frightful chorus of thunderous savagery imaginable to the mind of +man. + +And then the leader charged, and upon the hideous pandemonium broke the +sharp crack of my rifle, once, twice, thrice. Three lions rolled, +struggling and biting, to the floor. Victory seized my arm, with a +quick, “This way! Here is a door,” and a moment later we were in a tiny +antechamber at the foot of a narrow stone staircase. + +Up this we backed, Victory just behind me, as the first of the +remaining lions leaped from the throne room and sprang for the stairs. +Again I fired, but others of the ferocious beasts leaped over their +fallen fellows and pursued us. + +The stairs were very narrow—that was all that saved us—for as I backed +slowly upward, but a single lion could attack me at a time, and the +carcasses of those I slew impeded the rushes of the others. + +At last we reached the top. There was a long corridor from which opened +many doorways. One, directly behind us, was tight closed. If we could +open it and pass into the chamber behind we might find a respite from +attack. + +The remaining lions were roaring horribly. I saw one sneaking very +slowly up the stairs toward us. + +“Try that door,” I called to Victory. “See if it will open.” + +She ran up to it and pushed. + +“Turn the knob!” I cried, seeing that she did not know how to open a +door, but neither did she know what I meant by knob. + +I put a bullet in the spine of the approaching lion and leaped to +Victoryl’s side. The door resisted my first efforts to swing it inward. +Rusted hinges and swollen wood held it tightly closed. But at last it +gave, and just as another lion mounted to the top of the stairway it +swung in, and I pushed Victory across the threshold. + +Then I turned to meet the renewed attack of the savage foe. One lion +fell in his tracks, another stumbled to my very feet, and then I leaped +within and slammed the portal to. + +A quick glance showed me that this was the only door to the small +apartment in which we had found sanctuary, and, with a sigh of relief, +I leaned for a moment against the panels of the stout barrier that +separated us from the ramping demons without. + +Across the room, between two windows, stood a flat-topped desk. A +little pile of white and brown lay upon it close to the opposite edge. +After a moment of rest I crossed the room to investigate. The white was +the bleached human bones—the skull, collar bones, arms, and a few of +the upper ribs of a man. The brown was the dust of a decayed military +cap and blouse. In a chair before the desk were other bones, while more +still strewed the floor beneath the desk and about the chair. A man had +died sitting there with his face buried in his arms—two hundred years +ago. + +Beneath the desk were a pair of spurred military boots, green and +rotten with decay. In them were the leg bones of a man. Among the tiny +bones of the hands was an ancient fountain pen, as good, apparently, as +the day it was made, and a metal covered memoranda book, closed over +the bones of an index finger. + +It was a gruesome sight—a pitiful sight—this lone inhabitant of mighty +London. + +I picked up the metal covered memoranda book. Its pages were rotten and +stuck together. Only here and there was a sentence or a part of a +sentence legible. The first that I could read was near the middle of +the little volume: + +“His majesty left for Tunbridge Wells today, he ... jesty was stricken +... terday. God give she does not die ... am military governor of Lon +...” + +And farther on: + +“It is awful ... hundred deaths today ... worse than the bombardm ...” + +Nearer the end I picked out the following: + +“I promised his maj ... e will find me here when he ret ... alone.” + +The most legible passage was on the next page: + +“Thank God we drove them out. There is not a single ... man on British +soil today; but at what awful cost. I tried to persuade Sir Phillip to +urge the people to remain. But they are mad with fear of the Death, and +rage at our enemies. He tells me that the coast cities are packed ... +waiting to be taken across. What will become of England, with none left +to rebuild her shattered cities!” + +And the last entry: + +“... alone. Only the wild beasts ... A lion is roaring now beneath the +palace windows. I think the people feared the beasts even more than +they did the Death. But they are gone, all gone, and to what? How much +better conditions will they find on the continent? All gone—only I +remain. I promised his majesty, and when he returns he will find that I +was true to my trust, for I shall be awaiting him. God save the King!” + +That was all. This brave and forever nameless officer died nobly at his +post—true to his country and his king. It was the Death, no doubt, that +took him. + +Some of the entries had been dated. From the few legible letters and +figures which remained I judge the end came some time in August, 1937, +but of that I am not at all certain. + +The diary has cleared up at least one mystery that had puzzled me not a +little, and now I am surprised that I had not guessed its solution +myself—the presence of African and Asiatic beasts in England. + +Acclimated by years of confinement in the zoological gardens, they were +fitted to resume in England the wild existence for which nature had +intended them, and once free, had evidently bred prolifically, in +marked contrast to the captive exotics of twentieth century +Pan-America, which had gradually become fewer until extinction occurred +some time during the twenty-first century. + +The palace, if such it was, lay not far from the banks of the Thames. +The room in which we were imprisoned overlooked the river, and I +determined to attempt to escape in this direction. + +To descend through the palace was out of the question, but outside we +could discover no lions. The stems of the ivy which clambered upward +past the window of the room were as large around as my arm. I knew that +they would support our weight, and as we could gain nothing by +remaining longer in the palace, I decided to descend by way of the ivy +and follow along down the river in the direction of the launch. + +Naturally I was much handicapped by the presence of the girl. But I +could not abandon her, though I had no idea what I should do with her +after rejoining my companions. That she would prove a burden and an +embarrassment I was certain, but she had made it equally plain to me +that she would never return to her people to mate with Buckingham. + +I owed my life to her, and, all other considerations aside, that was +sufficient demand upon my gratitude and my honor to necessitate my +suffering every inconvenience in her service. Too, she was queen of +England. But, by far the most potent argument in her favor, she was a +woman in distress—and a young and very beautiful one. + +And so, though I wished a thousand times that she was back in her camp, +I never let her guess it, but did all that lay within my power to serve +and protect her. I thank God now that I did so. + +With the lions still padding back and forth beyond the closed door, +Victory and I crossed the room to one of the windows. I had outlined my +plan to her, and she had assured me that she could descend the ivy +without assistance. In fact, she smiled a trifle at my question. + +Swinging myself outward, I began the descent, and had come to within a +few feet of the ground, being just opposite a narrow window, when I was +startled by a savage growl almost in my ear, and then a great taloned +paw darted from the aperture to seize me, and I saw the snarling face +of a lion within the embrasure. + +Releasing my hold upon the ivy, I dropped the remaining distance to the +ground, saved from laceration only because the lionl’s paw struck the +thick stem of ivy. + +The creature was making a frightful racket now, leaping back and forth +from the floor at the broad window ledge, tearing at the masonry with +his claws in vain attempts to reach me. But the opening was too narrow, +and the masonry too solid. + +Victory had commenced the descent, but I called to her to stop just +above the window, and, as the lion reappeared, growling and snarling, I +put a .33 bullet in his face, and at the same moment Victory slipped +quickly past him, dropping into my upraised arms that were awaiting +her. + +The roaring of the beasts that had discovered us, together with the +report of my rifle, had set the balance of the fierce inmates of the +palace into the most frightful uproar I have ever heard. + +I feared that it would not be long before intelligence or instinct +would draw them from the interiors and set them upon our trail, the +river. Nor had we much more than reached it when a lion bounded around +the corner of the edifice we had just quitted and stood looking about +as though in search of us. + +Following, came others, while Victory and I crouched in hiding behind a +clump of bushes close to the bank of the river. The beasts sniffed +about the ground for a while, but they did not chance to go near the +spot where we had stood beneath the window that had given us escape. + +Presently a black-maned male raised his head, and, with cocked ears and +glaring eyes, gazed straight at the bush behind which we lay. I could +have sworn that he had discovered us, and when he took a few short and +stately steps in our direction I raised my rifle and covered him. But, +after a long, tense moment he looked away, and turned to glare in +another direction. + +I breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Victory. I could feel her body +quiver as she lay pressed close to me, our cheeks almost touching as we +both peered through the same small opening in the foliage. + +I turned to give her a reassuring smile as the lion indicated that he +had not seen us, and as I did so she, too, turned her face toward mine, +for the same purpose, doubtless. Anyway, as our heads turned +simultaneously, our lips brushed together. A startled expression came +into Victoryl’s eyes as she drew back in evident confusion. + +As for me, the strangest sensation that I have ever experienced claimed +me for an instant. A peculiar, tingling thrill ran through my veins, +and my head swam. I could not account for it. + +Naturally, being a naval officer and consequently in the best society +of the federation, I have seen much of women. With others, I have +laughed at the assertions of the savants that modern man is a cold and +passionless creation in comparison with the males of former ages—in a +word, that love, as the one grand passion, had ceased to exist. + +I do not know, now, but that they were more nearly right than we have +guessed, at least in so far as modern civilized woman is concerned. I +have kissed many women—young and beautiful and middle aged and old, and +many that I had no business kissing—but never before had I experienced +that remarkable and altogether delightful thrill that followed the +accidental brushing of my lips against the lips of Victory. + +The occurrence interested me, and I was tempted to experiment further. +But when I would have essayed it another new and entirely unaccountable +force restrained me. For the first time in my life I felt embarrassment +in the presence of a woman. + +What further might have developed I cannot say, for at that moment a +perfect she-devil of a lioness, with keener eyes than her lord and +master, discovered us. She came trotting toward our place of +concealment, growling and baring her yellow fangs. + +I waited for an instant, hoping that I might be mistaken, and that she +would turn off in some other direction. But no—she increased her trot +to a gallop, and then I fired at her, but the bullet, though it struck +her full in the breast, didn’t stop her. + +Screaming with pain and rage, the creature fairly flew toward us. +Behind her came other lions. Our case looked hopeless. We were upon the +brink of the river. There seemed no avenue of escape, and I knew that +even my modern automatic rifle was inadequate in the face of so many of +these fierce beasts. + +To remain where we were would have been suicidal. We were both standing +now, Victory keeping her place bravely at my side, when I reached the +only decision open to me. + +Seizing the girl’s hand, I turned, just as the lioness crashed into the +opposite side of the bushes, and, dragging Victory after me, leaped +over the edge of the bank into the river. + +I did not know that lions are not fond of water, nor did I know if +Victory could swim, but death, immediate and terrible, stared us in the +face if we remained, and so I took the chance. + +At this point the current ran close to the shore, so that we were +immediately in deep water, and, to my intense satisfaction, Victory +struck out with a strong, overhand stroke and set all my fears on her +account at rest. + +But my relief was short-lived. That lioness, as I have said before, was +a veritable devil. She stood for a moment glaring at us, then like a +shot she sprang into the river and swam swiftly after us. + +Victory was a length ahead of me. + +“Swim for the other shore!” I called to her. + +I was much impeded by my rifle, having to swim with one hand while I +clung to my precious weapon with the other. The girl had seen the +lioness take to the water, and she had also seen that I was swimming +much more slowly than she, and what did she do? She started to drop +back to my side. + +“Go on!” I cried. “Make for the other shore, and then follow down until +you find my friends. Tell them that I sent you, and with orders that +they are to protect you. Go on! Go on!” + +But she only waited until we were again swimming side by side, and I +saw that she had drawn her long knife, and was holding it between her +teeth. + +“Do as I tell you!” I said to her sharply, but she shook her head. + +The lioness was overhauling us rapidly. She was swimming silently, her +chin just touching the water, but blood was streaming from between her +lips. It was evident that her lungs were pierced. + +She was almost upon me. I saw that in a moment she would take me under +her forepaws, or seize me in those great jaws. I felt that my time had +come, but I meant to die fighting. And so I turned, and, treading +water, raised my rifle above my head and awaited her. + +Victory, animated by a bravery no less ferocious than that of the dumb +beast assailing us, swam straight for me. It all happened so swiftly +that I cannot recall the details of the kaleidoscopic action which +ensued. I knew that I rose high out of the water, and, with clubbed +rifle, dealt the animal a terrific blow upon the skull, that I saw +Victory, her long blade flashing in her hand, close, striking, upon the +beast, that a great paw fell upon her shoulder, and that I was swept +beneath the surface of the water like a straw before the prow of a +freighter. + +Still clinging to my rifle, I rose again, to see the lioness struggling +in her death throes but an arml’s length from me. Scarcely had I risen +than the beast turned upon her side, struggled frantically for an +instant, and then sank. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Victory was nowhere in sight. Alone, I floated upon the bosom of the +Thames. In that brief instant I believe that I suffered more mental +anguish than I have crowded into all the balance of my life before or +since. A few hours before, I had been wishing that I might be rid of +her, and now that she was gone I would have given my life to have her +back again. + +Wearily I turned to swim about the spot where she had disappeared, +hoping that she might rise once at least, and I would be given the +opportunity to save her, and, as I turned, the water boiled before my +face and her head shot up before me. I was on the point of striking out +to seize her, when a happy smile illumined her features. + +“You are not dead!” she cried. “I have been searching the bottom for +you. I was sure that the blow she gave you must have disabled you,” and +she glanced about for the lioness. + +“She has gone?” she asked. + +“Dead,” I replied. + +“The blow you struck her with the thing you call rifle stunned her,” +she explained, “and then I swam in close enough to get my knife into +her heart.” + +Ah, such a girl! I could not but wonder what one of our own +Pan-American women would have done under like circumstances. But then, +of course, they have not been trained by stern necessity to cope with +the emergencies and dangers of savage primeval life. + +Along the bank we had just quitted, a score of lions paced to and fro, +growling menacingly. We could not return, and we struck out for the +opposite shore. I am a strong swimmer, and had no doubt as to my +ability to cross the river, but I was not so sure about Victory, so I +swam close behind her, to be ready to give her assistance should she +need it. + +She did not, however, reaching the opposite bank as fresh, apparently, +as when she entered the water. Victory is a wonder. Each day that we +were together brought new proofs of it. Nor was it her courage or +vitality only which amazed me. She had a head on those shapely +shoulders of hers, and dignity! My, but she could be regal when she +chose! + +She told me that the lions were fewer upon this side of the river, but +that there were many wolves, running in great packs later in the year. +Now they were north somewhere, and we should have little to fear from +them, though we might meet with a few. + +My first concern was to take my weapons apart and dry them, which was +rather difficult in the face of the fact that every rag about me was +drenched. But finally, thanks to the sun and much rubbing, I succeeded, +though I had no oil to lubricate them. + +We ate some wild berries and roots that Victory found, and then we set +off again down the river, keeping an eye open for game on one side and +the launch on the other, for I thought that Delcarte, who would be the +natural leader during my absence, might run up the Thames in search of +me. + +The balance of that day we sought in vain for game or for the launch, +and when night came we lay down, our stomachs empty, to sleep beneath +the stars. We were entirely unprotected from attack from wild beasts, +and for this reason I remained awake most of the night, on guard. But +nothing approached us, though I could hear the lions roaring across the +river, and once I thought I heard the howl of a beast north of us—it +might have been a wolf. + +Altogether, it was a most unpleasant night, and I determined then that +if we were forced to sleep out again that I should provide some sort of +shelter which would protect us from attack while we slept. + +Toward morning I dozed, and the sun was well up when Victory aroused me +by gently shaking my shoulder. + +“Antelope!” she whispered in my ear, and, as I raised my head, she +pointed up-river. Crawling to my knees, I looked in the direction she +indicated, to see a buck standing upon a little knoll some two hundred +yards from us. There was good cover between the animal and me, and so, +though I might have hit him at two hundred yards, I preferred to crawl +closer to him and make sure of the meat we both so craved. + +I had covered about fifty yards of the distance, and the beast was +still feeding peacefully, so I thought that I would make even surer of +a hit by going ahead another fifty yards, when the animal suddenly +raised his head and looked away, up-river. His whole attitude +proclaimed that he was startled by something beyond him that I could +not see. + +Realizing that he might break and run and that I should then probably +miss him entirely, I raised my rifle to my shoulder. But even as I did +so the animal leaped into the air, and simultaneously there was a sound +of a shot from beyond the knoll. + +For an instant I was dumbfounded. Had the report come from down-river, +I should have instantly thought that one of my own men had fired. But +coming from up-river it puzzled me considerably. Who could there be +with firearms in primitive England other than we of the Coldwater? + +Victory was directly behind me, and I motioned for her to lie down, as +I did, behind the bush from which I had been upon the point of firing +at the antelope. We could see that the buck was quite dead, and from +our hiding place we waited to discover the identity of his slayer when +the latter should approach and claim his kill. + +We had not long to wait, and when I saw the head and shoulders of a man +appear above the crest of the knoll, I sprang to my feet, with a +heartfelt cry of joy, for it was Delcarte. + +At the sound of my voice, Delcarte half raised his rifle in readiness +for the attack of an enemy, but a moment later he recognized me, and +was coming rapidly to meet us. Behind him was Snider. They both were +astounded to see me upon the north bank of the river, and much more so +at the sight of my companion. + +Then I introduced them to Victory, and told them that she was queen of +England. They thought, at first, that I was joking. But when I had +recounted my adventures and they realized that I was in earnest, they +believed me. + +They told me that they had followed me inshore when I had not returned +from the hunt, that they had met the men of the elephant country, and +had had a short and one-sided battle with the fellows. And that +afterward they had returned to the launch with a prisoner, from whom +they had learned that I had probably been captured by the men of the +lion country. + +With the prisoner as a guide they had set off up-river in search of me, +but had been much delayed by motor trouble, and had finally camped +after dark a half mile above the spot where Victory and I had spent the +night. They must have passed us in the dark, and why I did not hear the +sound of the propeller I do not know, unless it passed me at a time +when the lions were making an unusually earsplitting din upon the +opposite side. + +Taking the antelope with us, we all returned to the launch, where we +found Taylor as delighted to see me alive again as Delcarte had been. I +cannot say truthfully that Snider evinced much enthusiasm at my rescue. + +Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel, and the distilling +of them had, with the motor trouble, accounted for their delay in +setting out after me. + +The prisoner that Delcarte and Snider had taken was a powerful young +fellow from the elephant country. Notwithstanding the fact that they +had all assured him to the contrary, he still could not believe that we +would not kill him. + +He assured us that his name was Thirty-six, and, as he could not count +above ten, I am sure that he had no conception of the correct meaning +of the word, and that it may have been handed down to him either from +the military number of an ancestor who had served in the English ranks +during the Great War, or that originally it was the number of some +famous regiment with which a forbear fought. + +Now that we were reunited, we held a council to determine what course +we should pursue in the immediate future. Snider was still for setting +out to sea and returning to Pan-America, but the better judgment of +Delcarte and Taylor ridiculed the suggestion—we should not have lived a +fortnight. + +To remain in England, constantly menaced by wild beasts and men equally +as wild, seemed about as bad. I suggested that we cross the Channel and +ascertain if we could not discover a more enlightened and civilized +people upon the continent. I was sure that some trace of the ancient +culture and greatness of Europe must remain. Germany, probably, would +be much as it was during the twentieth century, for, in common with +most Pan-Americans, I was positive that Germany had been victorious in +the Great War. + +Snider demurred at the suggestion. He said that it was bad enough to +have come this far. He did not want to make it worse by going to the +continent. The outcome of it was that I finally lost my patience, and +told him that from then on he would do what I thought best—that I +proposed to assume command of the party, and that they might all +consider themselves under my orders, as much so as though we were still +aboard the Coldwater and in Pan-American waters. + +Delcarte and Taylor immediately assured me that they had not for an +instant assumed anything different, and that they were as ready to +follow and obey me here as they would be upon the other side of thirty. + +Snider said nothing, but he wore a sullen scowl. And I wished then, as +I had before, and as I did to a much greater extent later, that fate +had not decreed that he should have chanced to be a member of the +launchl’s party upon that memorable day when last we quitted the +Coldwater. + +Victory, who was given a voice in our councils, was all for going to +the continent, or anywhere else, in fact, where she might see new +sights and experience new adventures. + +“Afterward we can come back to Grabritin,” she said, “and if Buckingham +is not dead and we can catch him away from his men and kill him, then I +can return to my people, and we can all live in peace and happiness.” + +She spoke of killing Buckingham with no greater concern than one might +evince in the contemplated destruction of a sheep; yet she was neither +cruel nor vindictive. In fact, Victory is a very sweet and womanly +woman. But human life is of small account beyond thirty—a legacy from +the bloody days when thousands of men perished in the trenches between +the rising and the setting of a sun, when they laid them lengthwise in +these same trenches and sprinkled dirt over them, when the Germans +corded their corpses like wood and set fire to them, when women and +children and old men were butchered, and great passenger ships were +torpedoed without warning. + +Thirty-six, finally assured that we did not intend slaying him, was as +keen to accompany us as was Victory. + +The crossing to the continent was uneventful, its monotony being +relieved, however, by the childish delight of Victory and Thirty-six in +the novel experience of riding safely upon the bosom of the water, and +of being so far from land. + +With the possible exception of Snider, the little party appeared in the +best of spirits, laughing and joking, or interestedly discussing the +possibilities which the future held for us: what we should find upon +the continent, and whether the inhabitants would be civilized or +barbarian peoples. + +Victory asked me to explain the difference between the two, and when I +had tried to do so as clearly as possible, she broke into a gay little +laugh. + +“Oh,” she cried, “then I am a barbarian!” + +I could not but laugh, too, as I admitted that she was, indeed, a +barbarian. She was not offended, taking the matter as a huge joke. But +some time thereafter she sat in silence, apparently deep in thought. +Finally she looked up at me, her strong white teeth gleaming behind her +smiling lips. + +“Should you take that thing you call ‘razor,’” she said, “and cut the +hair from the face of Thirty-six, and exchange garments with him, you +would be the barbarian and Thirty-six the civilized man. There is no +other difference between you, except your weapons. Clothe you in a +wolfskin, give you a knife and a spear, and set you down in the woods +of Grabritin—of what service would your civilization be to you?” + +Delcarte and Taylor smiled at her reply, but Thirty-six and Snider +laughed uproariously. I was not surprised at Thirty-six, but I thought +that Snider laughed louder than the occasion warranted. As a matter of +fact, Snider, it seemed to me, was taking advantage of every +opportunity, however slight, to show insubordination, and I determined +then that at the first real breach of discipline I should take action +that would remind Snider, ever after, that I was still his commanding +officer. + +I could not help but notice that his eyes were much upon Victory, and I +did not like it, for I knew the type of man he was. But as it would not +be necessary ever to leave the girl alone with him I felt no +apprehension for her safety. + +After the incident of the discussion of barbarians I thought that +Victoryl’s manner toward me changed perceptibly. She held aloof from +me, and when Snider took his turn at the wheel, sat beside him, upon +the pretext that she wished to learn how to steer the launch. I +wondered if she had guessed the manl’s antipathy for me, and was +seeking his company solely for the purpose of piquing me. + +Snider was, too, taking full advantage of his opportunity. Often he +leaned toward the girl to whisper in her ear, and he laughed much, +which was unusual with Snider. + +Of course, it was nothing at all to me; yet, for some unaccountable +reason, the sight of the two of them sitting there so close to one +another and seeming to be enjoying each otherl’s society to such a +degree irritated me tremendously, and put me in such a bad humor that I +took no pleasure whatsoever in the last few hours of the crossing. + +We aimed to land near the site of ancient Ostend. But when we neared +the coast we discovered no indication of any human habitations +whatever, let alone a city. After we had landed, we found the same +howling wilderness about us that we had discovered on the British Isle. +There was no slightest indication that civilized man had ever set a +foot upon that portion of the continent of Europe. + +Although I had feared as much, since our experience in England, I could +not but own to a feeling of marked disappointment, and to the gravest +fears of the future, which induced a mental depression that was in no +way dissipated by the continued familiarity between Victory and Snider. + +I was angry with myself that I permitted that matter to affect me as it +had. I did not wish to admit to myself that I was angry with this +uncultured little savage, that it made the slightest difference to me +what she did or what she did not do, or that I could so lower myself as +to feel personal enmity towards a common sailor. And yet, to be honest, +I was doing both. + +Finding nothing to detain us about the spot where Ostend once had +stood, we set out up the coast in search of the mouth of the River +Rhine, which I purposed ascending in search of civilized man. It was my +intention to explore the Rhine as far up as the launch would take us. +If we found no civilization there we would return to the North Sea, +continue up the coast to the Elbe, and follow that river and the canals +of Berlin. Here, at least, I was sure that we should find what we +sought—and, if not, then all Europe had reverted to barbarism. + +The weather remained fine, and we made excellent progress, but +everywhere along the Rhine we met with the same disappointment—no sign +of civilized man, in fact, no sign of man at all. + +I was not enjoying the exploration of modern Europe as I had +anticipated—I was unhappy. Victory seemed changed, too. I had enjoyed +her company at first, but since the trip across the Channel I had held +aloof from her. + +Her chin was in the air most of the time, and yet I rather think that +she regretted her friendliness with Snider, for I noticed that she +avoided him entirely. He, on the contrary, emboldened by her former +friendliness, sought every opportunity to be near her. I should have +liked nothing better than a reasonably good excuse to punch his head; +yet, paradoxically, I was ashamed of myself for harboring him any ill +will. I realized that there was something the matter with me, but I did +not know what it was. + +Matters remained thus for several days, and we continued our journey up +the Rhine. At Cologne, I had hoped to find some reassuring indications, +but there was no Cologne. And as there had been no other cities along +the river up to that point, the devastation was infinitely greater than +time alone could have wrought. Great guns, bombs, and mines must have +leveled every building that man had raised, and then nature, +unhindered, had covered the ghastly evidence of human depravity with +her beauteous mantle of verdure. Splendid trees reared their stately +tops where splendid cathedrals once had reared their domes, and sweet +wild flowers blossomed in simple serenity in soil that once was +drenched with human blood. + +Nature had reclaimed what man had once stolen from her and defiled. A +herd of zebras grazed where once the German kaiser may have reviewed +his troops. An antelope rested peacefully in a bed of daisies where, +perhaps, two hundred years ago a big gun belched its terror-laden +messages of death, of hate, of destruction against the works of man and +God alike. + +We were in need of fresh meat, yet I hesitated to shatter the quiet and +peaceful serenity of the view with the crack of a rifle and the death +of one of those beautiful creatures before us. But it had to be done—we +must eat. I left the work to Delcarte, however, and in a moment we had +two antelope and the landscape to ourselves. + +After eating, we boarded the launch and continued up the river. For two +days we passed through a primeval wilderness. In the afternoon of the +second day we landed upon the west bank of the river, and, leaving +Snider and Thirty-six to guard Victory and the launch, Delcarte, +Taylor, and I set out after game. + +We tramped away from the river for upwards of an hour before +discovering anything, and then only a small red deer, which Taylor +brought down with a neat shot of two hundred yards. It was getting too +late to proceed farther, so we rigged a sling, and the two men carried +the deer back toward the launch while I walked a hundred yards ahead, +in the hope of bagging something further for our larder. + +We had covered about half the distance to the river, when I suddenly +came face to face with a man. He was as primitive and uncouth in +appearance as the Grabritins—a shaggy, unkempt savage, clothed in a +shirt of skin cured with the head on, the latter surmounting his own +head to form a bonnet, and giving to him a most fearful and ferocious +aspect. + +The fellow was armed with a long spear and a club, the latter dangling +down his back from a leathern thong about his neck. His feet were +incased in hide sandals. + +At sight of me, he halted for an instant, then turned and dove into the +forest, and, though I called reassuringly to him in English he did not +return nor did I again see him. + +The sight of the wild man raised my hopes once more that elsewhere we +might find men in a higher state of civilization—it was the society of +civilized man that I craved—and so, with a lighter heart, I continued +on toward the river and the launch. + +I was still some distance ahead of Delcarte and Taylor, when I came in +sight of the Rhine again. But I came to the waterl’s edge before I +noticed that anything was amiss with the party we had left there a few +hours before. + +My first intimation of disaster was the absence of the launch from its +former moorings. And then, a moment later—I discovered the body of a +man lying upon the bank. Running toward it, I saw that it was +Thirty-six, and as I stopped and raised the Grabritinl’s head in my +arms, I heard a faint moan break from his lips. He was not dead, but +that he was badly injured was all too evident. + +Delcarte and Taylor came up a moment later, and the three of us worked +over the fellow, hoping to revive him that he might tell us what had +happened, and what had become of the others. My first thought was +prompted by the sight I had recently had of the savage native. The +little party had evidently been surprised, and in the attack Thirty-six +had been wounded and the others taken prisoners. The thought was almost +like a physical blow in the face—it stunned me. Victory in the hands of +these abysmal brutes! It was frightful. I almost shook poor Thirty-six +in my efforts to revive him. + +I explained my theory to the others, and then Delcarte shattered it by +a single movement of the hand. He drew aside the lionl’s skin that +covered half of the Grabritinl’s breast, revealing a neat, round hole +in Thirty-sixl’s chest—a hole that could have been made by no other +weapon than a rifle. + +“Snider!” I exclaimed. Delcarte nodded. At about the same time the +eyelids of the wounded man fluttered, and raised. He looked up at us, +and very slowly the light of consciousness returned to his eyes. + +“What happened, Thirty-six?” I asked him. + +He tried to reply, but the effort caused him to cough, bringing about a +hemorrhage of the lungs and again he fell back exhausted. For several +long minutes he lay as one dead, then in an almost inaudible whisper he +spoke. + +“Snider—” He paused, tried to speak again, raised a hand, and pointed +down-river. “They—went—back,” and then he shuddered convulsively and +died. + +None of us voiced his belief. But I think they were all alike: Victory +and Snider had stolen the launch, and deserted us. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +We stood there, grouped about the body of the dead Grabritin, looking +futilely down the river to where it made an abrupt curve to the west, a +quarter of a mile below us, and was lost to sight, as though we +expected to see the truant returning to us with our precious launch—the +thing that meant life or death to us in this unfriendly, savage world. + +I felt, rather than saw, Taylor turn his eyes slowly toward my profile, +and, as mine swung to meet them, the expression upon his face recalled +me to my duty and responsibility as an officer. + +The utter hopelessness that was reflected in his face must have been +the counterpart of what I myself felt, but in that brief instant I +determined to hide my own misgivings that I might bolster up the +courage of the others. + +“We are lost!” was written as plainly upon Taylorl’s face as though his +features were the printed words upon an open book. He was thinking of +the launch, and of the launch alone. Was I? I tried to think that I +was. But a greater grief than the loss of the launch could have +engendered in me, filled my heart—a sullen, gnawing misery which I +tried to deny—which I refused to admit—but which persisted in obsessing +me until my heart rose and filled my throat, and I could not speak when +I would have uttered words of reassurance to my companions. + +And then rage came to my relief—rage against the vile traitor who had +deserted three of his fellow countrymen in so frightful a position. I +tried to feel an equal rage against the woman, but somehow I could not, +and kept searching for excuses for her—her youth, her inexperience, her +savagery. + +My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness. I smiled, and +told Taylor not to look so glum. + +“We will follow them,” I said, “and the chances are that we shall +overtake them. They will not travel as rapidly as Snider probably +hopes. He will be forced to halt for fuel and for food, and the launch +must follow the windings of the river; we can take short cuts while +they are traversing the detour. I have my map—thank God! I always carry +it upon my person—and with that and the compass we will have an +advantage over them.” + +My words seemed to cheer them both, and they were for starting off at +once in pursuit. There was no reason why we should delay, and we set +forth down the river. As we tramped along, we discussed a question that +was uppermost in the mind of each—what we should do with Snider when we +had captured him, for with the action of pursuit had come the +optimistic conviction that we should succeed. As a matter of fact, we +had to succeed. The very thought of remaining in this utter wilderness +for the rest of our lives was impossible. + +We arrived at nothing very definite in the matter of Sniderl’s +punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him, Delcarte insisting that +he should be hanged, while I, although fully conscious of the gravity +of his offense, could not bring myself to give the death penalty. + +I fell to wondering what charm Victory had found in such a man as +Snider, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for her and trying to +defend her indefensible act. She was nothing to me. Aside from the +natural gratitude I felt for her since she had saved my life, I owed +her nothing. She was a half-naked little savage—I, a gentleman, and an +officer in the worldl’s greatest navy. There could be no close bonds of +interest between us. + +This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing as the +former, but, though I tried to turn my mind to other things, it +persisted in returning to the vision of an oval face, sun-tanned; of +smiling lips, revealing white and even teeth; of brave eyes that +harbored no shadow of guile; and of a tumbling mass of wavy hair that +crowned the loveliest picture on which my eyes had ever rested. + +Every time this vision presented itself I felt myself turn cold with +rage and hate against Snider. I could forgive the launch, but if he had +wronged her he should die—he should die at my own hands; in this I was +determined. + +For two days we followed the river northward, cutting off where we +could, but confined for the most part to the game trails that +paralleled the stream. One afternoon, we cut across a narrow neck of +land that saved us many miles, where the river wound to the west and +back again. + +Here we decided to halt, for we had had a hard day of it, and, if the +truth were known, I think that we had all given up hope of overtaking +the launch other than by the merest accident. + +We had shot a deer just before our halt, and, as Taylor and Delcarte +were preparing it, I walked down to the water to fill our canteens. I +had just finished, and was straightening up, when something floating +around a bend above me caught my eye. For a moment I could not believe +the testimony of my own senses. It was a boat. + +I shouted to Delcarte and Taylor, who came running to my side. + +“The launch!” cried Delcarte; and, indeed, it was the launch, floating +down-river from above us. Where had it been? How had we passed it? And +how were we to reach it now, should Snider and the girl discover us? + +“Itl’s drifting,” said Taylor. “I see no one in it.” + +I was stripping off my clothes, and Delcarte soon followed my example. +I told Taylor to remain on shore with the clothing and rifles. He might +also serve us better there, since it would give him an opportunity to +take a shot at Snider should the man discover us and show himself. + +With powerful strokes we swam out in the path of the oncoming launch. +Being a stronger swimmer than Delcarte, I soon was far in the lead, +reaching the center of the channel just as the launch bore down upon +me. It was drifting broadside on. I seized the gunwale and raised +myself quickly, so that my chin topped the side. I expected a blow the +moment that I came within the view of the occupants, but no blow fell. + +Snider lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat alone. Even before I +had clambered in and stooped above him I knew that he was dead. Without +examining him further, I ran forward to the control board and pressed +the starting button. To my relief, the mechanism responded—the launch +was uninjured. Coming about, I picked up Delcarte. He was astounded at +the sight that met his eyes, and immediately fell to examining +Sniderl’s body for signs of life or an explanation of the manner in +which he met his death. + +The fellow had been dead for hours—he was cold and still. But +Delcarte’s search was not without results, for above Sniderl’s heart +was a wound, a slit about an inch in length—such a slit as a sharp +knife would make, and in the dead fingers of one hand was clutched a +strand of long brown hair—Victoryl’s hair was brown. + +They say that dead men tell no tales, but Snider told the story of his +end as clearly as though the dead lips had parted and poured forth the +truth. The beast had attacked the girl, and she had defended her honor. + +We buried Snider beside the Rhine, and no stone marks his last resting +place. Beasts do not require headstones. + +Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose upstream. When I had +told Delcarte and Taylor that I intended searching for the girl, +neither had demurred. + +“We had her wrong in our thoughts,” said Delcarte, “and the least that +we can do in expiation is to find and rescue her.” + +We called her name aloud every few minutes as we motored up the river, +but, though we returned all the way to our former camping place, we did +not find her. I then decided to retrace our journey, letting Taylor +handle the launch, while Delcarte and I, upon opposite sides of the +river, searched for some sign of the spot where Victory had landed. + +We found nothing until we had reached a point a few miles above the +spot where I had first seen the launch drifting down toward us, and +there I discovered the remnants of a recent camp fire. + +That Victory carried flint and steel I was aware, and that it was she +who built the fire I was positive. But which way had she gone since she +stopped here? + +Would she go on down the river, that she might thus bring herself +nearer her own Grabritin, or would she have sought to search for us +upstream, where she had seen us last? + +I had hailed Taylor, and sent him across the river to take in Delcarte, +that the two might join me and discuss my discovery and our future +plans. + +While waiting for them, I stood looking out over the river, my back +toward the woods that stretched away to the east behind me. Delcarte +was just stepping into the launch upon the opposite side of the stream, +when, without the least warning, I was violently seized by both arms +and about the waist—three or four men were upon me at once; my rifle +was snatched from my hands and my revolver from my belt. + +I struggled for an instant, but finding my efforts of no avail, I +ceased them, and turned my head to have a look at my assailants. At the +same time several others of them walked around in front of me, and, to +my astonishment, I found myself looking upon uniformed soldiery, armed +with rifles, revolvers, and sabers, but with faces as black as coal. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Delcarte and Taylor were now in mid-stream, coming toward us, and I +called to them to keep aloof until I knew whether the intentions of my +captors were friendly or otherwise. My good men wanted to come on and +annihilate the blacks. But there were upward of a hundred of the +latter, all well armed, and so I commanded Delcarte to keep out of +harml’s way, and stay where he was till I needed him. + +A young officer called and beckoned to them. But they refused to come, +and so he gave orders that resulted in my hands being secured at my +back, after which the company marched away, straight toward the east. + +I noticed that the men wore spurs, which seemed strange to me. But +when, late in the afternoon, we arrived at their encampment, I +discovered that my captors were cavalrymen. + +In the center of a plain stood a log fort, with a blockhouse at each of +its four corners. As we approached, I saw a herd of cavalry horses +grazing under guard outside the walls of the post. They were small, +stocky horses, but the telltale saddle galls proclaimed their calling. +The flag flying from a tall staff inside the palisade was one which I +had never before seen nor heard of. + +We marched directly into the compound, where the company was dismissed, +with the exception of a guard of four privates, who escorted me in the +wake of the young officer. The latter led us across a small parade +ground, where a battery of light field guns was parked, and toward a +log building, in front of which rose the flagstaff. + +I was escorted within the building into the presence of an old negro, a +fine looking man, with a dignified and military bearing. He was a +colonel, I was to learn later, and to him I owe the very humane +treatment that was accorded me while I remained his prisoner. + +He listened to the report of his junior, and then turned to question +me, but with no better results than the former had accomplished. Then +he summoned an orderly, and gave some instructions. The soldier +saluted, and left the room, returning in about five minutes with a +hairy old white man—just such a savage, primeval-looking fellow as I +had discovered in the woods the day that Snider had disappeared with +the launch. + +The colonel evidently expected to use the fellow as interpreter, but +when the savage addressed me it was in a language as foreign to me as +was that of the blacks. At last the old officer gave it up, and, +shaking his head, gave instructions for my removal. + +From his office I was led to a guardhouse, in which I found about fifty +half-naked whites, clad in the skins of wild beasts. I tried to +converse with them, but not one of them could understand Pan-American, +nor could I make head or tail of their jargon. + +For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from morning +until night at odd jobs about the headquarters building of the +commanding officer. The other prisoners worked harder than I did, and I +owe my better treatment solely to the kindliness and discrimination of +the old colonel. + +What had become of Victory, of Delcarte, of Taylor I could not know; +nor did it seem likely that I should ever learn. I was most depressed. +But I whiled away my time in performing the duties given me to the best +of my ability and attempting to learn the language of my captors. + +Who they were or where they came from was a mystery to me. That they +were the outpost of some powerful black nation seemed likely, yet where +the seat of that nation lay I could not guess. + +They looked upon the whites as their inferiors, and treated us +accordingly. They had a literature of their own, and many of the men, +even the common soldiers, were omnivorous readers. Every two weeks a +dust-covered trooper would trot his jaded mount into the post and +deliver a bulging sack of mail at headquarters. The next day he would +be away again upon a fresh horse toward the south, carrying the +soldiers’ letters to friends in the far off land of mystery from whence +they all had come. + +Troops, sometimes mounted and sometimes afoot, left the post daily for +what I assumed to be patrol duty. I judged the little force of a +thousand men were detailed here to maintain the authority of a distant +government in a conquered country. Later, I learned that my surmise was +correct, and this was but one of a great chain of similar posts that +dotted the new frontier of the black nation into whose hands I had +fallen. + +Slowly I learned their tongue, so that I could understand what was said +before me, and make myself understood. I had seen from the first that I +was being treated as a slave—that all whites that fell into the hands +of the blacks were thus treated. + +Almost daily new prisoners were brought in, and about three weeks after +I was brought in to the post a troop of cavalry came from the south to +relieve one of the troops stationed there. There was great jubilation +in the encampment after the arrival of the newcomers, old friendships +were renewed and new ones made. But the happiest men were those of the +troop that was to be relieved. + +The next morning they started away, and as they were forced upon the +parade ground we prisoners were marched from our quarters and lined up +before them. A couple of long chains were brought, with rings in the +links every few feet. At first I could not guess the purpose of these +chains. But I was soon to learn. + +A couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck of a +powerful white slave, and one by one the rest of us were herded to our +places, and the work of shackling us neck to neck commenced. + +The colonel stood watching the procedure. Presently his eyes fell upon +me, and he spoke to a young officer at his side. The latter stepped +toward me and motioned me to follow him. I did so, and was led back to +the colonel. + +By this time I could understand a few words of their strange language, +and when the colonel asked me if I would prefer to remain at the post +as his body servant, I signified my willingness as emphatically as +possible, for I had seen enough of the brutality of the common soldiers +toward their white slaves to have no desire to start out upon a march +of unknown length, chained by the neck, and driven on by the great +whips that a score of the soldiers carried to accelerate the speed of +their charges. + +About three hundred prisoners who had been housed in six prisons at the +post marched out of the gates that morning, toward what fate and what +future I could not guess. Neither had the poor devils themselves more +than the most vague conception of what lay in store for them, except +that they were going elsewhere to continue in the slavery that they had +known since their capture by their black conquerors—a slavery that was +to continue until death released them. + +My position was altered at the post. From working about the +headquarters office, I was transferred to the colonel’s living +quarters. I had greater freedom, and no longer slept in one of the +prisons, but had a little room to myself off the kitchen of the +colonel’s log house. + +My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly learned the +language of my captors, and much concerning them that had been a +mystery to me before. His name was Abu Belik. He was a colonel in the +cavalry of Abyssinia, a country of which I do not remember ever +hearing, but which Colonel Belik assured me is the oldest civilized +country in the world. + +Colonel Belik was born in Adis Abeba, the capital of the empire, and +until recently had been in command of the emperorl’s palace guard. +Jealousy and the ambition and intrigue of another officer had lost him +the favor of his emperor, and he had been detailed to this frontier +post as a mark of his sovereignl’s displeasure. + +Some fifty years before, the young emperor, Menelek XIV, was ambitious. +He knew that a great world lay across the waters far to the north of +his capital. Once he had crossed the desert and looked out upon the +blue sea that was the northern boundary of his dominions. + +There lay another world to conquer. Menelek busied himself with the +building of a great fleet, though his people were not a maritime race. +His army crossed into Europe. It met with little resistance, and for +fifty years his soldiers had been pushing his boundaries farther and +farther toward the north. + +“The yellow men from the east and north are contesting our rights here +now,” said the colonel, “but we shall win—we shall conquer the world, +carrying Christianity to all the benighted heathen of Europe, and Asia +as well.” + +“You are a Christian people?” I asked. + +He looked at me in surprise, nodding his head affirmatively. + +“I am a Christian,” I said. “My people are the most powerful on earth.” + +He smiled, and shook his head indulgently, as a father to a child who +sets up his childish judgment against that of his elders. + +Then I set out to prove my point. I told him of our cities, of our +army, of our great navy. He came right back at me asking for figures, +and when he was done I had to admit that only in our navy were we +numerically superior. + +Menelek XIV is the undisputed ruler of all the continent of Africa, of +all of ancient Europe except the British Isles, Scandinavia, and +eastern Russia, and has large possessions and prosperous colonies in +what once were Arabia and Turkey in Asia. + +He has a standing army of ten million men, and his people possess +slaves—white slaves—to the number of ten or fifteen million. + +Colonel Belik was much surprised, however, upon his part, to learn of +the great nation which lay across the ocean, and when he found that I +was a naval officer, he was inclined to accord me even greater +consideration than formerly. It was difficult for him to believe my +assertion that there were but few blacks in my country, and that these +occupied a lower social plane than the whites. + +Just the reverse is true in Colonel Belikl’s land. He considered whites +inferior beings, creatures of a lower order, and assured me that even +the few white freemen of Abyssinia were never accorded anything +approximating a position of social equality with the blacks. They live +in the poorer districts of the cities, in little white colonies, and a +black who marries a white is socially ostracized. + +The arms and ammunition of the Abyssinians are greatly inferior to +ours, yet they are tremendously effective against the ill-armed +barbarians of Europe. Their rifles are of a type similar to the +magazine rifles of twentieth century Pan-America, but carrying only +five cartridges in the magazine, in addition to the one in the chamber. +They are of extraordinary length, even those of the cavalry, and are of +extreme accuracy. + +The Abyssinians themselves are a fine looking race of black men—tall, +muscular, with fine teeth, and regular features, which incline +distinctly toward Semitic mold—I refer to the full-blooded natives of +Abyssinia. They are the patricians—the aristocracy. The army is +officered almost exclusively by them. Among the soldiery a lower type +of negro predominates, with thicker lips and broader, flatter noses. +These men are recruited, so the colonel told me, from among the +conquered tribes of Africa. They are good soldiers—brave and loyal. +They can read and write, and they are endowed with a self-confidence +and pride which, from my readings of the words of ancient African +explorers, must have been wanting in their earliest progenitors. On the +whole, it is apparent that the black race has thrived far better in the +past two centuries under men of its own color than it had under the +domination of whites during all previous history. + +I had been a prisoner at the little frontier post for over a month, +when orders came to Colonel Belik to hasten to the eastern frontier +with the major portion of his command, leaving only one troop to +garrison the fort. As his body servant, I accompanied him mounted upon +a fiery little Abyssinian pony. + +We marched rapidly for ten days through the heart of the ancient German +empire, halting when night found us in proximity to water. Often we +passed small posts similar to that at which the colonel’s regiment had +been quartered, finding in each instance that only a single company or +troop remained for defence, the balance having been withdrawn toward +the northeast, in the same direction in which we were moving. + +Naturally, the colonel had not confided to me the nature of his orders. +But the rapidity of our march and the fact that all available troops +were being hastened toward the northeast assured me that a matter of +vital importance to the dominion of Menelek XIV in that part of Europe +was threatening or had already broken. + +I could not believe that a simple rising of the savage tribes of whites +would necessitate the mobilizing of such a force as we presently met +with converging from the south into our trail. There were large bodies +of cavalry and infantry, endless streams of artillery wagons and guns, +and countless horse-drawn covered vehicles laden with camp equipage, +munitions, and provisions. + +Here, for the first time, I saw camels, great caravans of them, bearing +all sorts of heavy burdens, and miles upon miles of elephants doing +similar service. It was a scene of wondrous and barbaric splendor, for +the men and beasts from the south were gaily caparisoned in rich +colors, in marked contrast to the gray uniformed forces of the +frontier, with which I had been familiar. + +The rumor reached us that Menelek himself was coming, and the pitch of +excitement to which this announcement raised the troops was little +short of miraculous—at least, to one of my race and nationality whose +rulers for centuries had been but ordinary men, holding office at the +will of the people for a few brief years. + +As I witnessed it, I could not but speculate upon the moral effect upon +his troops of a sovereignl’s presence in the midst of battle. All else +being equal in war between the troops of a republic and an empire, +could not this exhilarated mental state, amounting almost to hysteria +on the part of the imperial troops, weigh heavily against the soldiers +of a president? I wonder. + +But if the emperor chanced to be absent? What then? Again I wonder. + +On the eleventh day we reached our destination—a walled frontier city +of about twenty thousand. We passed some lakes, and crossed some old +canals before entering the gates. Within, beside the frame buildings, +were many built of ancient brick and well-cut stone. These, I was told, +were of material taken from the ruins of the ancient city which, once, +had stood upon the site of the present town. + +The name of the town, translated from the Abyssinian, is New Gondar. It +stands, I am convinced, upon the ruins of ancient Berlin, the one time +capital of the old German empire, but except for the old building +material used in the new town there is no sign of the former city. + +The day after we arrived, the town was gaily decorated with flags, +streamers, gorgeous rugs, and banners, for the rumor had proved +true—the emperor was coming. + +Colonel Belik had accorded me the greatest liberty, permitting me to go +where I pleased, after my few duties had been performed. As a result of +his kindness, I spent much time wandering about New Gondar, talking +with the inhabitants, and exploring the city of black men. + +As I had been given a semi-military uniform which bore insignia +indicating that I was an officerl’s body servant, even the blacks +treated me with a species of respect, though I could see by their +manner that I was really as the dirt beneath their feet. They answered +my questions civilly enough, but they would not enter into conversation +with me. It was from other slaves that I learned the gossip of the +city. + +Troops were pouring in from the west and south, and pouring out toward +the east. I asked an old slave who was sweeping the dirt into little +piles in the gutters of the street where the soldiers were going. He +looked at me in surprise. + +“Why, to fight the yellow men, of course,” he said. “They have crossed +the border, and are marching toward New Gondar.” + +“Who will win?” I asked. + +He shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows?” he said. “I hope it will be the +yellow men, but Menelek is powerful—it will take many yellow men to +defeat him.” + +Crowds were gathering along the sidewalks to view the emperorl’s entry +into the city. I took my place among them, although I hate crowds, and +I am glad that I did, for I witnessed such a spectacle of barbaric +splendor as no other Pan-American has ever looked upon. + +Down the broad main thoroughfare, which may once have been the historic +Unter den Linden, came a brilliant cortege. At the head rode a regiment +of red-coated hussars—enormous men, black as night. There were troops +of riflemen mounted on camels. The emperor rode in a golden howdah upon +the back of a huge elephant so covered with rich hangings and +embellished with scintillating gems that scarce more than the beastl’s +eyes and feet were visible. + +Menelek was a rather gross-looking man, well past middle age, but he +carried himself with an air of dignity befitting one descended in +unbroken line from the Prophet—as was his claim. + +His eyes were bright but crafty, and his features denoted both +sensuality and cruelness. In his youth he may have been a rather fine +looking black, but when I saw him his appearance was revolting—to me, +at least. + +Following the emperor came regiment after regiment from the various +branches of the service, among them batteries of field guns mounted on +elephants. + +In the center of the troops following the imperial elephant marched a +great caravan of slaves. The old street sweeper at my elbow told me +that these were the gifts brought in from the far outlying districts by +the commanding officers of the frontier posts. The majority of them +were women, destined, I was told, for the harems of the emperor and his +favorites. It made my old companion clench his fists to see those poor +white women marching past to their horrid fates, and, though I shared +his sentiments, I was as powerless to alter their destinies as he. + +For a week the troops kept pouring in and out of New Gondar—in, always, +from the south and west, but always toward the east. Each new +contingent brought its gifts to the emperor. From the south they +brought rugs and ornaments and jewels; from the west, slaves; for the +commanding officers of the western frontier posts had naught else to +bring. + +From the number of women they brought, I judged that they knew the +weakness of their imperial master. + +And then soldiers commenced coming in from the east, but not with the +gay assurance of those who came from the south and west—no, these +others came in covered wagons, blood-soaked and suffering. They came at +first in little parties of eight or ten, and then they came in fifties, +in hundreds, and one day a thousand maimed and dying men were carted +into New Gondar. + +It was then that Menelek XIV became uneasy. For fifty years his armies +had conquered wherever they had marched. At first he had led them in +person, lately his presence within a hundred miles of the battle line +had been sufficient for large engagements—for minor ones only the +knowledge that they were fighting for the glory of their sovereign was +necessary to win victories. + +One morning, New Gondar was awakened by the booming of cannon. It was +the first intimation that the townspeople had received that the enemy +was forcing the imperial troops back upon the city. Dust covered +couriers galloped in from the front. Fresh troops hastened from the +city, and about noon Menelek rode out surrounded by his staff. + +For three days thereafter we could hear the cannonading and the +spitting of the small arms, for the battle line was scarce two leagues +from New Gondar. The city was filled with wounded. Just outside, +soldiers were engaged in throwing up earthworks. It was evident to the +least enlightened that Menelek expected further reverses. + +And then the imperial troops fell back upon these new defenses, or, +rather, they were forced back by the enemy. Shells commenced to fall +within the city. Menelek returned and took up his headquarters in the +stone building that was called the palace. That night came a lull in +the hostilities—a truce had been arranged. + +Colonel Belik summoned me about seven o’clock to dress him for a +function at the palace. In the midst of death and defeat the emperor +was about to give a great banquet to his officers. I was to accompany +my master and wait upon him—I, Jefferson Turck, lieutenant in the +Pan-American navy! + +In the privacy of the colonel’s quarters I had become accustomed to my +menial duties, lightened as they were by the natural kindliness of my +master, but the thought of appearing in public as a common slave +revolted every fine instinct within me. Yet there was nothing for it +but to obey. + +I cannot, even now, bring myself to a narration of the humiliation +which I experienced that night as I stood behind my black master in +silent servility, now pouring his wine, now cutting up his meats for +him, now fanning him with a large, plumed fan of feathers. + +As fond as I had grown of him, I could have thrust a knife into him, so +keenly did I feel the affront that had been put upon me. But at last +the long banquet was concluded. The tables were removed. The emperor +ascended a dais at one end of the room and seated himself upon a +throne, and the entertainment commenced. It was only what ancient +history might have led me to expect—musicians, dancing girls, jugglers, +and the like. + +Near midnight, the master of ceremonies announced that the slave women +who had been presented to the emperor since his arrival in New Gondar +would be exhibited, that the royal host would select such as he wished, +after which he would present the balance of them to his guests. Ah, +what royal generosity! + +A small door at one side of the room opened, and the poor creatures +filed in and were ranged in a long line before the throne. Their backs +were toward me. I saw only an occasional profile as now and then a +bolder spirit among them turned to survey the apartment and the +gorgeous assemblage of officers in their brilliant dress uniforms. They +were profiles of young girls, and pretty, but horror was indelibly +stamped upon them all. I shuddered as I contemplated their sad fate, +and turned my eyes away. + +I heard the master of ceremonies command them to prostrate themselves +before the emperor, and the sounds as they went upon their knees before +him, touching their foreheads to the floor. Then came the official’s +voice again, in sharp and peremptory command. + +“Down, slave!” he cried. “Make obeisance to your sovereign!” + +I looked up, attracted by the tone of the manl’s voice, to see a +single, straight, slim figure standing erect in the center of the line +of prostrate girls, her arms folded across her breast and little chin +in the air. Her back was toward me—I could not see her face, though I +should like to see the countenance of this savage young lioness, +standing there defiant among that herd of terrified sheep. + +“Down! Down!” shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a step toward +her and half drawing his sword. + +My blood boiled. To stand there, inactive, while a negro struck down +that brave girl of my own race! Instinctively I took a forward step to +place myself in the manl’s path. But at the same instant Menelek raised +his hand in a gesture that halted the officer. The emperor seemed +interested, but in no way angered at the girl’s attitude. + +“Let us inquire,” he said in a smooth, pleasant voice, “why this young +woman refuses to do homage to her sovereign,” and he put the question +himself directly to her. + +She answered him in Abyssinian, but brokenly and with an accent that +betrayed how recently she had acquired her slight knowledge of the +tongue. + +“I go on my knees to no one,” she said. “I have no sovereign. I myself +am sovereign in my own country.” + +Menelek, at her words, leaned back in his throne and laughed +uproariously. Following his example, which seemed always the correct +procedure, the assembled guests vied with one another in an effort to +laugh more noisily than the emperor. + +The girl but tilted her chin a bit higher in the air—even her back +proclaimed her utter contempt for her captors. Finally Menelek restored +quiet by the simple expedient of a frown, whereupon each loyal guest +exchanged his mirthful mien for an emulative scowl. + +“And who,” asked Menelek, “are you, and by what name is your country +called?” + +“I am Victory, Queen of Grabritin,” replied the girl so quickly and so +unexpectedly that I gasped in astonishment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Victory! She was here, a slave to these black conquerors. Once more I +started toward her, but better judgment held me back—I could do nothing +to help her other than by stealth. Could I even accomplish aught by +this means? I did not know. It seemed beyond the pale of possibility, +and yet I should try. + +“And you will not bend the knee to me?” continued Menelek, after she +had spoken. Victory shook her head in a most decided negation. + +“You shall be my first choice, then,” said the emperor. “I like your +spirit, for the breaking of it will add to my pleasure in you, and +never fear but that it shall be broken—this very night. Take her to my +apartments,” and he motioned to an officer at his side. + +I was surprised to see Victory follow the man off in apparent quiet +submission. I tried to follow, that I might be near her against some +opportunity to speak with her or assist in her escape. But, after I had +followed them from the throne room, through several other apartments, +and down a long corridor, I found my further progress barred by a +soldier who stood guard before a doorway through which the officer +conducted Victory. + +Almost immediately the officer reappeared and started back in the +direction of the throne room. I had been hiding in a doorway after the +guard had turned me back, having taken refuge there while his back was +turned, and, as the officer approached me, I withdrew into the room +beyond, which was in darkness. There I remained for a long time, +watching the sentry before the door of the room in which Victory was a +prisoner, and awaiting some favorable circumstance which would give me +entry to her. + +I have not attempted to fully describe my sensations at the moment I +recognized Victory, because, I can assure you, they were entirely +indescribable. I should never have imagined that the sight of any human +being could affect me as had this unexpected discovery of Victory in +the same room in which I was, while I had thought of her for weeks +either as dead, or at best hundreds of miles to the west, and as +irretrievably lost to me as though she were, in truth, dead. + +I was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her. It was not +enough merely to assist her, or protect her—I desired to touch her—to +take her in my arms. I was astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled +me—it was my incomprehensible feeling of elation since I had again seen +her. With a fate worse than death staring her in the face, and with the +knowledge that I should probably die defending her within the hour, I +was still happier than I had been for weeks—and all because I had seen +again for a few brief minutes the figure of a little heathen maiden. I +couldn’t account for it, and it angered me; I had never before felt any +such sensations in the presence of a woman, and I had made love to some +very beautiful ones in my time. + +It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of that doorway, in the +ill-lit corridor of the palace of Menelek XIV. A sickly gas jet cast a +sad pallor upon the black face of the sentry. The fellow seemed rooted +to the spot. Evidently he would never leave, or turn his back again. + +I had been in hiding but a short time when I heard the sound of distant +cannon. The truce had ended, and the battle had been resumed. Very +shortly thereafter the earth shook to the explosion of a shell within +the city, and from time to time thereafter other shells burst at no +great distance from the palace. The yellow men were bombarding New +Gondar again. + +Presently officers and slaves commenced to traverse the corridor on +matters pertaining to their duties, and then came the emperor, scowling +and wrathful. He was followed by a few personal attendants, whom he +dismissed at the doorway to his apartments—the same doorway through +which Victory had been taken. I chafed to follow him, but the corridor +was filled with people. At last they betook themselves to their own +apartments, which lay upon either side of the corridor. + +An officer and a slave entered the very room in which I hid, forcing me +to flatten myself to one side in the darkness until they had passed. +Then the slave made a light, and I knew that I must find another hiding +place. + +Stepping boldly into the corridor, I saw that it was now empty save for +the single sentry before the emperorl’s door. He glanced up as I +emerged from the room, the occupants of which had not seen me. I walked +straight toward the soldier, my mind made up in an instant. I tried to +simulate an expression of cringing servility, and I must have +succeeded, for I entirely threw the man off his guard, so that he +permitted me to approach within reach of his rifle before stopping me. +Then it was too late—for him. + +Without a word or a warning, I snatched the piece from his grasp, and, +at the same time struck him a terrific blow between the eyes with my +clenched fist. He staggered back in surprise, too dumbfounded even to +cry out, and then I clubbed his rifle and felled him with a single +mighty blow. + +A moment later, I had burst into the room beyond. It was empty! + +I gazed about, mad with disappointment. Two doors opened from this to +other rooms. I ran to the nearer and listened. Yes, voices were coming +from beyond and one was a womanl’s, level and cold and filled with +scorn. There was no terror in it. It was Victoryl’s. + +I turned the knob and pushed the door inward just in time to see +Menelek seize the girl and drag her toward the far end of the +apartment. At the same instant there was a deafening roar just outside +the palace—a shell had struck much nearer than any of its predecessors. +The noise of it drowned my rapid rush across the room. + +But in her struggles, Victory turned Menelek about so that he saw me. +She was striking him in the face with her clenched fist, and now he was +choking her. + +At sight of me, he gave voice to a roar of anger. + +“What means this, slave?” he cried. “Out of here! Out of here! Quick, +before I kill you!” + +But for answer I rushed upon him, striking him with the butt of the +rifle. He staggered back, dropping Victory to the floor, and then he +cried aloud for the guard, and came at me. Again and again I struck +him; but his thick skull might have been armor plate, for all the +damage I did it. + +He tried to close with me, seizing the rifle, but I was stronger than +he, and, wrenching the weapon from his grasp, tossed it aside and made +for his throat with my bare hands. I had not dared fire the weapon for +fear that its report would bring the larger guard stationed at the +farther end of the corridor. + +We struggled about the room, striking one another, knocking over +furniture, and rolling upon the floor. Menelek was a powerful man, and +he was fighting for his life. Continually he kept calling for the +guard, until I succeeded in getting a grip upon his throat; but it was +too late. His cries had been heard, and suddenly the door burst open, +and a score of armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment. + +Victory seized the rifle from the floor and leaped between me and them. +I had the black emperor upon his back, and both my hands were at his +throat, choking the life from him. + +The rest happened in the fraction of a second. There was a rending +crash above us, then a deafening explosion within the chamber. Smoke +and powder fumes filled the room. Half stunned, I rose from the +lifeless body of my antagonist just in time to see Victory stagger to +her feet and turn toward me. Slowly the smoke cleared to reveal the +shattered remnants of the guard. A shell had fallen through the palace +roof and exploded just in the rear of the detachment of guardsmen who +were coming to the rescue of their emperor. Why neither Victory nor I +were struck is a miracle. The room was a wreck. A great, jagged hole +was torn in the ceiling, and the wall toward the corridor had been +blown entirely out. + +As I rose, Victory had risen, too, and started toward me. But when she +saw that I was uninjured she stopped, and stood there in the center of +the demolished apartment looking at me. Her expression was +inscrutable—I could not guess whether she was glad to see me, or not. + +“Victory!” I cried. “Thank God that you are safe!” And I approached +her, a greater gladness in my heart than I had felt since the moment +that I knew the Coldwater must be swept beyond thirty. + +There was no answering gladness in her eyes. Instead, she stamped her +little foot in anger. + +“Why did it have to be you who saved me!” she exclaimed. “I hate you!” + +“Hate me?” I asked. “Why should you hate me, Victory? I do not hate +you. I—I—” What was I about to say? I was very close to her as a great +light broke over me. Why had I never realized it before? The truth +accounted for a great many hitherto inexplicable moods that had claimed +me from time to time since first I had seen Victory. + +“Why should I hate you?” she repeated. “Because Snider told me—he told +me that you had promised me to him, but he did not get me. I killed +him, as I should like to kill you!” + +“Snider lied!” I cried. And then I seized her and held her in my arms, +and made her listen to me, though she struggled and fought like a young +lioness. “I love you, Victory. You must know that I love you—that I +have always loved you, and that I never could have made so base a +promise.” + +She ceased her struggles, just a trifle, but still tried to push me +from her. “You called me a barbarian!” she said. + +Ah, so that was it! That still rankled. I crushed her to me. + +“You could not love a barbarian,” she went on, but she had ceased to +struggle. + +“But I do love a barbarian, Victory!” I cried, “the dearest barbarian +in the world.” + +She raised her eyes to mine, and then her smooth, brown arms encircled +my neck and drew my lips down to hers. + +“I love you—I have loved you always!” she said, and then she buried her +face upon my shoulder and sobbed. “I have been so unhappy,” she said, +“but I could not die while I thought that you might live.” + +As we stood there, momentarily forgetful of all else than our new found +happiness, the ferocity of the bombardment increased until scarce +thirty seconds elapsed between the shells that rained about the palace. + +To remain long would be to invite certain death. We could not escape +the way that we had entered the apartment, for not only was the +corridor now choked with debris, but beyond the corridor there were +doubtless many members of the emperorl’s household who would stop us. + +Upon the opposite side of the room was another door, and toward this I +led the way. It opened into a third apartment with windows overlooking +an inner court. From one of these windows I surveyed the courtyard. +Apparently it was empty, and the rooms upon the opposite side were +unlighted. + +Assisting Victory to the open, I followed, and together we crossed the +court, discovering upon the opposite side a number of wide, wooden +doors set in the wall of the palace, with small windows between. As we +stood close behind one of the doors, listening, a horse within neighed. + +“The stables!” I whispered, and, a moment later, had pushed back a door +and entered. From the city about us we could hear the din of great +commotion, and quite close the sounds of battle—the crack of thousands +of rifles, the yells of the soldiers, the hoarse commands of officers, +and the blare of bugles. + +The bombardment had ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. I judged +that the enemy was storming the city, for the sounds we heard were the +sounds of hand-to-hand combat. + +Within the stables I groped about until I had found saddles and bridles +for two horses. But afterward, in the darkness, I could find but a +single mount. The doors of the opposite side, leading to the street, +were open, and we could see great multitudes of men, women, and +children fleeing toward the west. Soldiers, afoot and mounted, were +joining the mad exodus. Now and then a camel or an elephant would pass +bearing some officer or dignitary to safety. It was evident that the +city would fall at any moment—a fact which was amply proclaimed by the +terror-stricken haste of the fear-mad mob. + +Horse, camel, and elephant trod helpless women and children beneath +their feet. A common soldier dragged a general from his mount, and, +leaping to the animal’s back, fled down the packed street toward the +west. A woman seized a gun and brained a court dignitary, whose horse +had trampled her child to death. Shrieks, curses, commands, +supplications filled the air. It was a frightful scene—one that will be +burned upon my memory forever. + +I had saddled and bridled the single horse which had evidently been +overlooked by the royal household in its flight, and, standing a little +back in the shadow of the stable’s interior, Victory and I watched the +surging throng without. + +To have entered it would have been to have courted greater danger than +we were already in. We decided to wait until the stress of blacks +thinned, and for more than an hour we stood there while the sounds of +battle raged upon the eastern side of the city and the population flew +toward the west. More and more numerous became the uniformed soldiers +among the fleeing throng, until, toward the last, the street was packed +with them. It was no orderly retreat, but a rout, complete and +terrible. + +The fighting was steadily approaching us now, until the crack of rifles +sounded in the very street upon which we were looking. And then came a +handful of brave men—a little rear guard backing slowly toward the +west, working their smoking rifles in feverish haste as they fired +volley after volley at the foe we could not see. + +But these were pressed back and back until the first line of the enemy +came opposite our shelter. They were men of medium height, with olive +complexions and almond eyes. In them I recognized the descendants of +the ancient Chinese race. + +They were well uniformed and superbly armed, and they fought bravely +and under perfect discipline. So rapt was I in the exciting events +transpiring in the street that I did not hear the approach of a body of +men from behind. It was a party of the conquerors who had entered the +palace and were searching it. + +They came upon us so unexpectedly that we were prisoners before we +realized what had happened. That night we were held under a strong +guard just outside the eastern wall of the city, and the next morning +were started upon a long march toward the east. + +Our captors were not unkind to us, and treated the women prisoners with +respect. We marched for many days—so many that I lost count of them—and +at last we came to another city—a Chinese city this time—which stands +upon the site of ancient Moscow. + +It is only a small frontier city, but it is well built and well kept. +Here a large military force is maintained, and here also, is a terminus +of the railroad that crosses modern China to the Pacific. + +There was every evidence of a high civilization in all that we saw +within the city, which, in connection with the humane treatment that +had been accorded all prisoners upon the long and tiresome march, +encouraged me to hope that I might appeal to some high officer here for +the treatment which my rank and birth merited. + +We could converse with our captors only through the medium of +interpreters who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian. But there were many +of these, and shortly after we reached the city I persuaded one of them +to carry a verbal message to the officer who had commanded the troops +during the return from New Gondar, asking that I might be given a +hearing by some high official. + +The reply to my request was a summons to appear before the officer to +whom I had addressed my appeal. A sergeant came for me along with the +interpreter, and I managed to obtain his permission to let Victory +accompany me—I had never left her alone with the prisoners since we had +been captured. + +To my delight I found that the officer into whose presence we were +conducted spoke Abyssinian fluently. He was astounded when I told him +that I was a Pan-American. Unlike all others whom I had spoken with +since my arrival in Europe, he was well acquainted with ancient +history—was familiar with twentieth century conditions in Pan-America, +and after putting a half dozen questions to me was satisfied that I +spoke the truth. + +When I told him that Victory was Queen of England he showed little +surprise, telling me that in their recent explorations in ancient +Russia they had found many descendants of the old nobility and royalty. + +He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, furnished us with +servants and with money, and in other ways showed us every attention +and kindness. + +He told me that he would telegraph his emperor at once, and the result +was that we were presently commanded to repair to Peking and present +ourselves before the ruler. + +We made the journey in a comfortable railway carriage, through a +country which, as we traveled farther toward the east, showed +increasing evidence of prosperity and wealth. + +At the imperial court we were received with great kindness, the emperor +being most inquisitive about the state of modern Pan-America. He told +me that while he personally deplored the existence of the strict +regulations which had raised a barrier between the east and the west, +he had felt, as had his predecessors, that recognition of the wishes of +the great Pan-American federation would be most conducive to the +continued peace of the world. + +His empire includes all of Asia, and the islands of the Pacific as far +east as 175°W. The empire of Japan no longer exists, having been +conquered and absorbed by China over a hundred years ago. The +Philippines are well administered, and constitute one of the most +progressive colonies of the Chinese empire. + +The emperor told me that the building of this great empire and the +spreading of enlightenment among its diversified and savage peoples had +required all the best efforts of nearly two hundred years. Upon his +accession to the throne he had found the labor well nigh perfected and +had turned his attention to the reclamation of Europe. + +His ambition is to wrest it from the hands of the blacks, and then to +attempt the work of elevating its fallen peoples to the high estate +from which the Great War precipitated them. + +I asked him who was victorious in that war, and he shook his head sadly +as he replied: + +“Pan-America, perhaps, and China, with the blacks of Abyssinia,” he +said. “Those who did not fight were the only ones to reap any of the +rewards that are supposed to belong to victory. The combatants reaped +naught but annihilation. You have seen—better than any man you must +realize that there was no victory for any nation embroiled in that +frightful war.” + +“When did it end?” I asked him. + +Again he shook his head. “It has not ended yet. There has never been a +formal peace declared in Europe. After a while there were none left to +make peace, and the rude tribes which sprang from the survivors +continued to fight among themselves because they knew no better +condition of society. War razed the works of man—war and pestilence +razed man. God give that there shall never be such another war!” + +You all know how Porfirio Johnson returned to Pan-America with John +Alvarez in chains; how Alvarezl’s trial raised a popular demonstration +that the government could not ignore. His eloquent appeal—not for +himself, but for me—is historic, as are its results. You know how a +fleet was sent across the Atlantic to search for me, how the +restrictions against crossing thirty to one hundred seventy-five were +removed forever, and how the officers were brought to Peking, arriving +upon the very day that Victory and I were married at the imperial +court. + +My return to Pan-America was very different from anything I could +possibly have imagined a year before. Instead of being received as a +traitor to my country, I was acclaimed a hero. It was good to get back +again, good to witness the kindly treatment that was accorded my dear +Victory, and when I learned that Delcarte and Taylor had been found at +the mouth of the Rhine and were already back in Pan-America my joy was +unalloyed. + +And now we are going back, Victory and I, with the men and the +munitions and power to reclaim England for her queen. Again I shall +cross thirty, but under what altered conditions! + +A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated, with enlightened China on the +east and enlightened Pan-America on the west—the two great peace powers +whom God has preserved to regenerate chastened and forgiven Europe. I +have been through much—I have suffered much, but I have won two great +laurel wreaths beyond thirty. One is the opportunity to rescue Europe +from barbarism, the other is a little barbarian, and the greater of +these is—Victory. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Continent, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST CONTINENT *** + +***** This file should be named 149-0.txt or 149-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/149/ + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Lost Continent + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Release Date: July, 1994 [EBook #149] +[Most recently updated: November 29, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EBOOK THE LOST CONTINENT *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>The Lost Continent</h1> + +<h2>by Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> + +<h4>The Lost Continent was originally published<br /> +under the title Beyond Thirty</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p> +Since earliest childhood I have been strangely fascinated by the mystery +surrounding the history of the last days of twentieth century Europe. My +interest is keenest, perhaps, not so much in relation to known facts as to +speculation upon the unknowable of the two centuries that have rolled by since +human intercourse between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres ceased—the +mystery of Europe’s state following the termination of the Great +War—provided, of course, that the war had been terminated. +</p> + +<p> +From out of the meagerness of our censored histories we learned that for +fifteen years after the cessation of diplomatic relations between the United +States of North America and the belligerent nations of the Old World, news of +more or less doubtful authenticity filtered, from time to time, into the +Western Hemisphere from the Eastern. +</p> + +<p> +Then came the fruition of that historic propaganda which is best described by +its own slogan: “The East for the East—the West for the +West,” and all further intercourse was stopped by statute. +</p> + +<p> +Even prior to this, transoceanic commerce had practically ceased, owing to the +perils and hazards of the mine-strewn waters of both the Atlantic and Pacific +Oceans. Just when submarine activities ended we do not know but the last vessel +of this type sighted by a Pan-American merchantman was the huge Q 138, which +discharged twenty-nine torpedoes at a Brazilian tank steamer off the Bermudas +in the fall of 1972. A heavy sea and the excellent seamanship of the master of +the Brazilian permitted the Pan-American to escape and report this last of a +long series of outrages upon our commerce. God alone knows how many hundreds of +our ancient ships fell prey to the roving steel sharks of blood-frenzied +Europe. Countless were the vessels and men that passed over our eastern and +western horizons never to return; but whether they met their fates before the +belching tubes of submarines or among the aimlessly drifting mine fields, no +man lived to tell. +</p> + +<p> +And then came the great Pan-American Federation which linked the Western +Hemisphere from pole to pole under a single flag, which joined the navies of +the New World into the mightiest fighting force that ever sailed the seven +seas—the greatest argument for peace the world had ever known. +</p> + +<p> +Since that day peace had reigned from the western shores of the Azores to the +western shores of the Hawaiian Islands, nor has any man of either hemisphere +dared cross 30°W. or 175°W. From 30° to 175° is ours—from 30° to 175° is +peace, prosperity and happiness. +</p> + +<p> +Beyond was the great unknown. Even the geographies of my boyhood showed nothing +beyond. We were taught of nothing beyond. Speculation was discouraged. For two +hundred years the Eastern Hemisphere had been wiped from the maps and histories +of Pan-America. Its mention in fiction, even, was forbidden. +</p> + +<p> +Our ships of peace patrol thirty and one hundred seventy-five. What ships from +beyond they have warned only the secret archives of government show; but, a +naval officer myself, I have gathered from the traditions of the service that +it has been fully two hundred years since smoke or sail has been sighted east +of 30° or west of 175°. The fate of the relinquished provinces which lay beyond +the dead lines we could only speculate upon. That they were taken by the +military power, which rose so suddenly in China after the fall of the republic, +and which wrested Manchuria and Korea from Russia and Japan, and also absorbed +the Philippines, is quite within the range of possibility. +</p> + +<p> +It was the commander of a Chinese man-of-war who received a copy of the edict +of 1972 from the hand of my illustrious ancestor, Admiral Turck, on one hundred +seventy-five, two hundred and six years ago, and from the yellowed pages of the +admiral’s diary I learned that the fate of the Philippines was even then +presaged by these Chinese naval officers. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, for over two hundred years no man crossed 30° to 175° and lived to tell +his story—not until chance drew me across and back again, and public +opinion, revolting at last against the drastic regulations of our long-dead +forbears, demanded that my story be given to the world, and that the narrow +interdict which commanded peace, prosperity, and happiness to halt at 30° and +175° be removed forever. +</p> + +<p> +I am glad that it was given to me to be an instrument in the hands of +Providence for the uplifting of benighted Europe, and the amelioration of the +suffering, degradation, and abysmal ignorance in which I found her. +</p> + +<p> +I shall not live to see the complete regeneration of the savage hordes of the +Eastern Hemisphere—that is a work which will require many generations, +perhaps ages, so complete has been their reversion to savagery; but I know that +the work has been started, and I am proud of the share in it which my generous +countrymen have placed in my hands. +</p> + +<p> +The government already possesses a complete official report of my adventures +beyond thirty. In the narrative I purpose telling my story in a less formal, +and I hope, a more entertaining, style; though, being only a naval officer and +without claim to the slightest literary ability, I shall most certainly fall +far short of the possibilities which are inherent in my subject. That I have +passed through the most wondrous adventures that have befallen a civilized man +during the past two centuries encourages me in the belief that, however ill the +telling, the facts themselves will command your interest to the final page. +</p> + +<p> +Beyond thirty! Romance, adventure, strange peoples, fearsome beasts—all +the excitement and scurry of the lives of the twentieth century ancients that +have been denied us in these dull days of peace and prosaic +prosperity—all, all lay beyond thirty, the invisible barrier between the +stupid, commercial present and the carefree, barbarous past. +</p> + +<p> +What boy has not sighed for the good old days of wars, revolutions, and riots; +how I used to pore over the chronicles of those old days, those dear old days, +when workmen went armed to their labors; when they fell upon one another with +gun and bomb and dagger, and the streets ran red with blood! Ah, but those were +the times when life was worth the living; when a man who went out by night knew +not at which dark corner a “footpad” might leap upon and slay him; +when wild beasts roamed the forest and the jungles, and there were savage men, +and countries yet unexplored. +</p> + +<p> +Now, in all the Western Hemisphere dwells no man who may not find a school +house within walking distance of his home, or at least within flying distance. +</p> + +<p> +The wildest beast that roams our waste places lairs in the frozen north or the +frozen south within a government reserve, where the curious may view him and +feed him bread crusts from the hand with perfect impunity. +</p> + +<p> +But beyond thirty! And I have gone there, and come back; and now you may go +there, for no longer is it high treason, punishable by disgrace or death, to +cross 30° or 175°. +</p> + +<p> +My name is Jefferson Turck. I am a lieutenant in the navy—in the great +Pan-American navy, the only navy which now exists in all the world. +</p> + +<p> +I was born in Arizona, in the United States of North America, in the year of +our Lord 2116. Therefore, I am twenty-one years old. +</p> + +<p> +In early boyhood I tired of the teeming cities and overcrowded rural districts +of Arizona. Every generation of Turcks for over two centuries has been +represented in the navy. The navy called to me, as did the free, wide, +unpeopled spaces of the mighty oceans. And so I joined the navy, coming up from +the ranks, as we all must, learning our craft as we advance. My promotion was +rapid, for my family seems to inherit naval lore. We are born officers, and I +reserve to myself no special credit for an early advancement in the service. +</p> + +<p> +At twenty I found myself a lieutenant in command of the aero-submarine +Coldwater, of the SS-96 class. The Coldwater was one of the first of the air +and underwater craft which have been so greatly improved since its launching, +and was possessed of innumerable weaknesses which, fortunately, have been +eliminated in more recent vessels of similar type. +</p> + +<p> +Even when I took command, she was fit only for the junk pile; but the world-old +parsimony of government retained her in active service, and sent two hundred +men to sea in her, with myself, a mere boy, in command of her, to patrol thirty +from Iceland to the Azores. +</p> + +<p> +Much of my service had been spent aboard the great merchantmen-of-war. These +are the utility naval vessels that have transformed the navies of old, which +burdened the peoples with taxes for their support, into the present day fleets +of self-supporting ships that find ample time for target practice and gun drill +while they bear freight and the mails from the continents to the far-scattered +island of Pan-America. +</p> + +<p> +This change in service was most welcome to me, especially as it brought with it +coveted responsibilities of sole command, and I was prone to overlook the +deficiencies of the Coldwater in the natural pride I felt in my first ship. +</p> + +<p> +The Coldwater was fully equipped for two months’ patrolling—the +ordinary length of assignment to this service—and a month had already +passed, its monotony entirely unrelieved by sight of another craft, when the +first of our misfortunes befell. +</p> + +<p> +We had been riding out a storm at an altitude of about three thousand feet. All +night we had hovered above the tossing billows of the moonlight clouds. The +detonation of the thunder and the glare of lightning through an occasional rift +in the vaporous wall proclaimed the continued fury of the tempest upon the +surface of the sea; but we, far above it all, rode in comparative ease upon the +upper gale. With the coming of dawn the clouds beneath us became a glorious sea +of gold and silver, soft and beautiful; but they could not deceive us as to the +blackness and the terrors of the storm-lashed ocean which they hid. +</p> + +<p> +I was at breakfast when my chief engineer entered and saluted. His face was +grave, and I thought he was even a trifle paler than usual. +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +He drew the back of his forefinger nervously across his brow in a gesture that +was habitual with him in moments of mental stress. +</p> + +<p> +“The gravitation-screen generators, sir,” he said. “Number +one went to the bad about an hour and a half ago. We have been working upon it +steadily since; but I have to report, sir, that it is beyond repair.” +</p> + +<p> +“Number two will keep us supplied,” I answered. “In the +meantime we will send a wireless for relief.” +</p> + +<p> +“But that is the trouble, sir,” he went on. “Number two has +stopped. I knew it would come, sir. I made a report on these generators three +years ago. I advised then that they both be scrapped. Their principle is +entirely wrong. They’re done for.” And, with a grim smile, “I +shall at least have the satisfaction of knowing my report was accurate.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have we sufficient reserve screen to permit us to make land, or, at +least, meet our relief halfway?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir,” he replied gravely; “we are sinking now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you anything further to report?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Very good,” I replied; and, as I dismissed him, I rang for my +wireless operator. When he appeared, I gave him a message to the secretary of +the navy, to whom all vessels in service on thirty and one hundred seventy-five +report direct. I explained our predicament, and stated that with what screening +force remained I should continue in the air, making as rapid headway toward St. +Johns as possible, and that when we were forced to take to the water I should +continue in the same direction. +</p> + +<p> +The accident occurred directly over 30° and about 52° N. The surface wind was +blowing a tempest from the west. To attempt to ride out such a storm upon the +surface seemed suicidal, for the Coldwater was not designed for surface +navigation except under fair weather conditions. Submerged, or in the air, she +was tractable enough in any sort of weather when under control; but without her +screen generators she was almost helpless, since she could not fly, and, if +submerged, could not rise to the surface. +</p> + +<p> +All these defects have been remedied in later models; but the knowledge did not +help us any that day aboard the slowly settling Coldwater, with an angry sea +roaring beneath, a tempest raging out of the west, and 30° only a few knots +astern. +</p> + +<p> +To cross thirty or one hundred seventy-five has been, as you know, the direst +calamity that could befall a naval commander. Court-martial and degradation +follow swiftly, unless as is often the case, the unfortunate man takes his own +life before this unjust and heartless regulation can hold him up to public +scorn. +</p> + +<p> +There has been in the past no excuse, no circumstance, that could palliate the +offense. +</p> + +<p> +“He was in command, and he took his ship across thirty!” That was +sufficient. It might not have been in any way his fault, as, in the case of the +Coldwater, it could not possibly have been justly charged to my account that +the gravitation-screen generators were worthless; but well I knew that should +chance have it that we were blown across thirty today—as we might easily +be before the terrific west wind that we could hear howling below us, the +responsibility would fall upon my shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +In a way, the regulation was a good one, for it certainly accomplished that for +which it was intended. We all fought shy of 30° on the east and 175° on the +west, and, though we had to skirt them pretty close, nothing but an act of God +ever drew one of us across. You all are familiar with the naval tradition that +a good officer could sense proximity to either line, and for my part, I am as +firmly convinced of the truth of this as I am that the compass finds the north +without recourse to tedious processes of reasoning. +</p> + +<p> +Old Admiral Sanchez was wont to maintain that he could smell thirty, and the +men of the first ship in which I sailed claimed that Coburn, the navigating +officer, knew by name every wave along thirty from 60°N. to 60°S. However, +I’d hate to vouch for this. +</p> + +<p> +Well, to get back to my narrative; we kept on dropping slowly toward the +surface the while we bucked the west wind, clawing away from thirty as fast as +we could. I was on the bridge, and as we dropped from the brilliant sunlight +into the dense vapor of clouds and on down through them to the wild, dark storm +strata beneath, it seemed that my spirits dropped with the falling ship, and +the buoyancy of hope ran low in sympathy. +</p> + +<p> +The waves were running to tremendous heights, and the Coldwater was not +designed to meet such waves head on. Her elements were the blue ether, far +above the raging storm, or the greater depths of ocean, which no storm could +ruffle. +</p> + +<p> +As I stood speculating upon our chances once we settled into the frightful +Maelstrom beneath us and at the same time mentally computing the hours which +must elapse before aid could reach us, the wireless operator clambered up the +ladder to the bridge, and, disheveled and breathless, stood before me at +salute. It needed but a glance at him to assure me that something was amiss. +</p> + +<p> +“What now?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“The wireless, sir!” he cried. “My God, sir, I cannot +send.” +</p> + +<p> +“But the emergency outfit?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I have tried everything, sir. I have exhausted every resource. We cannot +send,” and he drew himself up and saluted again. +</p> + +<p> +I dismissed him with a few kind words, for I knew that it was through no fault +of his that the mechanism was antiquated and worthless, in common with the +balance of the Coldwaterl’s equipment. There was no finer operator in +Pan-America than he. +</p> + +<p> +The failure of the wireless did not appear as momentous to me as to him, which +is not unnatural, since it is but human to feel that when our own little cog +slips, the entire universe must necessarily be put out of gear. I knew that if +this storm were destined to blow us across thirty, or send us to the bottom of +the ocean, no help could reach us in time to prevent it. I had ordered the +message sent solely because regulations required it, and not with any +particular hope that we could benefit by it in our present extremity. +</p> + +<p> +I had little time to dwell upon the coincidence of the simultaneous failure of +the wireless and the buoyancy generators, since very shortly after the +Coldwater had dropped so low over the waters that all my attention was +necessarily centered upon the delicate business of settling upon the waves +without breaking my shipl’s back. With our buoyancy generators in +commission it would have been a simple thing to enter the water, since then it +would have been but a trifling matter of a forty-five degree dive into the base +of a huge wave. We should have cut into the water like a hot knife through +butter, and have been totally submerged with scarce a jar—I have done it +a thousand times—but I did not dare submerge the Coldwater for fear that +it would remain submerged to the end of time—a condition far from +conducive to the longevity of commander or crew. +</p> + +<p> +Most of my officers were older men than I. John Alvarez, my first officer, is +twenty years my senior. He stood at my side on the bridge as the ship glided +closer and closer to those stupendous waves. He watched my every move, but he +was by far too fine an officer and gentleman to embarrass me by either comment +or suggestion. +</p> + +<p> +When I saw that we soon would touch, I ordered the ship brought around +broadside to the wind, and there we hovered a moment until a huge wave reached +up and seized us upon its crest, and then I gave the order that suddenly +reversed the screening force, and let us into the ocean. Down into the trough +we went, wallowing like the carcass of a dead whale, and then began the fight, +with rudder and propellers, to force the Coldwater back into the teeth of the +gale and drive her on and on, farther and farther from relentless thirty. +</p> + +<p> +I think that we should have succeeded, even though the ship was wracked from +stem to stern by the terrific buffetings she received, and though she were half +submerged the greater part of the time, had no further accident befallen us. +</p> + +<p> +We were making headway, though slowly, and it began to look as though we were +going to pull through. Alvarez never left my side, though I all but ordered him +below for much-needed rest. My second officer, Porfirio Johnson, was also often +on the bridge. He was a good officer, but a man for whom I had conceived a +rather unreasoning aversion almost at the first moment of meeting him, an +aversion which was not lessened by the knowledge which I subsequently gained +that he looked upon my rapid promotion with jealousy. He was ten years my +senior both in years and service, and I rather think he could never forget the +fact that he had been an officer when I was a green apprentice. +</p> + +<p> +As it became more and more apparent that the Coldwater, under my seamanship, +was weathering the tempest and giving promise of pulling through safely, I +could have sworn that I perceived a shade of annoyance and disappointment +growing upon his dark countenance. He left the bridge finally and went below. I +do not know that he is directly responsible for what followed so shortly after; +but I have always had my suspicions, and Alvarez is even more prone to place +the blame upon him than I. +</p> + +<p> +It was about six bells of the forenoon watch that Johnson returned to the +bridge after an absence of some thirty minutes. He seemed nervous and ill at +ease—a fact which made little impression on me at the time, but which +both Alvarez and I recalled subsequently. +</p> + +<p> +Not three minutes after his reappearance at my side the Coldwater suddenly +commenced to lose headway. I seized the telephone at my elbow, pressing upon +the button which would call the chief engineer to the instrument in the bowels +of the ship, only to find him already at the receiver attempting to reach me. +</p> + +<p> +“Numbers one, two, and five engines have broken down, sir,” he +called. “Shall we force the remaining three?” +</p> + +<p> +“We can do nothing else,” I bellowed into the transmitter. +</p> + +<p> +“They won’t stand the gaff, sir,” he returned. +</p> + +<p> +“Can you suggest a better plan?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Then give them the gaff, lieutenant,” I shouted back, and hung up +the receiver. +</p> + +<p> +For twenty minutes the Coldwater bucked the great seas with her three engines. +I doubt if she advanced a foot; but it was enough to keep her nose in the wind, +and, at least, we were not drifting toward thirty. +</p> + +<p> +Johnson and Alvarez were at my side when, without warning, the bow swung +swiftly around and the ship fell into the trough of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +“The other three have gone,” I said, and I happened to be looking +at Johnson as I spoke. Was it the shadow of a satisfied smile that crossed his +thin lips? I do not know; but at least he did not weep. +</p> + +<p> +“You always have been curious, sir, about the great unknown beyond +thirty,” he said. “You are in a good way to have your curiosity +satisfied.” And then I could not mistake the slight sneer that curved his +upper lip. There must have been a trace of disrespect in his tone or manner +which escaped me, for Alvarez turned upon him like a flash. +</p> + +<p> +“When Lieutenant Turck crosses thirty,” he said, “we shall +all cross with him, and God help the officer or the man who reproaches +him!” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall not be a party to high treason,” snapped Johnson. +“The regulations are explicit, and if the Coldwater crosses thirty it +devolves upon you to place Lieutenant Turck under arrest and immediately exert +every endeavor to bring the ship back into Pan-American waters.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall not know,” replied Alvarez, “that the Coldwater +passes thirty; nor shall any other man aboard know it,” and, with his +words, he drew a revolver from his pocket, and before either I or Johnson could +prevent it had put a bullet into every instrument upon the bridge, ruining them +beyond repair. +</p> + +<p> +And then he saluted me, and strode from the bridge, a martyr to loyalty and +friendship, for, though no man might know that Lieutenant Jefferson Turck had +taken his ship across thirty, every man aboard would know that the first +officer had committed a crime that was punishable by both degradation and +death. Johnson turned and eyed me narrowly. +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I place him under arrest?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“You shall not,” I replied. “Nor shall anyone else.” +</p> + +<p> +“You become a party to his crime!” he cried angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“You may go below, Mr. Johnson,” I said, “and attend to the +work of unpacking the extra instruments and having them properly set upon the +bridge.” +</p> + +<p> +He saluted, and left me, and for some time I stood, gazing out upon the angry +waters, my mind filled with unhappy reflections upon the unjust fate that had +overtaken me, and the sorrow and disgrace that I had unwittingly brought down +upon my house. +</p> + +<p> +I rejoiced that I should leave neither wife nor child to bear the burden of my +shame throughout their lives. +</p> + +<p> +As I thought upon my misfortune, I considered more clearly than ever before the +unrighteousness of the regulation which was to prove my doom, and in the +natural revolt against its injustice my anger rose, and there mounted within me +a feeling which I imagine must have paralleled that spirit that once was +prevalent among the ancients called anarchy. +</p> + +<p> +For the first time in my life I found my sentiments arraying themselves against +custom, tradition, and even government. The wave of rebellion swept over me in +an instant, beginning with an heretical doubt as to the sanctity of the +established order of things—that fetish which has ruled Pan-Americans for +two centuries, and which is based upon a blind faith in the infallibility of +the prescience of the long-dead framers of the articles of Pan-American +federation—and ending in an adamantine determination to defend my honor +and my life to the last ditch against the blind and senseless regulation which +assumed the synonymity of misfortune and treason. +</p> + +<p> +I would replace the destroyed instruments upon the bridge; every officer and +man should know when we crossed thirty. But then I should assert the spirit +which dominated me, I should resist arrest, and insist upon bringing my ship +back across the dead line, remaining at my post until we had reached New York. +Then I should make a full report, and with it a demand upon public opinion that +the dead lines be wiped forever from the seas. +</p> + +<p> +I knew that I was right. I knew that no more loyal officer wore the uniform of +the navy. I knew that I was a good officer and sailor, and I didn’t +propose submitting to degradation and discharge because a lot of old, +preglacial fossils had declared over two hundred years before that no man +should cross thirty. +</p> + +<p> +Even while these thoughts were passing through my mind I was busy with the +details of my duties. I had seen to it that a sea anchor was rigged, and even +now the men had completed their task, and the Coldwater was swinging around +rapidly, her nose pointing once more into the wind, and the frightful rolling +consequent upon her wallowing in the trough was happily diminishing. +</p> + +<p> +It was then that Johnson came hurrying to the bridge. One of his eyes was +swollen and already darkening, and his lip was cut and bleeding. Without even +the formality of a salute, he burst upon me, white with fury. +</p> + +<p> +“Lieutenant Alvarez attacked me!” he cried. “I demand that he +be placed under arrest. I found him in the act of destroying the reserve +instruments, and when I would have interfered to protect them he fell upon me +and beat me. I demand that you arrest him!” +</p> + +<p> +“You forget yourself, Mr. Johnson,” I said. “You are not in +command of the ship. I deplore the action of Lieutenant Alvarez, but I cannot +expunge from my mind the loyalty and self-sacrificing friendship which has +prompted him to his acts. Were I you, sir, I should profit by the example he +has set. Further, Mr. Johnson, I intend retaining command of the ship, even +though she crosses thirty, and I shall demand implicit obedience from every +officer and man aboard until I am properly relieved from duty by a superior +officer in the port of New York.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean to say that you will cross thirty without submitting to +arrest?” he almost shouted. +</p> + +<p> +“I do, sir,” I replied. “And now you may go below, and, when +again you find it necessary to address me, you will please be so good as to +bear in mind the fact that I am your commanding officer, and as such entitled +to a salute.” +</p> + +<p> +He flushed, hesitated a moment, and then, saluting, turned upon his heel and +left the bridge. Shortly after, Alvarez appeared. He was pale, and seemed to +have aged ten years in the few brief minutes since I last had seen him. +Saluting, he told me very simply what he had done, and asked that I place him +under arrest. +</p> + +<p> +I put my hand on his shoulder, and I guess that my voice trembled a trifle as, +while reproving him for his act, I made it plain to him that my gratitude was +no less potent a force than his loyalty to me. Then it was that I outlined to +him my purpose to defy the regulation that had raised the dead lines, and to +take my ship back to New York myself. +</p> + +<p> +I did not ask him to share the responsibility with me. I merely stated that I +should refuse to submit to arrest, and that I should demand of him and every +other officer and man implicit obedience to my every command until we docked at +home. +</p> + +<p> +His face brightened at my words, and he assured me that I would find him as +ready to acknowledge my command upon the wrong side of thirty as upon the +right, an assurance which I hastened to tell him I did not need. +</p> + +<p> +The storm continued to rage for three days, and as far as the wind scarce +varied a point during all that time, I knew that we must be far beyond thirty, +drifting rapidly east by south. All this time it had been impossible to work +upon the damaged engines or the gravity-screen generators; but we had a full +set of instruments upon the bridge, for Alvarez, after discovering my +intentions, had fetched the reserve instruments from his own cabin, where he +had hidden them. Those which Johnson had seen him destroy had been a third set +which only Alvarez had known was aboard the Coldwater. +</p> + +<p> +We waited impatiently for the sun, that we might determine our exact location, +and upon the fourth day our vigil was rewarded a few minutes before noon. +</p> + +<p> +Every officer and man aboard was tense with nervous excitement as we awaited +the result of the reading. The crew had known almost as soon as I that we were +doomed to cross thirty, and I am inclined to believe that every man jack of +them was tickled to death, for the spirits of adventure and romance still live +in the hearts of men of the twenty-second century, even though there be little +for them to feed upon between thirty and one hundred seventy-five. +</p> + +<p> +The men carried none of the burdens of responsibility. They might cross thirty +with impunity, and doubtless they would return to be heroes at home; but how +different the home-coming of their commanding officer! +</p> + +<p> +The wind had dropped to a steady blow, still from west by north, and the sea +had gone down correspondingly. The crew, with the exception of those whose +duties kept them below, were ranged on deck below the bridge. When our position +was definitely fixed I personally announced it to the eager, waiting men. +</p> + +<p> +“Men,” I said, stepping forward to the handrail and looking down +into their upturned, bronzed faces, “you are anxiously awaiting +information as to the shipl’s position. It has been determined at +latitude fifty degrees seven minutes north, longitude twenty degrees sixteen +minutes west.” +</p> + +<p> +I paused and a buzz of animated comment ran through the massed men beneath me. +“Beyond thirty. But there will be no change in commanding officers, in +routine or in discipline, until after we have docked again in New York.” +</p> + +<p> +As I ceased speaking and stepped back from the rail there was a roar of +applause from the deck such as I never before had heard aboard a ship of peace. +It recalled to my mind tales that I had read of the good old days when naval +vessels were built to fight, when ships of peace had been men-of-war, and guns +had flashed in other than futile target practice, and decks had run red with +blood. +</p> + +<p> +With the subsidence of the sea, we were able to go to work upon the damaged +engines to some effect, and I also set men to examining the gravitation-screen +generators with a view to putting them in working order should it prove not +beyond our resources. +</p> + +<p> +For two weeks we labored at the engines, which indisputably showed evidence of +having been tampered with. I appointed a board to investigate and report upon +the disaster. But it accomplished nothing other than to convince me that there +were several officers upon it who were in full sympathy with Johnson, for, +though no charges had been preferred against him, the board went out of its way +specifically to exonerate him in its findings. +</p> + +<p> +All this time we were drifting almost due east. The work upon the engines had +progressed to such an extent that within a few hours we might expect to be able +to proceed under our own power westward in the direction of Pan-American +waters. +</p> + +<p> +To relieve the monotony I had taken to fishing, and early that morning I had +departed from the Coldwater in one of the boats on such an excursion. A gentle +west wind was blowing. The sea shimmered in the sunlight. A cloudless sky +canopied the west for our sport, as I had made it a point never voluntarily to +make an inch toward the east that I could avoid. At least, they should not be +able to charge me with a willful violation of the dead lines regulation. +</p> + +<p> +I had with me only the boatl’s ordinary complement of men—three in +all, and more than enough to handle any small power boat. I had not asked any +of my officers to accompany me, as I wished to be alone, and very glad am I now +that I had not. My only regret is that, in view of what befell us, it had been +necessary to bring the three brave fellows who manned the boat. +</p> + +<p> +Our fishing, which proved excellent, carried us so far to the west that we no +longer could see the Coldwater. The day wore on, until at last, about +mid-afternoon, I gave the order to return to the ship. +</p> + +<p> +We had proceeded but a short distance toward the east when one of the men gave +an exclamation of excitement, at the same time pointing eastward. We all looked +on in the direction he had indicated, and there, a short distance above the +horizon, we saw the outlines of the Coldwater silhouetted against the sky. +</p> + +<p> +“They’ve repaired the engines and the generators both,” +exclaimed one of the men. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed impossible, but yet it had evidently been done. Only that morning, +Lieutenant Johnson had told me that he feared that it would be impossible to +repair the generators. I had put him in charge of this work, since he always +had been accounted one of the best gravitation-screen men in the navy. He had +invented several of the improvements that are incorporated in the later models +of these generators, and I am convinced that he knows more concerning both the +theory and the practice of screening gravitation than any living Pan-American. +</p> + +<p> +At the sight of the Coldwater once more under control, the three men burst into +a glad cheer. But, for some reason which I could not then account, I was +strangely overcome by a premonition of personal misfortune. It was not that I +now anticipated an early return to Pan-America and a board of inquiry, for I +had rather looked forward to the fight that must follow my return. No, there +was something else, something indefinable and vague that cast a strange gloom +upon me as I saw my ship rising farther above the water and making straight in +our direction. +</p> + +<p> +I was not long in ascertaining a possible explanation of my depression, for, +though we were plainly visible from the bridge of the aero-submarine and to the +hundreds of men who swarmed her deck, the ship passed directly above us, not +five hundred feet from the water, and sped directly westward. +</p> + +<p> +We all shouted, and I fired my pistol to attract their attention, though I knew +full well that all who cared to had observed us, but the ship moved steadily +away, growing smaller and smaller to our view until at last she passed +completely out of sight. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p> +What could it mean? I had left Alvarez in command. He was my most loyal +subordinate. It was absolutely beyond the pale of possibility that Alvarez +should desert me. No, there was some other explanation. Something occurred to +place my second officer, Porfirio Johnson, in command. I was sure of it but why +speculate? The futility of conjecture was only too palpable. The Coldwater had +abandoned us in midocean. Doubtless none of us would survive to know why. +</p> + +<p> +The young man at the wheel of the power boat had turned her nose about as it +became evident that the ship intended passing over us, and now he still held +her in futile pursuit of the Coldwater. +</p> + +<p> +“Bring her about, Snider,” I directed, “and hold her due +east. We can’t catch the Coldwater, and we can’t cross the Atlantic +in this. Our only hope lies in making the nearest land, which, unless I am +mistaken, is the Scilly Islands, off the southwest coast of England. Ever heard +of England, Snider?” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s a part of the United States of North America that used to +be known to the ancients as New England,” he replied. “Is that +where you mean, sir?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Snider,” I replied. “The England I refer to was an +island off the continent of Europe. It was the seat of a very powerful kingdom +that flourished over two hundred years ago. A part of the United States of +North America and all of the Federated States of Canada once belonged to this +ancient England.” +</p> + +<p> +“Europe,” breathed one of the men, his voice tense with excitement. +“My grandfather used to tell me stories of the world beyond thirty. He +had been a great student, and he had read much from forbidden books.” +</p> + +<p> +“In which I resemble your grandfather,” I said, “for I, too, +have read more even than naval officers are supposed to read, and, as you men +know, we are permitted a greater latitude in the study of geography and history +than men of other professions. +</p> + +<p> +“Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turck, who lived two +hundred years ago, and from whom I am descended, many volumes still exist, and +are in my possession, which deal with the history and geography of ancient +Europe. Usually I bring several of these books with me upon a cruise, and this +time, among others, I have maps of Europe and her surrounding waters. I was +studying them as we came away from the Coldwater this morning, and luckily I +have them with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are going to try to make Europe, sir?” asked Taylor, the young +man who had last spoken. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the nearest land,” I replied. “I have always wanted to +explore the forgotten lands of the Eastern Hemisphere. Here’s our chance. +To remain at sea is to perish. None of us ever will see home again. Let us make +the best of it, and enjoy while we do live that which is forbidden the balance +of our race—the adventure and the mystery which lie beyond thirty.” +</p> + +<p> +Taylor and Delcarte seized the spirit of my mood but Snider, I think, was a +trifle sceptical. +</p> + +<p> +“It is treason, sir,” I replied, “but there is no law which +compels us to visit punishment upon ourselves. Could we return to Pan-America, +I should be the first to insist that we face it. But we know thatl’s not +possible. Even if this craft would carry us so far, we haven’t enough +water or food for more than three days. +</p> + +<p> +“We are doomed, Snider, to die far from home and without ever again +looking upon the face of another fellow countryman than those who sit here now +in this boat. Isn’t that punishment sufficient for even the most exacting +judge?” +</p> + +<p> +Even Snider had to admit that it was. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, then, let us live while we live, and enjoy to the fullest +whatever of adventure or pleasure each new day brings, since any day may be our +last, and we shall be dead for a considerable while.” +</p> + +<p> +I could see that Snider was still fearful, but Taylor and Delcarte responded +with a hearty, “Aye, aye, sir!” +</p> + +<p> +They were of different mold. Both were sons of naval officers. They represented +the aristocracy of birth, and they dared to think for themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Snider was in the minority, and so we continued toward the east. Beyond thirty, +and separated from my ship, my authority ceased. I held leadership, if I was to +hold it at all, by virtue of personal qualifications only, but I did not doubt +my ability to remain the director of our destinies in so far as they were +amenable to human agencies. I have always led. While my brain and brawn remain +unimpaired I shall continue always to lead. Following is an art which Turcks do +not easily learn. +</p> + +<p> +It was not until the third day that we raised land, dead ahead, which I took, +from my map, to be the isles of Scilly. But such a gale was blowing that I did +not dare attempt to land, and so we passed to the north of them, skirted +Landl’s End, and entered the English Channel. +</p> + +<p> +I think that up to that moment I had never experienced such a thrill as passed +through me when I realized that I was navigating these historic waters. The +lifelong dreams that I never had dared hope to see fulfilled were at last a +reality—but under what forlorn circumstances! +</p> + +<p> +Never could I return to my native land. To the end of my days I must remain in +exile. Yet even these thoughts failed to dampen my ardor. +</p> + +<p> +My eyes scanned the waters. To the north I could see the rockbound coast of +Cornwall. Mine were the first American eyes to rest upon it for more than two +hundred years. In vain, I searched for some sign of ancient commerce that, if +history is to be believed, must have dotted the bosom of the Channel with white +sails and blackened the heavens with the smoke of countless funnels, but as far +as eye could reach the tossing waters of the Channel were empty and deserted. +</p> + +<p> +Toward midnight the wind and sea abated, so that shortly after dawn I +determined to make inshore in an attempt to effect a landing, for we were sadly +in need of fresh water and food. +</p> + +<p> +According to my observations, we were just off Ram Head, and it was my +intention to enter Plymouth Bay and visit Plymouth. From my map it appeared +that this city lay back from the coast a short distance, and there was another +city given as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the mouth of the river Tamar. +</p> + +<p> +However, I knew that it would make little difference which city we entered, as +the English people were famed of old for their hospitality toward visiting +mariners. As we approached the mouth of the bay I looked for the fishing craft +which I expected to see emerging thus early in the day for their labors. But +even after we rounded Ram Head and were well within the waters of the bay I saw +no vessel. Neither was there buoy nor light nor any other mark to show larger +ships the channel, and I wondered much at this. +</p> + +<p> +The coast was densely overgrown, nor was any building or sign of man apparent +from the water. Up the bay and into the River Tamar we motored through a +solitude as unbroken as that which rested upon the waters of the Channel. For +all we could see, there was no indication that man had ever set his foot upon +this silent coast. +</p> + +<p> +I was nonplused, and then, for the first time, there crept over me an intuition +of the truth. +</p> + +<p> +Here was no sign of war. As far as this portion of the Devon coast was +concerned, that seemed to have been over for many years, but neither were there +any people. Yet I could not find it within myself to believe that I should find +no inhabitants in England. Reasoning thus, I discovered that it was improbable +that a state of war still existed, and that the people all had been drawn from +this portion of England to some other, where they might better defend +themselves against an invader. +</p> + +<p> +But what of their ancient coast defenses? What was there here in Plymouth Bay +to prevent an enemy landing in force and marching where they wished? Nothing. I +could not believe that any enlightened military nation, such as the ancient +English are reputed to have been, would have voluntarily so deserted an exposed +coast and an excellent harbor to the mercies of an enemy. +</p> + +<p> +I found myself becoming more and more deeply involved in quandary. The puzzle +which confronted me I could not unravel. We had landed, and I now stood upon +the spot where, according to my map, a large city should rear its spires and +chimneys. There was nothing but rough, broken ground covered densely with weeds +and brambles, and tall, rank grass. +</p> + +<p> +Had a city ever stood there, no sign of it remained. The roughness and +unevenness of the ground suggested something of a great mass of debris hidden +by the accumulation of centuries of undergrowth. +</p> + +<p> +I drew the short cutlass with which both officers and men of the navy are, as +you know, armed out of courtesy to the traditions and memories of the past, and +with its point dug into the loam about the roots of the vegetation growing at +my feet. +</p> + +<p> +The blade entered the soil for a matter of seven inches, when it struck upon +something stonelike. Digging about the obstacle, I presently loosened it, and +when I had withdrawn it from its sepulcher I found the thing to be an ancient +brick of clay, baked in an oven. +</p> + +<p> +Delcarte we had left in charge of the boat; but Snider and Taylor were with me, +and following my example, each engaged in the fascinating sport of prospecting +for antiques. Each of us uncovered a great number of these bricks, until we +commenced to weary of the monotony of it, when Snider suddenly gave an +exclamation of excitement, and, as I turned to look, he held up a human skull +for my inspection. +</p> + +<p> +I took it from him and examined it. Directly in the center of the forehead was +a small round hole. The gentleman had evidently come to his end defending his +country from an invader. +</p> + +<p> +Snider again held aloft another trophy of the search—a metal spike and +some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments. They had lain close beside the +skull. +</p> + +<p> +With the point of his cutlass Snider scraped the dirt and verdigris from the +face of the larger ornament. +</p> + +<p> +“An inscription,” he said, and handed the thing to me. +</p> + +<p> +They were the spike and ornaments of an ancient German helmet. Before long we +had uncovered many other indications that a great battle had been fought upon +the ground where we stood. But I was then, and still am, at loss to account for +the presence of German soldiers upon the English coast so far from London, +which history suggests would have been the natural goal of an invader. +</p> + +<p> +I can only account for it by assuming that either England was temporarily +conquered by the Teutons, or that an invasion of so vast proportions was +undertaken that German troops were hurled upon the England coast in huge +numbers and that landings were necessarily effected at many places +simultaneously. Subsequent discoveries tend to strengthen this view. +</p> + +<p> +We dug about for a short time with our cutlasses until I became convinced that +a city had stood upon the spot at some time in the past, and that beneath our +feet, crumbled and dead, lay ancient Devonport. +</p> + +<p> +I could not repress a sigh at the thought of the havoc war had wrought in this +part of England, at least. Farther east, nearer London, we should find things +very different. There would be the civilization that two centuries must have +wrought upon our English cousins as they had upon us. There would be mighty +cities, cultivated fields, happy people. There we would be welcomed as +long-lost brothers. There would we find a great nation anxious to learn of the +world beyond their side of thirty, as I had been anxious to learn of that which +lay beyond our side of the dead line. +</p> + +<p> +I turned back toward the boat. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, men!” I said. “We will go up the river and fill our +casks with fresh water, search for food and fuel, and then tomorrow be in +readiness to push on toward the east. I am going to London.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p> +The report of a gun blasted the silence of a dead Devonport with startling +abruptness. +</p> + +<p> +It came from the direction of the launch, and in an instant we three were +running for the boat as fast as our legs would carry us. As we came in sight of +it we saw Delcarte a hundred yards inland from the launch, leaning over +something which lay upon the ground. As we called to him he waved his cap, and +stooping, lifted a small deer for our inspection. +</p> + +<p> +I was about to congratulate him on his trophy when we were startled by a +horrid, half-human, half-bestial scream a little ahead and to the right of us. +It seemed to come from a clump of rank and tangled bush not far from where +Delcarte stood. It was a horrid, fearsome sound, the like of which never had +fallen upon my ears before. +</p> + +<p> +We looked in the direction from which it came. The smile had died from +Delcarte’s lips. Even at the distance we were from him I saw his face go +suddenly white, and he quickly threw his rifle to his shoulder. At the same +moment the thing that had given tongue to the cry moved from the concealing +brushwood far enough for us, too, to see it. +</p> + +<p> +Both Taylor and Snider gave little gasps of astonishment and dismay. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, sir?” asked the latter. +</p> + +<p> +The creature stood about the height of a tall manl’s waist, and was long +and gaunt and sinuous, with a tawny coat striped with black, and with white +throat and belly. In conformation it was similar to a cat—a huge cat, +exaggerated colossal cat, with fiendish eyes and the most devilish cast of +countenance, as it wrinkled its bristling snout and bared its great yellow +fangs. +</p> + +<p> +It was pacing, or rather, slinking, straight for Delcarte, who had now leveled +his rifle upon it. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, sir?” mumbled Snider again, and then a half-forgotten +picture from an old natural history sprang to my mind, and I recognized in the +frightful beast the Felis tigris of ancient Asia, specimens of which had, in +former centuries, been exhibited in the Western Hemisphere. +</p> + +<p> +Snider and Taylor were armed with rifles and revolvers, while I carried only a +revolver. Seizing Sniderl’s rifle from his trembling hands, I called to +Taylor to follow me, and together we ran forward, shouting, to attract the +beastl’s attention from Delcarte until we should all be quite close +enough to attack with the greatest assurance of success. +</p> + +<p> +I cried to Delcarte not to fire until we reached his side, for I was fearful +lest our small caliber, steel-jacketed bullets should, far from killing the +beast, tend merely to enrage it still further. But he misunderstood me, +thinking that I had ordered him to fire. +</p> + +<p> +With the report of his rifle the tiger stopped short in apparent surprise, then +turned and bit savagely at its shoulder for an instant, after which it wheeled +again toward Delcarte, issuing the most terrific roars and screams, and +launched itself, with incredible speed, toward the brave fellow, who now stood +his ground pumping bullets from his automatic rifle as rapidly as the weapon +would fire. +</p> + +<p> +Taylor and I also opened up on the creature, and as it was broadside to us it +offered a splendid target, though for all the impression we appeared to make +upon the great cat we might as well have been launching soap bubbles at it. +</p> + +<p> +Straight as a torpedo it rushed for Delcarte, and, as Taylor and I stumbled on +through the tall grass toward our unfortunate comrade, we saw the tiger rear +upon him and crush him to the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Not a backward step had the noble Delcarte taken. Two hundred years of peace +had not sapped the red blood from his courageous line. He went down beneath +that avalanche of bestial savagery still working his gun and with his face +toward his antagonist. Even in the instant that I thought him dead I could not +help but feel a thrill of pride that he was one of my men, one of my class, a +Pan-American gentleman of birth. And that he had demonstrated one of the +principal contentions of the army-and-navy adherents—that military +training was necessary for the salvation of personal courage in the +Pan-American race which for generations had had to face no dangers more grave +than those incident to ordinary life in a highly civilized community, +safeguarded by every means at the disposal of a perfectly organized and +all-powerful government utilizing the best that advanced science could suggest. +</p> + +<p> +As we ran toward Delcarte, both Taylor and I were struck by the fact that the +beast upon him appeared not to be mauling him, but lay quiet and motionless +upon its prey, and when we were quite close, and the muzzles of our guns were +at the animal’s head, I saw the explanation of this sudden cessation of +hostilities—Felis tigris was dead. +</p> + +<p> +One of our bullets, or one of the last that Delcarte fired, had penetrated the +heart, and the beast had died even as it sprawled forward crushing Delcarte to +the ground. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later, with our assistance, the man had scrambled from beneath the +carcass of his would-be slayer, without a scratch to indicate how close to +death he had been. +</p> + +<p> +Delcarte’s buoyance was entirely unruffled. He came from under the tiger +with a broad grin on his handsome face, nor could I perceive that a muscle +trembled or that his voice showed the least indication of nervousness or +excitement. +</p> + +<p> +With the termination of the adventure, we began to speculate upon the +explanation of the presence of this savage brute at large so great a distance +from its native habitat. My readings had taught me that it was practically +unknown outside of Asia, and that, so late as the twentieth century, at least, +there had been no savage beasts outside captivity in England. +</p> + +<p> +As we talked, Snider joined us, and I returned his rifle to him. Taylor and +Delcarte picked up the slain deer, and we all started down toward the launch, +walking slowly. Delcarte wanted to fetch the tigerl’s skin, but I had to +deny him permission, since we had no means to properly cure it. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the beach, we skinned the deer and cut away as much meat as we thought we +could dispose of, and as we were again embarking to continue up the river for +fresh water and fuel, we were startled by a series of screams from the bushes a +short distance away. +</p> + +<p> +“Another Felis tigris,” said Taylor. +</p> + +<p> +“Or a dozen of them,” supplemented Delcarte, and, even as he spoke, +there leaped into sight, one after another, eight of the beasts, full +grown—magnificent specimens. +</p> + +<p> +At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated demons. I saw that +three rifles would be no match for them, and so I gave the word to put out from +shore, hoping that the “tiger,” as the ancients called him, could +not swim. +</p> + +<p> +Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and forth, uttering +fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the most malevolent manner. +</p> + +<p> +As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar animals far inland. +They seemed to be answering the cries of their fellows at the waterl’s +edge, and from the wide distribution and great volume of the sound we came to +the conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts must roam the adjacent +country. +</p> + +<p> +“They have eaten up the inhabitants,” murmured Snider, shuddering. +</p> + +<p> +“I imagine you are right,” I agreed, “for their extreme +boldness and fearlessness in the presence of man would suggest either that man +is entirely unknown to them, or that they are extremely familiar with him as +their natural and most easily procured prey.” +</p> + +<p> +“But where did they come from?” asked Delcarte. “Could they +have traveled here from Asia?” +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head. The thing was a puzzle to me. I knew that it was practically +beyond reason to imagine that tigers had crossed the mountain ranges and rivers +and all the great continent of Europe to travel this far from their native +lairs, and entirely impossible that they should have crossed the English +Channel at all. Yet here they were, and in great numbers. +</p> + +<p> +We continued up the Tamar several miles, filled our casks, and then landed to +cook some of our deer steak, and have the first square meal that had fallen to +our lot since the Coldwater deserted us. But scarce had we built our fire and +prepared the meat for cooking than Snider, whose eyes had been constantly +roving about the landscape from the moment that we left the launch, touched me +on the arm and pointed to a clump of bushes which grew a couple of hundred +yards away. +</p> + +<p> +Half concealed behind their screening foliage I saw the yellow and black of a +big tiger, and, as I looked, the beast stalked majestically toward us. A moment +later, he was followed by another and another, and it is needless to state that +we beat a hasty retreat to the launch. +</p> + +<p> +The country was apparently infested by these huge Carnivora, for after three +other attempts to land and cook our food we were forced to abandon the idea +entirely, as each time we were driven off by hunting tigers. +</p> + +<p> +It was also equally impossible to obtain the necessary ingredients for our +chemical fuel, and, as we had very little left aboard, we determined to step +our folding mast and proceed under sail, hoarding our fuel supply for use in +emergencies. +</p> + +<p> +I may say that it was with no regret that we bid adieu to Tigerland, as we +rechristened the ancient Devon, and, beating out into the Channel, turned the +launchl’s nose southeast, to round Bolt Head and continue up the coast +toward the Strait of Dover and the North Sea. +</p> + +<p> +I was determined to reach London as soon as possible, that we might obtain +fresh clothing, meet with cultured people, and learn from the lips of +Englishmen the secrets of the two centuries since the East had been divorced +from the West. +</p> + +<p> +Our first stopping place was the Isle of Wight. We entered the Solent about ten +o’clock one morning, and I must confess that my heart sank as we came +close to shore. No lighthouse was visible, though one was plainly indicated +upon my map. Upon neither shore was sign of human habitation. We skirted the +northern shore of the island in fruitless search for man, and then at last +landed upon an eastern point, where Newport should have stood, but where only +weeds and great trees and tangled wild wood rioted, and not a single manmade +thing was visible to the eye. +</p> + +<p> +Before landing, I had the men substitute soft bullets for the steel-jacketed +projectiles with which their belts and magazines were filled. Thus equipped, we +felt upon more even terms with the tigers, but there was no sign of the tigers, +and I decided that they must be confined to the mainland. +</p> + +<p> +After eating, we set out in search of fuel, leaving Taylor to guard the launch. +For some reason I could not trust Snider alone. I knew that he looked with +disapproval upon my plan to visit England, and I did not know but what at his +first opportunity, he might desert us, taking the launch with him, and attempt +to return to Pan-America. +</p> + +<p> +That he would be fool enough to venture it, I did not doubt. +</p> + +<p> +We had gone inland for a mile or more, and were passing through a park-like +wood, when we came suddenly upon the first human beings we had seen since we +sighted the English coast. +</p> + +<p> +There were a score of men in the party. Hairy, half-naked men they were, +resting in the shade of a great tree. At the first sight of us they sprang to +their feet with wild yells, seizing long spears that had lain beside them as +they rested. +</p> + +<p> +For a matter of fifty yards they ran from us as rapidly as they could, and then +they turned and surveyed us for a moment. Evidently emboldened by the scarcity +of our numbers, they commenced to advance upon us, brandishing their spears and +shouting horribly. +</p> + +<p> +They were short and muscular of build, with long hair and beards tangled and +matted with filth. Their heads, however, were shapely, and their eyes, though +fierce and warlike, were intelligent. +</p> + +<p> +Appreciation of these physical attributes came later, of course, when I had +better opportunity to study the men at close range and under circumstances less +fraught with danger and excitement. At the moment I saw, and with unmixed +wonder, only a score of wild savages charging down upon us, where I had +expected to find a community of civilized and enlightened people. +</p> + +<p> +Each of us was armed with rifle, revolver, and cutlass, but as we stood +shoulder to shoulder facing the wild men I was loath to give the command to +fire upon them, inflicting death or suffering upon strangers with whom we had +no quarrel, and so I attempted to restrain them for the moment that we might +parley with them. +</p> + +<p> +To this end I raised my left hand above my head with the palm toward them as +the most natural gesture indicative of peaceful intentions which occurred to +me. At the same time I called aloud to them that we were friends, though, from +their appearance, there was nothing to indicate that they might understand +Pan-American, or ancient English, which are of course practically identical. +</p> + +<p> +At my gesture and words they ceased their shouting and came to a halt a few +paces from us. Then, in deep tones, one who was in advance of the others and +whom I took to be the chief or leader of the party replied in a tongue which +while intelligible to us, was so distorted from the English language from which +it evidently had sprung, that it was with difficulty that we interpreted it. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you,” he asked, “and from what country?” +</p> + +<p> +I told him that we were from Pan-America, but he only shook his head and asked +where that was. He had never heard of it, or of the Atlantic Ocean which I told +him separated his country from mine. +</p> + +<p> +“It has been two hundred years,” I told him, “since a +Pan-American visited England.” +</p> + +<p> +“England?” he asked. “What is England?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why this is a part of England!” I exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +“This is Grubitten,” he assured me. “I know nothing about +England, and I have lived here all my life.” +</p> + +<p> +It was not until long after that the derivation of Grubitten occurred to me. +Unquestionably it is a corruption of Great Britain, a name formerly given to +the large island comprising England, Scotland and Wales. Subsequently we heard +it pronounced Grabrittin and Grubritten. +</p> + +<p> +I then asked the fellow if he could direct us to Ryde or Newport; but again he +shook his head, and said that he never had heard of such countries. And when I +asked him if there were any cities in this country he did not know what I +meant, never having heard the word cities. +</p> + +<p> +I explained my meaning as best I could by stating that by city I referred to a +place where many people lived together in houses. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh,” he exclaimed, “you mean a camp! Yes, there are two +great camps here, East Camp and West Camp. We are from East Camp.” +</p> + +<p> +The use of the word camp to describe a collection of habitations naturally +suggested war to me, and my next question was as to whether the war was over, +and who had been victorious. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he replied to this question. “The war is not yet over. +But it soon will be, and it will end, as it always does, with the Westenders +running away. We, the Eastenders, are always victorious.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I said, seeing that he referred to the petty tribal wars of +his little island, “I mean the Great War, the war with Germany. Is it +ended—and who was victorious?” +</p> + +<p> +He shook his head impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +“I never heard,” he said, “of any of these strange countries +of which you speak.” +</p> + +<p> +It seemed incredible, and yet it was true. These people living at the very seat +of the Great War knew nothing of it, though but two centuries had passed since, +to our knowledge, it had been running in the height of its titanic +frightfulness all about them, and to us upon the far side of the Atlantic still +was a subject of keen interest. +</p> + +<p> +Here was a lifelong inhabitant of the Isle of Wight who never had heard of +either Germany or England! I turned to him quite suddenly with a new question. +</p> + +<p> +“What people live upon the mainland?” I asked, and pointed in the +direction of the Hants coast. +</p> + +<p> +“No one lives there,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Long ago, it is said, my people dwelt across the waters upon that other +land; but the wild beasts devoured them in such numbers that finally they were +driven here, paddling across upon logs and driftwood, nor has any dared return +since, because of the frightful creatures which dwell in that horrid +country.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do no other peoples ever come to your country in ships?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +He never heard the word ship before, and did not know its meaning. But he +assured me that until we came he had thought that there were no other peoples +in the world other than the Grubittens, who consist of the Eastenders and the +Westenders of the ancient Isle of Wight. +</p> + +<p> +Assured that we were inclined to friendliness, our new acquaintances led us to +their village, or, as they call it, camp. There we found a thousand people, +perhaps, dwelling in rude shelters, and living upon the fruits of the chase and +such sea food as is obtainable close to shore, for they had no boats, nor any +knowledge of such things. +</p> + +<p> +Their weapons were most primitive, consisting of rude spears tipped with pieces +of metal pounded roughly into shape. They had no literature, no religion, and +recognized no law other than the law of might. They produced fire by striking a +bit of flint and steel together, but for the most part they ate their food raw. +Marriage is unknown among them, and while they have the word, mother, they did +not know what I meant by “father.” The males fight for the favor of +the females. They practice infanticide, and kill the aged and physically unfit. +</p> + +<p> +The family consists of the mother and the children, the men dwelling sometimes +in one hut and sometimes in another. Owing to their bloody duels, they are +always numerically inferior to the women, so there is shelter for them all. +</p> + +<p> +We spent several hours in the village, where we were objects of the greatest +curiosity. The inhabitants examined our clothing and all our belongings, and +asked innumerable questions concerning the strange country from which we had +come and the manner of our coming. +</p> + +<p> +I questioned many of them concerning past historical events, but they knew +nothing beyond the narrow limits of their island and the savage, primitive life +they led there. London they had never heard of, and they assured me that I +would find no human beings upon the mainland. +</p> + +<p> +Much saddened by what I had seen, I took my departure from them, and the three +of us made our way back to the launch, accompanied by about five hundred men, +women, girls, and boys. +</p> + +<p> +As we sailed away, after procuring the necessary ingredients of our chemical +fuel, the Grubittens lined the shore in silent wonder at the strange sight of +our dainty craft dancing over the sparkling waters, and watched us until we +were lost to their sight. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p> +It was during the morning of July 6, 2137, that we entered the mouth of the +Thames—to the best of my knowledge the first Western keel to cut those +historic waters for two hundred and twenty-one years! +</p> + +<p> +But where were the tugs and the lighters and the barges, the lightships and the +buoys, and all those countless attributes which went to make up the myriad life +of the ancient Thames? +</p> + +<p> +Gone! All gone! Only silence and desolation reigned where once the commerce of +the world had centered. +</p> + +<p> +I could not help but compare this once great water-way with the waters about +our New York, or Rio, or San Diego, or Valparaiso. They had become what they +are today during the two centuries of the profound peace which we of the navy +have been prone to deplore. And what, during this same period, had shorn the +waters of the Thames of their pristine grandeur? +</p> + +<p> +Militarist that I am, I could find but a single word of explanation—war! +</p> + +<p> +I bowed my head and turned my eyes downward from the lonely and depressing +sight, and in a silence which none of us seemed willing to break, we proceeded +up the deserted river. +</p> + +<p> +We had reached a point which, from my map, I imagined must have been about the +former site of Erith, when I discovered a small band of antelope a short +distance inland. As we were now entirely out of meat once more, and as I had +given up all expectations of finding a city upon the site of ancient London, I +determined to land and bag a couple of the animals. +</p> + +<p> +Assured that they would be timid and easily frightened, I decided to stalk them +alone, telling the men to wait at the boat until I called to them to come and +carry the carcasses back to the shore. +</p> + +<p> +Crawling carefully through the vegetation, making use of such trees and bushes +as afforded shelter, I came at last almost within easy range of my quarry, when +the antlered head of the buck went suddenly into the air, and then, as though +in accordance with a prearranged signal, the whole band moved slowly off, +farther inland. +</p> + +<p> +As their pace was leisurely, I determined to follow them until I came again +within range, as I was sure that they would stop and feed in a short time. +</p> + +<p> +They must have led me a mile or more at least before they again halted and +commenced to browse upon the rank, luxuriant grasses. All the time that I had +followed them I had kept both eyes and ears alert for sign or sound that would +indicate the presence of Felis tigris; but so far not the slightest indication +of the beast had been apparent. +</p> + +<p> +As I crept closer to the antelope, sure this time of a good shot at a large +buck, I suddenly saw something that caused me to forget all about my prey in +wonderment. +</p> + +<p> +It was the figure of an immense grey-black creature, rearing its colossal +shoulders twelve or fourteen feet above the ground. Never in my life had I seen +such a beast, nor did I at first recognize it, so different in appearance is +the live reality from the stuffed, unnatural specimens preserved to us in our +museums. +</p> + +<p> +But presently I guessed the identity of the mighty creature as Elephas +africanus, or, as the ancients commonly described it, African elephant. +</p> + +<p> +The antelope, although in plain view of the huge beast, paid not the slightest +attention to it, and I was so wrapped up in watching the mighty pachyderm that +I quite forgot to shoot at the buck and presently, and in quite a startling +manner, it became impossible to do so. +</p> + +<p> +The elephant was browsing upon the young and tender shoots of some low bushes, +waving his great ears and switching his short tail. The antelope, scarce twenty +paces from him, continued their feeding, when suddenly, from close beside the +latter, there came a most terrifying roar, and I saw a great, tawny body shoot, +from the concealing verdure beyond the antelope, full upon the back of a small +buck. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly the scene changed from one of quiet and peace to indescribable chaos. +The startled and terrified buck uttered cries of agony. His fellows broke and +leaped off in all directions. The elephant raised his trunk, and, trumpeting +loudly, lumbered off through the wood, crushing down small trees and trampling +bushes in his mad flight. +</p> + +<p> +Growling horribly, a huge lion stood across the body of his prey—such a +creature as no Pan-American of the twenty-second century had ever beheld until +my eyes rested upon this lordly specimen of “the king of beasts.” +But what a different creature was this fierce-eyed demon, palpitating with life +and vigor, glossy of coat, alert, growling, magnificent, from the dingy, +moth-eaten replicas beneath their glass cases in the stuffy halls of our public +museums. +</p> + +<p> +I had never hoped or expected to see a living lion, tiger, or +elephant—using the common terms that were familiar to the ancients, since +they seem to me less unwieldy than those now in general use among us—and +so it was with sentiments not unmixed with awe that I stood gazing at this +regal beast as, above the carcass of his kill, he roared out his challenge to +the world. +</p> + +<p> +So enthralled was I by the spectacle that I quite forgot myself, and the better +to view him, the great lion, I had risen to my feet and stood, not fifty paces +from him, in full view. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment he did not see me, his attention being directed toward the +retreating elephant, and I had ample time to feast my eyes upon his splendid +proportions, his great head, and his thick black mane. +</p> + +<p> +Ah, what thoughts passed through my mind in those brief moments as I stood +there in rapt fascination! I had come to find a wondrous civilization, and +instead I found a wild-beast monarch of the realm where English kings had +ruled. A lion reigned, undisturbed, within a few miles of the seat of one of +the greatest governments the world has ever known, his domain a howling +wilderness, where yesterday fell the shadows of the largest city in the world. +</p> + +<p> +It was appalling; but my reflections upon this depressing subject were doomed +to sudden extinction. The lion had discovered me. +</p> + +<p> +For an instant he stood silent and motionless as one of the mangy effigies at +home, but only for an instant. Then, with a most ferocious roar, and without +the slightest hesitancy or warning, he charged upon me. +</p> + +<p> +He forsook the prey already dead beneath him for the pleasures of the +delectable tidbit, man. From the remorselessness with which the great Carnivora +of modern England hunted man, I am constrained to believe that, whatever their +appetites in times past, they have cultivated a gruesome taste for human flesh. +</p> + +<p> +As I threw my rifle to my shoulder, I thanked God, the ancient God of my +ancestors, that I had replaced the hard-jacketed bullets in my weapon with +soft-nosed projectiles, for though this was my first experience with Felis leo, +I knew the moment that I faced that charge that even my wonderfully perfected +firearm would be as futile as a peashooter unless I chanced to place my first +bullet in a vital spot. +</p> + +<p> +Unless you had seen it you could not believe credible the speed of a charging +lion. Apparently the animal is not built for speed, nor can he maintain it for +long. But for a matter of forty or fifty yards there is, I believe, no animal +on earth that can overtake him. +</p> + +<p> +Like a bolt he bore down upon me, but, fortunately for me, I did not lose my +head. I guessed that no bullet would kill him instantly. I doubted that I could +pierce his skull. There was hope, though, in finding his heart through his +exposed chest, or, better yet, of breaking his shoulder or foreleg, and +bringing him up long enough to pump more bullets into him and finish him. +</p> + +<p> +I covered his left shoulder and pulled the trigger as he was almost upon me. It +stopped him. With a terrific howl of pain and rage, the brute rolled over and +over upon the ground almost to my feet. As he came I pumped two more bullets +into him, and as he struggled to rise, clawing viciously at me, I put a bullet +in his spine. +</p> + +<p> +That finished him, and I am free to admit that I was mighty glad of it. There +was a great tree close behind me, and, stepping within its shade, I leaned +against it, wiping the perspiration from my face, for the day was hot, and the +exertion and excitement left me exhausted. +</p> + +<p> +I stood there, resting, for a moment, preparatory to turning and retracing my +steps to the launch, when, without warning, something whizzed through space +straight toward me. There was a dull thud of impact as it struck the tree, and +as I dodged to one side and turned to look at the thing I saw a heavy spear +imbedded in the wood not three inches from where my head had been. +</p> + +<p> +The thing had come from a little to one side of me, and, without waiting to +investigate at the instant, I leaped behind the tree, and, circling it, peered +around the other side to get a sight of my would-be murderer. +</p> + +<p> +This time I was pitted against men—the spear told me that all too +plainly—but so long as they didn’t take me unawares or from behind +I had little fear of them. +</p> + +<p> +Cautiously I edged about the far side of the trees until I could obtain a view +of the spot from which the spear must have come, and when I did I saw the head +of a man just emerging from behind a bush. +</p> + +<p> +The fellow was quite similar in type to those I had seen upon the Isle of +Wight. He was hairy and unkempt, and as he finally stepped into view I saw that +he was garbed in the same primitive fashion. +</p> + +<p> +He stood for a moment gazing about in search of me, and then he advanced. As he +did so a number of others, precisely like him, stepped from the concealing +verdure of nearby bushes and followed in his wake. Keeping the trees between +them and me, I ran back a short distance until I found a clump of underbrush +that would effectually conceal me, for I wished to discover the strength of the +party and its armament before attempting to parley with it. +</p> + +<p> +The useless destruction of any of these poor creatures was the farthest idea +from my mind. I should have liked to have spoken with them, but I did not care +to risk having to use my high-powered rifle upon them other than in the last +extremity. +</p> + +<p> +Once in my new place of concealment, I watched them as they approached the +tree. There were about thirty men in the party and one woman—a girl whose +hands seemed to be bound behind her and who was being pulled along by two of +the men. +</p> + +<p> +They came forward warily, peering cautiously into every bush and halting often. +At the body of the lion, they paused, and I could see from their gesticulations +and the higher pitch of their voices that they were much excited over my kill. +</p> + +<p> +But presently they resumed their search for me, and as they advanced I became +suddenly aware of the unnecessary brutality with which the girl’s guards +were treating her. She stumbled once, not far from my place of concealment, and +after the balance of the party had passed me. As she did so one of the men at +her side jerked her roughly to her feet and struck her across the mouth with +his fist. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly my blood boiled, and forgetting every consideration of caution, I +leaped from my concealment, and, springing to the manl’s side, felled him +with a blow. +</p> + +<p> +So unexpected had been my act that it found him and his fellow unprepared; but +instantly the latter drew the knife that protruded from his belt and lunged +viciously at me, at the same time giving voice to a wild cry of alarm. +</p> + +<p> +The girl shrank back at sight of me, her eyes wide in astonishment, and then my +antagonist was upon me. I parried his first blow with my forearm, at the same +time delivering a powerful blow to his jaw that sent him reeling back; but he +was at me again in an instant, though in the brief interim I had time to draw +my revolver. +</p> + +<p> +I saw his companion crawling slowly to his feet, and the others of the party +racing down upon me. There was no time to argue now, other than with the +weapons we wore, and so, as the fellow lunged at me again with the +wicked-looking knife, I covered his heart and pulled the trigger. +</p> + +<p> +Without a sound, he slipped to the earth, and then I turned the weapon upon the +other guard, who was now about to attack me. He, too, collapsed, and I was +alone with the astonished girl. +</p> + +<p> +The balance of the party was some twenty paces from us, but coming rapidly. I +seized her arm and drew her after me behind a nearby tree, for I had seen that +with both their comrades down the others were preparing to launch their spears. +</p> + +<p> +With the girl safe behind the tree, I stepped out in sight of the advancing +foe, shouting to them that I was no enemy, and that they should halt and listen +to me. But for answer they only yelled in derision and launched a couple of +spears at me, both of which missed. +</p> + +<p> +I saw then that I must fight, yet still I hated to slay them, and it was only +as a final resort that I dropped two of them with my rifle, bringing the others +to a temporary halt. Again, I appealed to them to desist. But they only mistook +my solicitude for them for fear, and, with shouts of rage and derision, leaped +forward once again to overwhelm me. +</p> + +<p> +It was now quite evident that I must punish them severely, +or—myself—die and relinquish the girl once more to her captors. +Neither of these things had I the slightest notion of doing, and so I again +stepped from behind the tree, and, with all the care and deliberation of target +practice, I commenced picking off the foremost of my assailants. +</p> + +<p> +One by one the wild men dropped, yet on came the others, fierce and vengeful, +until, only a few remaining, these seemed to realize the futility of combating +my modern weapon with their primitive spears, and, still howling wrathfully, +withdrew toward the west. +</p> + +<p> +Now, for the first time, I had an opportunity to turn my attention toward the +girl, who had stood, silent and motionless, behind me as I pumped death into my +enemies and hers from my automatic rifle. +</p> + +<p> +She was of medium height, well formed, and with fine, clear-cut features. Her +forehead was high, and her eyes both intelligent and beautiful. Exposure to the +sun had browned a smooth and velvety skin to a shade which seemed to enhance +rather than mar an altogether lovely picture of youthful femininity. +</p> + +<p> +A trace of apprehension marked her expression—I cannot call it fear since +I have learned to know her—and astonishment was still apparent in her +eyes. She stood quite erect, her hands still bound behind her, and met my gaze +with level, proud return. +</p> + +<p> +“What language do you speak?” I asked. “Do you understand +mine?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” she replied. “It is similar to my own. I am Grabritin. +What are you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am a Pan-American,” I answered. She shook her head. “What +is that?” +</p> + +<p> +I pointed toward the west. “Far away, across the ocean.” +</p> + +<p> +Her expression altered a trifle. A slight frown contracted her brow. The +expression of apprehension deepened. +</p> + +<p> +“Take off your cap,” she said, and when, to humor her strange +request, I did as she bid, she appeared relieved. Then she edged to one side +and leaned over seemingly to peer behind me. I turned quickly to see what she +discovered, but finding nothing, wheeled about to see that her expression was +once more altered. +</p> + +<p> +“You are not from there?” and she pointed toward the east. It was a +half question. “You are not from across the water there?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I assured her. “I am from Pan-America, far away to the +west. Have you ever heard of Pan-America?” +</p> + +<p> +She shook her head in negation. “I do not care where you are from,” +she explained, “if you are not from there, and I am sure you are not, for +the men from there have horns and tails.” +</p> + +<p> +It was with difficulty that I restrained a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are the men from there?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“They are bad men,” she replied. “Some of my people do not +believe that there are such creatures. But we have a legend—a very old, +old legend, that once the men from there came across to Grabritin. They came +upon the water, and under the water, and even in the air. They came in great +numbers, so that they rolled across the land like a great gray fog. They +brought with them thunder and lightning and smoke that killed, and they fell +upon us and slew our people by the thousands and the hundreds of thousands. But +at last we drove them back to the waterl’s edge, back into the sea, where +many were drowned. Some escaped, and these our people followed—men, +women, and even children, we followed them back. That is all. The legend says +our people never returned. Maybe they were all killed. Maybe they are still +there. But this, also, is in the legend, that as we drove the men back across +the water they swore that they would return, and that when they left our shores +they would leave no human being alive behind them. I was afraid that you were +from there.” +</p> + +<p> +“By what name were these men called?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“We call them only the ‘men from there,’” she replied, +pointing toward the east. “I have never heard that they had another +name.” +</p> + +<p> +In the light of what I knew of ancient history, it was not difficult for me to +guess the nationality of those she described simply as “the men from over +there.” But what utter and appalling devastation the Great War must have +wrought to have erased not only every sign of civilization from the face of +this great land, but even the name of the enemy from the knowledge and language +of the people. +</p> + +<p> +I could only account for it on the hypothesis that the country had been +entirely depopulated except for a few scattered and forgotten children, who, in +some marvelous manner, had been preserved by Providence to re-populate the +land. These children had, doubtless, been too young to retain in their memories +to transmit to their children any but the vaguest suggestion of the cataclysm +which had overwhelmed their parents. +</p> + +<p> +Professor Cortoran, since my return to Pan-America, has suggested another +theory which is not entirely without claim to serious consideration. He points +out that it is quite beyond the pale of human instinct to desert little +children as my theory suggests the ancient English must have done. He is more +inclined to believe that the expulsion of the foe from England was synchronous +with widespread victories by the allies upon the continent, and that the people +of England merely emigrated from their ruined cities and their devastated, +blood-drenched fields to the mainland, in the hope of finding, in the domain of +the conquered enemy, cities and farms which would replace those they had lost. +</p> + +<p> +The learned professor assumes that while a long-continued war had strengthened +rather than weakened the instinct of paternal devotion, it had also dulled +other humanitarian instincts, and raised to the first magnitude the law of the +survival of the fittest, with the result that when the exodus took place the +strong, the intelligent, and the cunning, together with their offspring, +crossed the waters of the Channel or the North Sea to the continent, leaving in +unhappy England only the helpless inmates of asylums for the feebleminded and +insane. +</p> + +<p> +My objections to this, that the present inhabitants of England are mentally +fit, and could therefore not have descended from an ancestry of undiluted +lunacy he brushes aside with the assertion that insanity is not necessarily +hereditary; and that even though it was, in many cases a return to natural +conditions from the state of high civilization, which is thought to have +induced mental disease in the ancient world, would, after several generations, +have thoroughly expunged every trace of the affliction from the brains and +nerves of the descendants of the original maniacs. +</p> + +<p> +Personally, I do not place much stock in Professor Cortoranl’s theory, +though I admit that I am prejudiced. Naturally one does not care to believe +that the object of his greatest affection is descended from a gibbering idiot +and a raving maniac. +</p> + +<p> +But I am forgetting the continuity of my narrative—a continuity which I +desire to maintain, though I fear that I shall often be led astray, so numerous +and varied are the bypaths of speculation which lead from the present day story +of the Grabritins into the mysterious past of their forbears. +</p> + +<p> +As I stood talking with the girl I presently recollected that she still was +bound, and with a word of apology, I drew my knife and cut the rawhide thongs +which confined her wrists at her back. +</p> + +<p> +She thanked me, and with such a sweet smile that I should have been amply +repaid by it for a much more arduous service. +</p> + +<p> +“And now,” I said, “let me accompany you to your home and see +you safely again under the protection of your friends.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” she said, with a hint of alarm in her voice; “you must +not come with me—Buckingham will kill you.” +</p> + +<p> +Buckingham. The name was famous in ancient English history. Its survival, with +many other illustrious names, is one of the strongest arguments in refutal of +Professor Cortoranl’s theory; yet it opens no new doors to the past, and, +on the whole, rather adds to than dissipates the mystery. +</p> + +<p> +“And who is Buckingham,” I asked, “and why should he wish to +kill me?” +</p> + +<p> +“He would think that you had stolen me,” she replied, “and as +he wishes me for himself, he will kill any other whom he thinks desires me. He +killed Wettin a few days ago. My mother told me once that Wettin was my father. +He was king. Now Buckingham is king.” +</p> + +<p> +Here, evidently, were a people slightly superior to those of the Isle of Wight. +These must have at least the rudiments of civilized government since they +recognized one among them as ruler, with the title, king. Also, they retained +the word father. The girl’s pronunciation, while far from identical with +ours, was much closer than the tortured dialect of the Eastenders of the Isle +of Wight. The longer I talked with her the more hopeful I became of finding +here, among her people, some records, or traditions, which might assist in +clearing up the historic enigma of the past two centuries. I asked her if we +were far from the city of London, but she did not know what I meant. When I +tried to explain, describing mighty buildings of stone and brick, broad +avenues, parks, palaces, and countless people, she but shook her head sadly. +</p> + +<p> +“There is no such place near by,” she said. “Only the Camp of +the Lions has places of stone where the beasts lair, but there are no people in +the Camp of the Lions. Who would dare go there!” And she shuddered. +</p> + +<p> +“The Camp of the Lions,” I repeated. “And where is that, and +what?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is there,” she said, pointing up the river toward the west. +“I have seen it from a great distance, but I have never been there. We +are much afraid of the lions, for this is their country, and they are angry +that man has come to live here. +</p> + +<p> +“Far away there,” and she pointed toward the south-west, “is +the land of tigers, which is even worse than this, the land of the lions, for +the tigers are more numerous than the lions and hungrier for human flesh. There +were tigers here long ago, but both the lions and the men set upon them and +drove them off.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where did these savage beasts come from?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh,” she replied, “they have been here always. It is their +country.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do they not kill and eat your people?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Often, when we meet them by accident, and we are too few to slay them, +or when one goes too close to their camp. But seldom do they hunt us, for they +find what food they need among the deer and wild cattle, and, too, we make them +gifts, for are we not intruders in their country? Really we live upon good +terms with them, though I should not care to meet one were there not many +spears in my party.” +</p> + +<p> +“I should like to visit this Camp of the Lions,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, you must not!” cried the girl. “That would be +terrible. They would eat you.” For a moment, then, she seemed lost in +thought, but presently she turned upon me with: “You must go now, for any +minute Buckingham may come in search of me. Long since should they have learned +that I am gone from the camp—they watch over me very closely—and +they will set out after me. Go! I shall wait here until they come in search of +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I told her. “I’ll not leave you alone in a land +infested by lions and other wild beasts. If you won’t let me go as far as +your camp with you, then I’ll wait here until they come in search of +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Please go!” she begged. “You have saved me, and I would save +you, but nothing will save you if Buckingham gets his hands on you. He is a bad +man. He wishes to have me for his woman so that he may be king. He would kill +anyone who befriended me, for fear that I might become anotherl’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t you say that Buckingham is already the king?” I +asked. +</p> + +<p> +“He is. He took my mother for his woman after he had killed Wettin. But +my mother will die soon—she is very old—and then the man to whom I +belong will become king.” +</p> + +<p> +Finally, after much questioning, I got the thing through my head. It appears +that the line of descent is through the women. A man is merely head of his +wife’s family—that is all. If she chances to be the oldest female +member of the “royal” house, he is king. Very naively the girl +explained that there was seldom any doubt as to whom a childl’s mother +was. +</p> + +<p> +This accounted for the girl’s importance in the community and for +Buckinghaml’s anxiety to claim her, though she told me that she did not +wish to become his woman, for he was a bad man and would make a bad king. But +he was powerful, and there was no other man who dared dispute his wishes. +</p> + +<p> +“Why not come with me,” I suggested, “if you do not wish to +become Buckinghaml’s?” +</p> + +<p> +“Where would you take me?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +Where, indeed! I had not thought of that. But before I could reply to her +question she shook her head and said, “No, I cannot leave my people. I +must stay and do my best, even if Buckingham gets me, but you must go at once. +Do not wait until it is too late. The lions have had no offering for a long +time, and Buckingham would seize upon the first stranger as a gift to +them.” +</p> + +<p> +I did not perfectly understand what she meant, and was about to ask her when a +heavy body leaped upon me from behind, and great arms encircled my neck. I +struggled to free myself and turn upon my antagonist, but in another instant I +was overwhelmed by a half dozen powerful, half-naked men, while a score of +others surrounded me, a couple of whom seized the girl. +</p> + +<p> +I fought as best I could for my liberty and for hers, but the weight of numbers +was too great, though I had the satisfaction at least of giving them a good +fight. +</p> + +<p> +When they had overpowered me, and I stood, my hands bound behind me, at the +girl’s side, she gazed commiseratingly at me. +</p> + +<p> +“It is too bad that you did not do as I bid you,” she said, +“for now it has happened just as I feared—Buckingham has +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Which is Buckingham?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Buckingham,” growled a burly, unwashed brute, swaggering +truculently before me. “And who are you who would have stolen my +woman?” +</p> + +<p> +The girl spoke up then and tried to explain that I had not stolen her; but on +the contrary I had saved her from the men from the “Elephant +Country” who were carrying her away. +</p> + +<p> +Buckingham only sneered at her explanation, and a moment later gave the command +that started us all off toward the west. We marched for a matter of an hour or +so, coming at last to a collection of rude huts, fashioned from branches of +trees covered with skins and grasses and sometimes plastered with mud. All +about the camp they had erected a wall of saplings pointed at the tops and fire +hardened. +</p> + +<p> +This palisade was a protection against both man and beasts, and within it dwelt +upward of two thousand persons, the shelters being built very close together, +and sometimes partially underground, like deep trenches, with the poles and +hides above merely as protection from the sun and rain. +</p> + +<p> +The older part of the camp consisted almost wholly of trenches, as though this +had been the original form of dwellings which was slowly giving way to the +drier and airier surface domiciles. In these trench habitations I saw a +survival of the military trenches which formed so famous a part of the +operation of the warring nations during the twentieth century. +</p> + +<p> +The women wore a single light deerskin about their hips, for it was summer, and +quite warm. The men, too, were clothed in a single garment, usually the pelt of +some beast of prey. The hair of both men and women was confined by a rawhide +thong passing about the forehead and tied behind. In this leathern band were +stuck feathers, flowers, or the tails of small mammals. All wore necklaces of +the teeth or claws of wild beasts, and there were numerous metal wristlets and +anklets among them. +</p> + +<p> +They wore, in fact, every indication of a most primitive people—a race +which had not yet risen to the heights of agriculture or even the possession of +domestic animals. They were hunters—the lowest plane in the evolution of +the human race of which science takes cognizance. +</p> + +<p> +And yet as I looked at their well shaped heads, their handsome features, and +their intelligent eyes, it was difficult to believe that I was not among my +own. It was only when I took into consideration their mode of living, their +scant apparel, the lack of every least luxury among them, that I was forced to +admit that they were, in truth, but ignorant savages. +</p> + +<p> +Buckingham had relieved me of my weapons, though he had not the slightest idea +of their purpose or uses, and when we reached the camp he exhibited both me and +my arms with every indication of pride in this great capture. +</p> + +<p> +The inhabitants flocked around me, examining my clothing, and exclaiming in +wonderment at each new discovery of button, buckle, pocket, and flap. It seemed +incredible that such a thing could be, almost within a stone’s throw of +the spot where but a brief two centuries before had stood the greatest city of +the world. +</p> + +<p> +They bound me to a small tree that grew in the middle of one of their crooked +streets, but the girl they released as soon as we had entered the enclosure. +The people greeted her with every mark of respect as she hastened to a large +hut near the center of the camp. +</p> + +<p> +Presently she returned with a fine looking, white-haired woman, who proved to +be her mother. The older woman carried herself with a regal dignity that seemed +quite remarkable in a place of such primitive squalor. +</p> + +<p> +The people fell aside as she approached, making a wide way for her and her +daughter. When they had come near and stopped before me the older woman +addressed me. +</p> + +<p> +“My daughter has told me,” she said, “of the manner in which +you rescued her from the men of the elephant country. If Wettin lived you would +be well treated, but Buckingham has taken me now, and is king. You can hope for +nothing from such a beast as Buckingham.” +</p> + +<p> +The fact that Buckingham stood within a pace of us and was an interested +listener appeared not to temper her expressions in the slightest. +</p> + +<p> +“Buckingham is a pig,” she continued. “He is a coward. He +came upon Wettin from behind and ran his spear through him. He will not be king +for long. Some one will make a face at him, and he will run away and jump into +the river.” +</p> + +<p> +The people began to titter and clap their hands. Buckingham became red in the +face. It was evident that he was far from popular. +</p> + +<p> +“If he dared,” went on the old lady, “he would kill me now, +but he does not dare. He is too great a coward. If I could help you I should +gladly do so. But I am only queen—the vehicle that has helped carry down, +unsullied, the royal blood from the days when Grabritin was a mighty +country.” +</p> + +<p> +The old queenl’s words had a noticeable effect upon the mob of curious +savages which surrounded me. The moment they discovered that the old queen was +friendly to me and that I had rescued her daughter they commenced to accord me +a more friendly interest, and I heard many words spoken in my behalf, and +demands were made that I not be harmed. +</p> + +<p> +But now Buckingham interfered. He had no intention of being robbed of his prey. +Blustering and storming, he ordered the people back to their huts, at the same +time directing two of his warriors to confine me in a dugout in one of the +trenches close to his own shelter. +</p> + +<p> +Here they threw me upon the ground, binding my ankles together and trussing +them up to my wrists behind. There they left me, lying upon my stomach—a +most uncomfortable and strained position, to which was added the pain where the +cords cut into my flesh. +</p> + +<p> +Just a few days ago my mind had been filled with the anticipation of the +friendly welcome I should find among the cultured Englishmen of London. Today I +should be sitting in the place of honor at the banquet board of one of +Londonl’s most exclusive clubs, feted and lionized. +</p> + +<p> +The actuality! Here I lay, bound hand and foot, doubtless almost upon the very +site of a part of ancient London, yet all about me was a primeval wilderness, +and I was a captive of half-naked wild men. +</p> + +<p> +I wondered what had become of Delcarte and Taylor and Snider. Would they search +for me? They could never find me, I feared, yet if they did, what could they +accomplish against this horde of savage warriors? +</p> + +<p> +Would that I could warn them. I thought of the girl—doubtless she could +get word to them, but how was I to communicate with her? Would she come to see +me before I was killed? It seemed incredible that she should not make some +slight attempt to befriend me; yet, as I recalled, she had made no effort to +speak with me after we had reached the village. She had hastened to her mother +the moment she had been liberated. Though she had returned with the old queen, +she had not spoken to me, even then. I began to have my doubts. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, I came to the conclusion that I was absolutely friendless except for +the old queen. For some unaccountable reason my rage against the girl for her +ingratitude rose to colossal proportions. +</p> + +<p> +For a long time I waited for some one to come to my prison whom I might ask to +bear word to the queen, but I seemed to have been forgotten. The strained +position in which I lay became unbearable. I wriggled and twisted until I +managed to turn myself partially upon my side, where I lay half facing the +entrance to the dugout. +</p> + +<p> +Presently my attention was attracted by the shadow of something moving in the +trench without, and a moment later the figure of a child appeared, creeping +upon all fours, as, wide-eyed, and prompted by childish curiosity, a little +girl crawled to the entrance of my hut and peered cautiously and fearfully in. +</p> + +<p> +I did not speak at first for fear of frightening the little one away. But when +I was satisfied that her eyes had become sufficiently accustomed to the subdued +light of the interior, I smiled. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly the expression of fear faded from her eyes to be replaced with an +answering smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you, little girl?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“My name is Mary,” she replied. “I am Victoryl’s +sister.” +</p> + +<p> +“And who is Victory?” +</p> + +<p> +“You do not know who Victory is?” she asked, in astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head in negation. +</p> + +<p> +“You saved her from the elephant country people, and yet you say you do +not know her!” she exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, so she is Victory, and you are her sister! I have not heard her name +before. That is why I did not know whom you meant,” I explained. Here was +just the messenger for me. Fate was becoming more kind. +</p> + +<p> +“Will you do something for me, Mary?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“If I can.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go to your mother, the queen, and ask her to come to me,” I said. +“I have a favor to ask.” +</p> + +<p> +She said that she would, and with a parting smile she left me. +</p> + +<p> +For what seemed many hours I awaited her return, chafing with impatience. The +afternoon wore on and night came, and yet no one came near me. My captors +brought me neither food nor water. I was suffering considerable pain where the +rawhide thongs cut into my swollen flesh. I thought that they had either +forgotten me, or that it was their intention to leave me here to die of +starvation. +</p> + +<p> +Once I heard a great uproar in the village. Men were shouting—women were +screaming and moaning. After a time this subsided, and again there was a long +interval of silence. +</p> + +<p> +Half the night must have been spent when I heard a sound in the trench near the +hut. It resembled muffled sobs. Presently a figure appeared, silhouetted +against the lesser darkness beyond the doorway. It crept inside the hut. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you here?” whispered a childlike voice. +</p> + +<p> +It was Mary! She had returned. The thongs no longer hurt me. The pangs of +hunger and thirst disappeared. I realized that it had been loneliness from +which I suffered most. +</p> + +<p> +“Mary!” I exclaimed. “You are a good girl. You have come +back, after all. I had commenced to think that you would not. Did you give my +message to the queen? Will she come? Where is she?” +</p> + +<p> +The childl’s sobs increased, and she flung herself upon the dirt floor of +the hut, apparently overcome by grief. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” I asked. “Why do you cry?” +</p> + +<p> +“The queen, my mother, will not come to you,” she said, between +sobs. “She is dead. Buckingham has killed her. Now he will take Victory, +for Victory is queen. He kept us fastened up in our shelter, for fear that +Victory would escape him, but I dug a hole beneath the back wall and got out. I +came to you, because you saved Victory once before, and I thought that you +might save her again, and me, also. Tell me that you will.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am bound and helpless, Mary,” I replied. “Otherwise I +would do what I could to save you and your sister.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will set you free!” cried the girl, creeping up to my side. +“I will set you free, and then you may come and slay Buckingham.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gladly!” I assented. +</p> + +<p> +“We must hurry,” she went on, as she fumbled with the hard knots in +the stiffened rawhide, “for Buckingham will be after you soon. He must +make an offering to the lions at dawn before he can take Victory. The taking of +a queen requires a human offering!” +</p> + +<p> +“And I am to be the offering?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” she said, tugging at a knot. “Buckingham has been +wanting a sacrifice ever since he killed Wettin, that he might slay my mother +and take Victory.” +</p> + +<p> +The thought was horrible, not solely because of the hideous fate to which I was +condemned, but from the contemplation it engendered of the sad decadence of a +once enlightened race. To these depths of ignorance, brutality, and +superstition had the vaunted civilization of twentieth century England been +plunged, and by what? War! I felt the structure of our time-honored +militaristic arguments crumbling about me. +</p> + +<p> +Mary labored with the thongs that confined me. They proved +refractory—defying her tender, childish fingers. She assured me, however, +that she would release me, if “they” did not come too soon. +</p> + +<p> +But, alas, they came. We heard them coming down the trench, and I bade Mary +hide in a corner, lest she be discovered and punished. There was naught else +she could do, and so she crawled away into the Stygian blackness behind me. +</p> + +<p> +Presently two warriors entered. The leader exhibited a unique method of +discovering my whereabouts in the darkness. He advanced slowly, kicking out +viciously before him. Finally he kicked me in the face. Then he knew where I +was. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later I had been jerked roughly to my feet. One of the fellows stopped +and severed the bonds that held my ankles. I could scarcely stand alone. The +two pulled and hauled me through the low doorway and along the trench. A party +of forty or fifty warriors were awaiting us at the brink of the excavation some +hundred yards from the hut. +</p> + +<p> +Hands were lowered to us, and we were dragged to the surface. Then commenced a +long march. We stumbled through the underbrush wet with dew, our way lighted by +a score of torchbearers who surrounded us. But the torches were not to light +the way—that was but incidental. They were carried to keep off the huge +Carnivora that moaned and coughed and roared about us. +</p> + +<p> +The noises were hideous. The whole country seemed alive with lions. +Yellow-green eyes blazed wickedly at us from out the surrounding darkness. My +escort carried long, heavy spears. These they kept ever pointed toward the +beast of prey, and I learned from snatches of the conversation I overheard that +occasionally there might be a lion who would brave even the terrors of fire to +leap in upon human prey. It was for such that the spears were always couched. +</p> + +<p> +But nothing of the sort occurred during this hideous death march, and with the +first pale heralding of dawn we reached our goal—an open place in the +midst of a tangled wildwood. Here rose in crumbling grandeur the first +evidences I had seen of the ancient civilization which once had graced fair +Albion—a single, time-worn arch of masonry. +</p> + +<p> +“The entrance to the Camp of the Lions!” murmured one of the party +in a voice husky with awe. +</p> + +<p> +Here the party knelt, while Buckingham recited a weird, prayer-like chant. It +was rather long, and I recall only a portion of it, which ran, if my memory +serves me, somewhat as follows: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + +Lord of Grabritin, we<br /> +Fall on our knees to thee,<br /> +This gift to bring.<br /> +Greatest of kings are thou!<br /> +To thee we humbly bow!<br /> +Peace to our camp allow.<br /> +God save thee, king! +</p> + +<p> +Then the party rose, and dragging me to the crumbling arch, made me fast to a +huge, corroded, copper ring which was dangling from an eyebolt imbedded in the +masonry. +</p> + +<p> +None of them, not even Buckingham, seemed to feel any personal animosity toward +me. They were naturally rough and brutal, as primitive men are supposed to have +been since the dawn of humanity, but they did not go out of their way to +maltreat me. +</p> + +<p> +With the coming of dawn the number of lions about us seemed to have greatly +diminished—at least they made less noise—and as Buckingham and his +party disappeared into the woods, leaving me alone to my terrible fate, I could +hear the grumblings and growlings of the beasts diminishing with the sound of +the chant, which the party still continued. It appeared that the lions had +failed to note that I had been left for their breakfast, and had followed off +after their worshippers instead. +</p> + +<p> +But I knew the reprieve would be but for a short time, and though I had no wish +to die, I must confess that I rather wished the ordeal over and the peace of +oblivion upon me. +</p> + +<p> +The voices of the men and the lions receded in the distance, until finally +quiet reigned about me, broken only by the sweet voices of birds and the +sighing of the summer wind in the trees. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed impossible to believe that in this peaceful woodland setting the +frightful thing was to occur which must come with the passing of the next lion +who chanced within sight or smell of the crumbling arch. +</p> + +<p> +I strove to tear myself loose from my bonds, but succeeded only in tightening +them about my arms. Then I remained passive for a long time, letting the scenes +of my lifetime pass in review before my mindl’s eye. +</p> + +<p> +I tried to imagine the astonishment, incredulity, and horror with which my +family and friends would be overwhelmed if, for an instant, space could be +annihilated and they could see me at the gates of London. +</p> + +<p> +The gates of London! Where was the multitude hurrying to the marts of trade +after a night of pleasure or rest? Where was the clang of tramcar gongs, the +screech of motor horns, the vast murmur of a dense throng? +</p> + +<p> +Where were they? And as I asked the question a lone, gaunt lion strode from the +tangled jungle upon the far side of the clearing. Majestically and noiselessly +upon his padded feet the king of beasts moved slowly toward the gates of London +and toward me. +</p> + +<p> +Was I afraid? I fear that I was almost afraid. I know that I thought that fear +was coming to me, and so I straightened up and squared my shoulders and looked +the lion straight in the eyes—and waited. +</p> + +<p> +It is not a nice way to die—alone, with one’s hands fast bound, +beneath the fangs and talons of a beast of prey. No, it is not a nice way to +die, not a pretty way. +</p> + +<p> +The lion was halfway across the clearing when I heard a slight sound behind me. +The great cat stopped in his tracks. He lashed his tail against his sides now, +instead of simply twitching its tip, and his low moan became a thunderous roar. +</p> + +<p> +As I craned my neck to catch a glimpse of the thing that had aroused the fury +of the beast before me, it sprang through the arched gateway and was at my +side—with parted lips and heaving bosom and disheveled hair—a +bronzed and lovely vision to eyes that had never harbored hope of rescue. +</p> + +<p> +It was Victory, and in her arms she clutched my rifle and revolver. A long +knife was in the doeskin belt that supported the doeskin skirt tightly about +her lithe limbs. She dropped my weapons at my feet, and, snatching the knife +from its resting place, severed the bonds that held me. I was free, and the +lion was preparing to charge. +</p> + +<p> +“Run!” I cried to the girl, as I bent and seized my rifle. But she +only stood there at my side, her bared blade ready in her hand. +</p> + +<p> +The lion was bounding toward us now in prodigious leaps. I raised the rifle and +fired. It was a lucky shot, for I had no time to aim carefully, and when the +beast crumpled and rolled, lifeless, to the ground, I went upon my knees and +gave thanks to the God of my ancestors. +</p> + +<p> +And, still upon my knees, I turned, and taking the girl’s hand in mine, I +kissed it. She smiled at that, and laid her other hand upon my head. +</p> + +<p> +“You have strange customs in your country,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +I could not but smile at that when I thought how strange it would seem to my +countrymen could they but see me kneeling there on the site of London, kissing +the hand of Englandl’s queen. +</p> + +<p> +“And now,” I said, as I rose, “you must return to the safety +of your camp. I will go with you until you are near enough to continue alone in +safety. Then I shall try to return to my comrades.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not return to the camp,” she replied. +</p> + +<p> +“But what shall you do?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know. Only I shall never go back while Buckingham lives. I +should rather die than go back to him. Mary came to me, after they had taken +you from the camp, and told me. I found your strange weapons and followed with +them. It took me a little longer, for often I had to hide in the trees that the +lions might not get me, but I came in time, and now you are free to go back to +your friends.” +</p> + +<p> +“And leave you here?” I exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +She nodded, but I could see through all her brave front that she was frightened +at the thought. I could not leave her, of course, but what in the world I was +to do, cumbered with the care of a young woman, and a queen at that, I was at a +loss to know. I pointed out that phase of it to her, but she only shrugged her +shapely shoulders and pointed to her knife. +</p> + +<p> +It was evident that she felt entirely competent to protect herself. +</p> + +<p> +As we stood there we heard the sound of voices. They were coming from the +forest through which we had passed when we had come from camp. +</p> + +<p> +“They are searching for me,” said the girl. “Where shall we +hide?” +</p> + +<p> +I didn’t relish hiding. But when I thought of the innumerable dangers +which surrounded us and the comparatively small amount of ammunition that I had +with me, I hesitated to provoke a battle with Buckingham and his warriors when, +by flight, I could avoid them and preserve my cartridges against emergencies +which could not be escaped. +</p> + +<p> +“Would they follow us there?” I asked, pointing through the archway +into the Camp of the Lions. +</p> + +<p> +“Never,” she replied, “for, in the first place, they would +know that we would not dare go there, and in the second they themselves would +not dare.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then we shall take refuge in the Camp of the Lions,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +She shuddered and drew closer to me. +</p> + +<p> +“You dare?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Why not?” I returned. “We shall be safe from Buckingham, and +you have seen, for the second time in two days, that lions are harmless before +my weapons. Then, too, I can find my friends easiest in this direction, for the +River Thames runs through this place you call the Camp of the Lions, and it is +farther down the Thames that my friends are awaiting me. Do you not dare come +with me?” +</p> + +<p> +“I dare follow wherever you lead,” she answered simply. +</p> + +<p> +And so I turned and passed beneath the great arch into the city of London. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p> +As we entered deeper into what had once been the city, the evidences of +manl’s past occupancy became more frequent. For a mile from the arch +there was only a riot of weeds and undergrowth and trees covering small mounds +and little hillocks that, I was sure, were formed of the ruins of stately +buildings of the dead past. +</p> + +<p> +But presently we came upon a district where shattered walls still raised their +crumbling tops in sad silence above the grass-grown sepulchers of their fallen +fellows. Softened and mellowed by ancient ivy stood these sentinels of sorrow, +their scarred faces still revealing the rents and gashes of shrapnel and of +bomb. +</p> + +<p> +Contrary to our expectations, we found little indication that lions in any +great numbers laired in this part of ancient London. Well-worn pathways, molded +by padded paws, led through the cavernous windows or doorways of a few of the +ruins we passed, and once we saw the savage face of a great, black-maned lion +scowling down upon us from a shattered stone balcony. +</p> + +<p> +We followed down the bank of the Thames after we came upon it. I was anxious to +look with my own eyes upon the famous bridge, and I guessed, too, that the +river would lead me into the part of London where stood Westminster Abbey and +the Tower. +</p> + +<p> +Realizing that the section through which we had been passing was doubtless +outlying, and therefore not so built up with large structures as the more +centrally located part of the old town, I felt sure that farther down the river +I should find the ruins larger. The bridge would be there in part, at least, +and so would remain the walls of many of the great edifices of the past. There +would be no such complete ruin of large structures as I had seen among the +smaller buildings. +</p> + +<p> +But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged to have contained +the relics I sought I found havoc that had been wrought there even greater than +elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +At one point upon the bosom of the Thames there rises a few feet above the +water a single, disintegrating mound of masonry. Opposite it, upon either bank +of the river, are tumbled piles of ruins overgrown with vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +These, I am forced to believe, are all that remain of London Bridge, for +nowhere else along the river is there any other slightest sign of pier or +abutment. +</p> + +<p> +Rounding the base of a large pile of grass-covered debris, we came suddenly +upon the best preserved ruin we had yet discovered. The entire lower story and +part of the second story of what must once have been a splendid public building +rose from a great knoll of shrubbery and trees, while ivy, thick and luxuriant, +clambered upward to the summit of the broken walls. +</p> + +<p> +In many places the gray stone was still exposed, its smoothly chiseled face +pitted with the scars of battle. The massive portal yawned, somber and +sorrowful, before us, giving a glimpse of marble halls within. +</p> + +<p> +The temptation to enter was too great. I wished to explore the interior of this +one remaining monument of civilization now dead beyond recall. Through this +same portal, within these very marble halls, had Gray and Chamberlin and +Kitchener and Shaw, perhaps, come and gone with the other great ones of the +past. +</p> + +<p> +I took Victoryl’s hand in mine. +</p> + +<p> +“Come!” I said. “I do not know the name by which this great +pile was known, nor the purposes it fulfilled. It may have been the palace of +your sires, Victory. From some great throne within, your forebears may have +directed the destinies of half the world. Come!” +</p> + +<p> +I must confess to a feeling of awe as we entered the rotunda of the great +building. Pieces of massive furniture of another day still stood where man had +placed them centuries ago. They were littered with dust and broken stone and +plaster, but, otherwise, so perfect was their preservation I could hardly +believe that two centuries had rolled by since human eyes were last set upon +them. +</p> + +<p> +Through one great room after another we wandered, hand in hand, while Victory +asked many questions and for the first time I began to realize something of the +magnificence and power of the race from whose loins she had sprung. +</p> + +<p> +Splendid tapestries, now mildewed and rotting, hung upon the walls. There were +mural paintings, too, depicting great historic events of the past. For the +first time Victory saw the likeness of a horse, and she was much affected by a +huge oil which depicted some ancient cavalry charge against a battery of field +guns. +</p> + +<p> +In other pictures there were steamships, battleships, submarines, and quaint +looking railway trains—all small and antiquated in appearance to me, but +wonderful to Victory. She told me that she would like to remain for the rest of +her life where she could look at those pictures daily. +</p> + +<p> +From room to room we passed until presently we emerged into a mighty chamber, +dark and gloomy, for its high and narrow windows were choked and clogged by +ivy. Along one paneled wall we groped, our eyes slowly becoming accustomed to +the darkness. A rank and pungent odor pervaded the atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +We had made our way about half the distance across one end of the great +apartment when a low growl from the far end brought us to a startled halt. +</p> + +<p> +Straining my eyes through the gloom, I made out a raised dais at the extreme +opposite end of the hall. Upon the dais stood two great chairs, highbacked and +with great arms. +</p> + +<p> +The throne of England! But what were those strange forms about it? +</p> + +<p> +Victory gave my hand a quick, excited little squeeze. +</p> + +<p> +“The lions!” she whispered. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, lions indeed! Sprawled about the dais were a dozen huge forms, while upon +the seat of one of the thrones a small cub lay curled in slumber. +</p> + +<p> +As we stood there for a moment, spellbound by the sight of those fearsome +creatures occupying the very thrones of the sovereigns of England, the low +growl was repeated, and a great male rose slowly to his feet. +</p> + +<p> +His devilish eyes bored straight through the semi-darkness toward us. He had +discovered the interloper. What right had man within this palace of the beasts? +Again he opened his giant jaws, and this time there rumbled forth a warning +roar. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly eight or ten of the other beasts leaped to their feet. Already the +great fellow who had spied us was advancing slowly in our direction. I held my +rifle ready, but how futile it appeared in the face of this savage horde. +</p> + +<p> +The foremost beast broke into a slow trot, and at his heels came the others. +All were roaring now, and the din of their great voices reverberating through +the halls and corridors of the palace formed the most frightful chorus of +thunderous savagery imaginable to the mind of man. +</p> + +<p> +And then the leader charged, and upon the hideous pandemonium broke the sharp +crack of my rifle, once, twice, thrice. Three lions rolled, struggling and +biting, to the floor. Victory seized my arm, with a quick, “This way! +Here is a door,” and a moment later we were in a tiny antechamber at the +foot of a narrow stone staircase. +</p> + +<p> +Up this we backed, Victory just behind me, as the first of the remaining lions +leaped from the throne room and sprang for the stairs. Again I fired, but +others of the ferocious beasts leaped over their fallen fellows and pursued us. +</p> + +<p> +The stairs were very narrow—that was all that saved us—for as I +backed slowly upward, but a single lion could attack me at a time, and the +carcasses of those I slew impeded the rushes of the others. +</p> + +<p> +At last we reached the top. There was a long corridor from which opened many +doorways. One, directly behind us, was tight closed. If we could open it and +pass into the chamber behind we might find a respite from attack. +</p> + +<p> +The remaining lions were roaring horribly. I saw one sneaking very slowly up +the stairs toward us. +</p> + +<p> +“Try that door,” I called to Victory. “See if it will +open.” +</p> + +<p> +She ran up to it and pushed. +</p> + +<p> +“Turn the knob!” I cried, seeing that she did not know how to open +a door, but neither did she know what I meant by knob. +</p> + +<p> +I put a bullet in the spine of the approaching lion and leaped to +Victoryl’s side. The door resisted my first efforts to swing it inward. +Rusted hinges and swollen wood held it tightly closed. But at last it gave, and +just as another lion mounted to the top of the stairway it swung in, and I +pushed Victory across the threshold. +</p> + +<p> +Then I turned to meet the renewed attack of the savage foe. One lion fell in +his tracks, another stumbled to my very feet, and then I leaped within and +slammed the portal to. +</p> + +<p> +A quick glance showed me that this was the only door to the small apartment in +which we had found sanctuary, and, with a sigh of relief, I leaned for a moment +against the panels of the stout barrier that separated us from the ramping +demons without. +</p> + +<p> +Across the room, between two windows, stood a flat-topped desk. A little pile +of white and brown lay upon it close to the opposite edge. After a moment of +rest I crossed the room to investigate. The white was the bleached human +bones—the skull, collar bones, arms, and a few of the upper ribs of a +man. The brown was the dust of a decayed military cap and blouse. In a chair +before the desk were other bones, while more still strewed the floor beneath +the desk and about the chair. A man had died sitting there with his face buried +in his arms—two hundred years ago. +</p> + +<p> +Beneath the desk were a pair of spurred military boots, green and rotten with +decay. In them were the leg bones of a man. Among the tiny bones of the hands +was an ancient fountain pen, as good, apparently, as the day it was made, and a +metal covered memoranda book, closed over the bones of an index finger. +</p> + +<p> +It was a gruesome sight—a pitiful sight—this lone inhabitant of +mighty London. +</p> + +<p> +I picked up the metal covered memoranda book. Its pages were rotten and stuck +together. Only here and there was a sentence or a part of a sentence legible. +The first that I could read was near the middle of the little volume: +</p> + +<p> +“His majesty left for Tunbridge Wells today, he ... jesty was stricken +... terday. God give she does not die ... am military governor of Lon +...” +</p> + +<p> +And farther on: +</p> + +<p> +“It is awful ... hundred deaths today ... worse than the bombardm +...” +</p> + +<p> +Nearer the end I picked out the following: +</p> + +<p> +“I promised his maj ... e will find me here when he ret ... alone.” +</p> + +<p> +The most legible passage was on the next page: +</p> + +<p> +“Thank God we drove them out. There is not a single ... man on British +soil today; but at what awful cost. I tried to persuade Sir Phillip to urge the +people to remain. But they are mad with fear of the Death, and rage at our +enemies. He tells me that the coast cities are packed ... waiting to be taken +across. What will become of England, with none left to rebuild her shattered +cities!” +</p> + +<p> +And the last entry: +</p> + +<p> +“... alone. Only the wild beasts ... A lion is roaring now beneath the +palace windows. I think the people feared the beasts even more than they did +the Death. But they are gone, all gone, and to what? How much better conditions +will they find on the continent? All gone—only I remain. I promised his +majesty, and when he returns he will find that I was true to my trust, for I +shall be awaiting him. God save the King!” +</p> + +<p> +That was all. This brave and forever nameless officer died nobly at his +post—true to his country and his king. It was the Death, no doubt, that +took him. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the entries had been dated. From the few legible letters and figures +which remained I judge the end came some time in August, 1937, but of that I am +not at all certain. +</p> + +<p> +The diary has cleared up at least one mystery that had puzzled me not a little, +and now I am surprised that I had not guessed its solution myself—the +presence of African and Asiatic beasts in England. +</p> + +<p> +Acclimated by years of confinement in the zoological gardens, they were fitted +to resume in England the wild existence for which nature had intended them, and +once free, had evidently bred prolifically, in marked contrast to the captive +exotics of twentieth century Pan-America, which had gradually become fewer +until extinction occurred some time during the twenty-first century. +</p> + +<p> +The palace, if such it was, lay not far from the banks of the Thames. The room +in which we were imprisoned overlooked the river, and I determined to attempt +to escape in this direction. +</p> + +<p> +To descend through the palace was out of the question, but outside we could +discover no lions. The stems of the ivy which clambered upward past the window +of the room were as large around as my arm. I knew that they would support our +weight, and as we could gain nothing by remaining longer in the palace, I +decided to descend by way of the ivy and follow along down the river in the +direction of the launch. +</p> + +<p> +Naturally I was much handicapped by the presence of the girl. But I could not +abandon her, though I had no idea what I should do with her after rejoining my +companions. That she would prove a burden and an embarrassment I was certain, +but she had made it equally plain to me that she would never return to her +people to mate with Buckingham. +</p> + +<p> +I owed my life to her, and, all other considerations aside, that was sufficient +demand upon my gratitude and my honor to necessitate my suffering every +inconvenience in her service. Too, she was queen of England. But, by far the +most potent argument in her favor, she was a woman in distress—and a +young and very beautiful one. +</p> + +<p> +And so, though I wished a thousand times that she was back in her camp, I never +let her guess it, but did all that lay within my power to serve and protect +her. I thank God now that I did so. +</p> + +<p> +With the lions still padding back and forth beyond the closed door, Victory and +I crossed the room to one of the windows. I had outlined my plan to her, and +she had assured me that she could descend the ivy without assistance. In fact, +she smiled a trifle at my question. +</p> + +<p> +Swinging myself outward, I began the descent, and had come to within a few feet +of the ground, being just opposite a narrow window, when I was startled by a +savage growl almost in my ear, and then a great taloned paw darted from the +aperture to seize me, and I saw the snarling face of a lion within the +embrasure. +</p> + +<p> +Releasing my hold upon the ivy, I dropped the remaining distance to the ground, +saved from laceration only because the lionl’s paw struck the thick stem +of ivy. +</p> + +<p> +The creature was making a frightful racket now, leaping back and forth from the +floor at the broad window ledge, tearing at the masonry with his claws in vain +attempts to reach me. But the opening was too narrow, and the masonry too +solid. +</p> + +<p> +Victory had commenced the descent, but I called to her to stop just above the +window, and, as the lion reappeared, growling and snarling, I put a .33 bullet +in his face, and at the same moment Victory slipped quickly past him, dropping +into my upraised arms that were awaiting her. +</p> + +<p> +The roaring of the beasts that had discovered us, together with the report of +my rifle, had set the balance of the fierce inmates of the palace into the most +frightful uproar I have ever heard. +</p> + +<p> +I feared that it would not be long before intelligence or instinct would draw +them from the interiors and set them upon our trail, the river. Nor had we much +more than reached it when a lion bounded around the corner of the edifice we +had just quitted and stood looking about as though in search of us. +</p> + +<p> +Following, came others, while Victory and I crouched in hiding behind a clump +of bushes close to the bank of the river. The beasts sniffed about the ground +for a while, but they did not chance to go near the spot where we had stood +beneath the window that had given us escape. +</p> + +<p> +Presently a black-maned male raised his head, and, with cocked ears and glaring +eyes, gazed straight at the bush behind which we lay. I could have sworn that +he had discovered us, and when he took a few short and stately steps in our +direction I raised my rifle and covered him. But, after a long, tense moment he +looked away, and turned to glare in another direction. +</p> + +<p> +I breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Victory. I could feel her body quiver +as she lay pressed close to me, our cheeks almost touching as we both peered +through the same small opening in the foliage. +</p> + +<p> +I turned to give her a reassuring smile as the lion indicated that he had not +seen us, and as I did so she, too, turned her face toward mine, for the same +purpose, doubtless. Anyway, as our heads turned simultaneously, our lips +brushed together. A startled expression came into Victoryl’s eyes as she +drew back in evident confusion. +</p> + +<p> +As for me, the strangest sensation that I have ever experienced claimed me for +an instant. A peculiar, tingling thrill ran through my veins, and my head swam. +I could not account for it. +</p> + +<p> +Naturally, being a naval officer and consequently in the best society of the +federation, I have seen much of women. With others, I have laughed at the +assertions of the savants that modern man is a cold and passionless creation in +comparison with the males of former ages—in a word, that love, as the one +grand passion, had ceased to exist. +</p> + +<p> +I do not know, now, but that they were more nearly right than we have guessed, +at least in so far as modern civilized woman is concerned. I have kissed many +women—young and beautiful and middle aged and old, and many that I had no +business kissing—but never before had I experienced that remarkable and +altogether delightful thrill that followed the accidental brushing of my lips +against the lips of Victory. +</p> + +<p> +The occurrence interested me, and I was tempted to experiment further. But when +I would have essayed it another new and entirely unaccountable force restrained +me. For the first time in my life I felt embarrassment in the presence of a +woman. +</p> + +<p> +What further might have developed I cannot say, for at that moment a perfect +she-devil of a lioness, with keener eyes than her lord and master, discovered +us. She came trotting toward our place of concealment, growling and baring her +yellow fangs. +</p> + +<p> +I waited for an instant, hoping that I might be mistaken, and that she would +turn off in some other direction. But no—she increased her trot to a +gallop, and then I fired at her, but the bullet, though it struck her full in +the breast, didn’t stop her. +</p> + +<p> +Screaming with pain and rage, the creature fairly flew toward us. Behind her +came other lions. Our case looked hopeless. We were upon the brink of the +river. There seemed no avenue of escape, and I knew that even my modern +automatic rifle was inadequate in the face of so many of these fierce beasts. +</p> + +<p> +To remain where we were would have been suicidal. We were both standing now, +Victory keeping her place bravely at my side, when I reached the only decision +open to me. +</p> + +<p> +Seizing the girl’s hand, I turned, just as the lioness crashed into the +opposite side of the bushes, and, dragging Victory after me, leaped over the +edge of the bank into the river. +</p> + +<p> +I did not know that lions are not fond of water, nor did I know if Victory +could swim, but death, immediate and terrible, stared us in the face if we +remained, and so I took the chance. +</p> + +<p> +At this point the current ran close to the shore, so that we were immediately +in deep water, and, to my intense satisfaction, Victory struck out with a +strong, overhand stroke and set all my fears on her account at rest. +</p> + +<p> +But my relief was short-lived. That lioness, as I have said before, was a +veritable devil. She stood for a moment glaring at us, then like a shot she +sprang into the river and swam swiftly after us. +</p> + +<p> +Victory was a length ahead of me. +</p> + +<p> +“Swim for the other shore!” I called to her. +</p> + +<p> +I was much impeded by my rifle, having to swim with one hand while I clung to +my precious weapon with the other. The girl had seen the lioness take to the +water, and she had also seen that I was swimming much more slowly than she, and +what did she do? She started to drop back to my side. +</p> + +<p> +“Go on!” I cried. “Make for the other shore, and then follow +down until you find my friends. Tell them that I sent you, and with orders that +they are to protect you. Go on! Go on!” +</p> + +<p> +But she only waited until we were again swimming side by side, and I saw that +she had drawn her long knife, and was holding it between her teeth. +</p> + +<p> +“Do as I tell you!” I said to her sharply, but she shook her head. +</p> + +<p> +The lioness was overhauling us rapidly. She was swimming silently, her chin +just touching the water, but blood was streaming from between her lips. It was +evident that her lungs were pierced. +</p> + +<p> +She was almost upon me. I saw that in a moment she would take me under her +forepaws, or seize me in those great jaws. I felt that my time had come, but I +meant to die fighting. And so I turned, and, treading water, raised my rifle +above my head and awaited her. +</p> + +<p> +Victory, animated by a bravery no less ferocious than that of the dumb beast +assailing us, swam straight for me. It all happened so swiftly that I cannot +recall the details of the kaleidoscopic action which ensued. I knew that I rose +high out of the water, and, with clubbed rifle, dealt the animal a terrific +blow upon the skull, that I saw Victory, her long blade flashing in her hand, +close, striking, upon the beast, that a great paw fell upon her shoulder, and +that I was swept beneath the surface of the water like a straw before the prow +of a freighter. +</p> + +<p> +Still clinging to my rifle, I rose again, to see the lioness struggling in her +death throes but an arml’s length from me. Scarcely had I risen than the +beast turned upon her side, struggled frantically for an instant, and then +sank. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p> +Victory was nowhere in sight. Alone, I floated upon the bosom of the Thames. In +that brief instant I believe that I suffered more mental anguish than I have +crowded into all the balance of my life before or since. A few hours before, I +had been wishing that I might be rid of her, and now that she was gone I would +have given my life to have her back again. +</p> + +<p> +Wearily I turned to swim about the spot where she had disappeared, hoping that +she might rise once at least, and I would be given the opportunity to save her, +and, as I turned, the water boiled before my face and her head shot up before +me. I was on the point of striking out to seize her, when a happy smile +illumined her features. +</p> + +<p> +“You are not dead!” she cried. “I have been searching the +bottom for you. I was sure that the blow she gave you must have disabled +you,” and she glanced about for the lioness. +</p> + +<p> +“She has gone?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Dead,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +“The blow you struck her with the thing you call rifle stunned +her,” she explained, “and then I swam in close enough to get my +knife into her heart.” +</p> + +<p> +Ah, such a girl! I could not but wonder what one of our own Pan-American women +would have done under like circumstances. But then, of course, they have not +been trained by stern necessity to cope with the emergencies and dangers of +savage primeval life. +</p> + +<p> +Along the bank we had just quitted, a score of lions paced to and fro, growling +menacingly. We could not return, and we struck out for the opposite shore. I am +a strong swimmer, and had no doubt as to my ability to cross the river, but I +was not so sure about Victory, so I swam close behind her, to be ready to give +her assistance should she need it. +</p> + +<p> +She did not, however, reaching the opposite bank as fresh, apparently, as when +she entered the water. Victory is a wonder. Each day that we were together +brought new proofs of it. Nor was it her courage or vitality only which amazed +me. She had a head on those shapely shoulders of hers, and dignity! My, but she +could be regal when she chose! +</p> + +<p> +She told me that the lions were fewer upon this side of the river, but that +there were many wolves, running in great packs later in the year. Now they were +north somewhere, and we should have little to fear from them, though we might +meet with a few. +</p> + +<p> +My first concern was to take my weapons apart and dry them, which was rather +difficult in the face of the fact that every rag about me was drenched. But +finally, thanks to the sun and much rubbing, I succeeded, though I had no oil +to lubricate them. +</p> + +<p> +We ate some wild berries and roots that Victory found, and then we set off +again down the river, keeping an eye open for game on one side and the launch +on the other, for I thought that Delcarte, who would be the natural leader +during my absence, might run up the Thames in search of me. +</p> + +<p> +The balance of that day we sought in vain for game or for the launch, and when +night came we lay down, our stomachs empty, to sleep beneath the stars. We were +entirely unprotected from attack from wild beasts, and for this reason I +remained awake most of the night, on guard. But nothing approached us, though I +could hear the lions roaring across the river, and once I thought I heard the +howl of a beast north of us—it might have been a wolf. +</p> + +<p> +Altogether, it was a most unpleasant night, and I determined then that if we +were forced to sleep out again that I should provide some sort of shelter which +would protect us from attack while we slept. +</p> + +<p> +Toward morning I dozed, and the sun was well up when Victory aroused me by +gently shaking my shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“Antelope!” she whispered in my ear, and, as I raised my head, she +pointed up-river. Crawling to my knees, I looked in the direction she +indicated, to see a buck standing upon a little knoll some two hundred yards +from us. There was good cover between the animal and me, and so, though I might +have hit him at two hundred yards, I preferred to crawl closer to him and make +sure of the meat we both so craved. +</p> + +<p> +I had covered about fifty yards of the distance, and the beast was still +feeding peacefully, so I thought that I would make even surer of a hit by going +ahead another fifty yards, when the animal suddenly raised his head and looked +away, up-river. His whole attitude proclaimed that he was startled by something +beyond him that I could not see. +</p> + +<p> +Realizing that he might break and run and that I should then probably miss him +entirely, I raised my rifle to my shoulder. But even as I did so the animal +leaped into the air, and simultaneously there was a sound of a shot from beyond +the knoll. +</p> + +<p> +For an instant I was dumbfounded. Had the report come from down-river, I should +have instantly thought that one of my own men had fired. But coming from +up-river it puzzled me considerably. Who could there be with firearms in +primitive England other than we of the Coldwater? +</p> + +<p> +Victory was directly behind me, and I motioned for her to lie down, as I did, +behind the bush from which I had been upon the point of firing at the antelope. +We could see that the buck was quite dead, and from our hiding place we waited +to discover the identity of his slayer when the latter should approach and +claim his kill. +</p> + +<p> +We had not long to wait, and when I saw the head and shoulders of a man appear +above the crest of the knoll, I sprang to my feet, with a heartfelt cry of joy, +for it was Delcarte. +</p> + +<p> +At the sound of my voice, Delcarte half raised his rifle in readiness for the +attack of an enemy, but a moment later he recognized me, and was coming rapidly +to meet us. Behind him was Snider. They both were astounded to see me upon the +north bank of the river, and much more so at the sight of my companion. +</p> + +<p> +Then I introduced them to Victory, and told them that she was queen of England. +They thought, at first, that I was joking. But when I had recounted my +adventures and they realized that I was in earnest, they believed me. +</p> + +<p> +They told me that they had followed me inshore when I had not returned from the +hunt, that they had met the men of the elephant country, and had had a short +and one-sided battle with the fellows. And that afterward they had returned to +the launch with a prisoner, from whom they had learned that I had probably been +captured by the men of the lion country. +</p> + +<p> +With the prisoner as a guide they had set off up-river in search of me, but had +been much delayed by motor trouble, and had finally camped after dark a half +mile above the spot where Victory and I had spent the night. They must have +passed us in the dark, and why I did not hear the sound of the propeller I do +not know, unless it passed me at a time when the lions were making an unusually +earsplitting din upon the opposite side. +</p> + +<p> +Taking the antelope with us, we all returned to the launch, where we found +Taylor as delighted to see me alive again as Delcarte had been. I cannot say +truthfully that Snider evinced much enthusiasm at my rescue. +</p> + +<p> +Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel, and the distilling of them +had, with the motor trouble, accounted for their delay in setting out after me. +</p> + +<p> +The prisoner that Delcarte and Snider had taken was a powerful young fellow +from the elephant country. Notwithstanding the fact that they had all assured +him to the contrary, he still could not believe that we would not kill him. +</p> + +<p> +He assured us that his name was Thirty-six, and, as he could not count above +ten, I am sure that he had no conception of the correct meaning of the word, +and that it may have been handed down to him either from the military number of +an ancestor who had served in the English ranks during the Great War, or that +originally it was the number of some famous regiment with which a forbear +fought. +</p> + +<p> +Now that we were reunited, we held a council to determine what course we should +pursue in the immediate future. Snider was still for setting out to sea and +returning to Pan-America, but the better judgment of Delcarte and Taylor +ridiculed the suggestion—we should not have lived a fortnight. +</p> + +<p> +To remain in England, constantly menaced by wild beasts and men equally as +wild, seemed about as bad. I suggested that we cross the Channel and ascertain +if we could not discover a more enlightened and civilized people upon the +continent. I was sure that some trace of the ancient culture and greatness of +Europe must remain. Germany, probably, would be much as it was during the +twentieth century, for, in common with most Pan-Americans, I was positive that +Germany had been victorious in the Great War. +</p> + +<p> +Snider demurred at the suggestion. He said that it was bad enough to have come +this far. He did not want to make it worse by going to the continent. The +outcome of it was that I finally lost my patience, and told him that from then +on he would do what I thought best—that I proposed to assume command of +the party, and that they might all consider themselves under my orders, as much +so as though we were still aboard the Coldwater and in Pan-American waters. +</p> + +<p> +Delcarte and Taylor immediately assured me that they had not for an instant +assumed anything different, and that they were as ready to follow and obey me +here as they would be upon the other side of thirty. +</p> + +<p> +Snider said nothing, but he wore a sullen scowl. And I wished then, as I had +before, and as I did to a much greater extent later, that fate had not decreed +that he should have chanced to be a member of the launchl’s party upon +that memorable day when last we quitted the Coldwater. +</p> + +<p> +Victory, who was given a voice in our councils, was all for going to the +continent, or anywhere else, in fact, where she might see new sights and +experience new adventures. +</p> + +<p> +“Afterward we can come back to Grabritin,” she said, “and if +Buckingham is not dead and we can catch him away from his men and kill him, +then I can return to my people, and we can all live in peace and +happiness.” +</p> + +<p> +She spoke of killing Buckingham with no greater concern than one might evince +in the contemplated destruction of a sheep; yet she was neither cruel nor +vindictive. In fact, Victory is a very sweet and womanly woman. But human life +is of small account beyond thirty—a legacy from the bloody days when +thousands of men perished in the trenches between the rising and the setting of +a sun, when they laid them lengthwise in these same trenches and sprinkled dirt +over them, when the Germans corded their corpses like wood and set fire to +them, when women and children and old men were butchered, and great passenger +ships were torpedoed without warning. +</p> + +<p> +Thirty-six, finally assured that we did not intend slaying him, was as keen to +accompany us as was Victory. +</p> + +<p> +The crossing to the continent was uneventful, its monotony being relieved, +however, by the childish delight of Victory and Thirty-six in the novel +experience of riding safely upon the bosom of the water, and of being so far +from land. +</p> + +<p> +With the possible exception of Snider, the little party appeared in the best of +spirits, laughing and joking, or interestedly discussing the possibilities +which the future held for us: what we should find upon the continent, and +whether the inhabitants would be civilized or barbarian peoples. +</p> + +<p> +Victory asked me to explain the difference between the two, and when I had +tried to do so as clearly as possible, she broke into a gay little laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh,” she cried, “then I am a barbarian!” +</p> + +<p> +I could not but laugh, too, as I admitted that she was, indeed, a barbarian. +She was not offended, taking the matter as a huge joke. But some time +thereafter she sat in silence, apparently deep in thought. Finally she looked +up at me, her strong white teeth gleaming behind her smiling lips. +</p> + +<p> +“Should you take that thing you call ‘razor,’” she +said, “and cut the hair from the face of Thirty-six, and exchange +garments with him, you would be the barbarian and Thirty-six the civilized man. +There is no other difference between you, except your weapons. Clothe you in a +wolfskin, give you a knife and a spear, and set you down in the woods of +Grabritin—of what service would your civilization be to you?” +</p> + +<p> +Delcarte and Taylor smiled at her reply, but Thirty-six and Snider laughed +uproariously. I was not surprised at Thirty-six, but I thought that Snider +laughed louder than the occasion warranted. As a matter of fact, Snider, it +seemed to me, was taking advantage of every opportunity, however slight, to +show insubordination, and I determined then that at the first real breach of +discipline I should take action that would remind Snider, ever after, that I +was still his commanding officer. +</p> + +<p> +I could not help but notice that his eyes were much upon Victory, and I did not +like it, for I knew the type of man he was. But as it would not be necessary +ever to leave the girl alone with him I felt no apprehension for her safety. +</p> + +<p> +After the incident of the discussion of barbarians I thought that +Victoryl’s manner toward me changed perceptibly. She held aloof from me, +and when Snider took his turn at the wheel, sat beside him, upon the pretext +that she wished to learn how to steer the launch. I wondered if she had guessed +the manl’s antipathy for me, and was seeking his company solely for the +purpose of piquing me. +</p> + +<p> +Snider was, too, taking full advantage of his opportunity. Often he leaned +toward the girl to whisper in her ear, and he laughed much, which was unusual +with Snider. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, it was nothing at all to me; yet, for some unaccountable reason, the +sight of the two of them sitting there so close to one another and seeming to +be enjoying each otherl’s society to such a degree irritated me +tremendously, and put me in such a bad humor that I took no pleasure whatsoever +in the last few hours of the crossing. +</p> + +<p> +We aimed to land near the site of ancient Ostend. But when we neared the coast +we discovered no indication of any human habitations whatever, let alone a +city. After we had landed, we found the same howling wilderness about us that +we had discovered on the British Isle. There was no slightest indication that +civilized man had ever set a foot upon that portion of the continent of Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Although I had feared as much, since our experience in England, I could not but +own to a feeling of marked disappointment, and to the gravest fears of the +future, which induced a mental depression that was in no way dissipated by the +continued familiarity between Victory and Snider. +</p> + +<p> +I was angry with myself that I permitted that matter to affect me as it had. I +did not wish to admit to myself that I was angry with this uncultured little +savage, that it made the slightest difference to me what she did or what she +did not do, or that I could so lower myself as to feel personal enmity towards +a common sailor. And yet, to be honest, I was doing both. +</p> + +<p> +Finding nothing to detain us about the spot where Ostend once had stood, we set +out up the coast in search of the mouth of the River Rhine, which I purposed +ascending in search of civilized man. It was my intention to explore the Rhine +as far up as the launch would take us. If we found no civilization there we +would return to the North Sea, continue up the coast to the Elbe, and follow +that river and the canals of Berlin. Here, at least, I was sure that we should +find what we sought—and, if not, then all Europe had reverted to +barbarism. +</p> + +<p> +The weather remained fine, and we made excellent progress, but everywhere along +the Rhine we met with the same disappointment—no sign of civilized man, +in fact, no sign of man at all. +</p> + +<p> +I was not enjoying the exploration of modern Europe as I had +anticipated—I was unhappy. Victory seemed changed, too. I had enjoyed her +company at first, but since the trip across the Channel I had held aloof from +her. +</p> + +<p> +Her chin was in the air most of the time, and yet I rather think that she +regretted her friendliness with Snider, for I noticed that she avoided him +entirely. He, on the contrary, emboldened by her former friendliness, sought +every opportunity to be near her. I should have liked nothing better than a +reasonably good excuse to punch his head; yet, paradoxically, I was ashamed of +myself for harboring him any ill will. I realized that there was something the +matter with me, but I did not know what it was. +</p> + +<p> +Matters remained thus for several days, and we continued our journey up the +Rhine. At Cologne, I had hoped to find some reassuring indications, but there +was no Cologne. And as there had been no other cities along the river up to +that point, the devastation was infinitely greater than time alone could have +wrought. Great guns, bombs, and mines must have leveled every building that man +had raised, and then nature, unhindered, had covered the ghastly evidence of +human depravity with her beauteous mantle of verdure. Splendid trees reared +their stately tops where splendid cathedrals once had reared their domes, and +sweet wild flowers blossomed in simple serenity in soil that once was drenched +with human blood. +</p> + +<p> +Nature had reclaimed what man had once stolen from her and defiled. A herd of +zebras grazed where once the German kaiser may have reviewed his troops. An +antelope rested peacefully in a bed of daisies where, perhaps, two hundred +years ago a big gun belched its terror-laden messages of death, of hate, of +destruction against the works of man and God alike. +</p> + +<p> +We were in need of fresh meat, yet I hesitated to shatter the quiet and +peaceful serenity of the view with the crack of a rifle and the death of one of +those beautiful creatures before us. But it had to be done—we must eat. I +left the work to Delcarte, however, and in a moment we had two antelope and the +landscape to ourselves. +</p> + +<p> +After eating, we boarded the launch and continued up the river. For two days we +passed through a primeval wilderness. In the afternoon of the second day we +landed upon the west bank of the river, and, leaving Snider and Thirty-six to +guard Victory and the launch, Delcarte, Taylor, and I set out after game. +</p> + +<p> +We tramped away from the river for upwards of an hour before discovering +anything, and then only a small red deer, which Taylor brought down with a neat +shot of two hundred yards. It was getting too late to proceed farther, so we +rigged a sling, and the two men carried the deer back toward the launch while I +walked a hundred yards ahead, in the hope of bagging something further for our +larder. +</p> + +<p> +We had covered about half the distance to the river, when I suddenly came face +to face with a man. He was as primitive and uncouth in appearance as the +Grabritins—a shaggy, unkempt savage, clothed in a shirt of skin cured +with the head on, the latter surmounting his own head to form a bonnet, and +giving to him a most fearful and ferocious aspect. +</p> + +<p> +The fellow was armed with a long spear and a club, the latter dangling down his +back from a leathern thong about his neck. His feet were incased in hide +sandals. +</p> + +<p> +At sight of me, he halted for an instant, then turned and dove into the forest, +and, though I called reassuringly to him in English he did not return nor did I +again see him. +</p> + +<p> +The sight of the wild man raised my hopes once more that elsewhere we might +find men in a higher state of civilization—it was the society of +civilized man that I craved—and so, with a lighter heart, I continued on +toward the river and the launch. +</p> + +<p> +I was still some distance ahead of Delcarte and Taylor, when I came in sight of +the Rhine again. But I came to the waterl’s edge before I noticed that +anything was amiss with the party we had left there a few hours before. +</p> + +<p> +My first intimation of disaster was the absence of the launch from its former +moorings. And then, a moment later—I discovered the body of a man lying +upon the bank. Running toward it, I saw that it was Thirty-six, and as I +stopped and raised the Grabritinl’s head in my arms, I heard a faint moan +break from his lips. He was not dead, but that he was badly injured was all too +evident. +</p> + +<p> +Delcarte and Taylor came up a moment later, and the three of us worked over the +fellow, hoping to revive him that he might tell us what had happened, and what +had become of the others. My first thought was prompted by the sight I had +recently had of the savage native. The little party had evidently been +surprised, and in the attack Thirty-six had been wounded and the others taken +prisoners. The thought was almost like a physical blow in the face—it +stunned me. Victory in the hands of these abysmal brutes! It was frightful. I +almost shook poor Thirty-six in my efforts to revive him. +</p> + +<p> +I explained my theory to the others, and then Delcarte shattered it by a single +movement of the hand. He drew aside the lionl’s skin that covered half of +the Grabritinl’s breast, revealing a neat, round hole in +Thirty-sixl’s chest—a hole that could have been made by no other +weapon than a rifle. +</p> + +<p> +“Snider!” I exclaimed. Delcarte nodded. At about the same time the +eyelids of the wounded man fluttered, and raised. He looked up at us, and very +slowly the light of consciousness returned to his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“What happened, Thirty-six?” I asked him. +</p> + +<p> +He tried to reply, but the effort caused him to cough, bringing about a +hemorrhage of the lungs and again he fell back exhausted. For several long +minutes he lay as one dead, then in an almost inaudible whisper he spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“Snider—” He paused, tried to speak again, raised a hand, and +pointed down-river. “They—went—back,” and then he +shuddered convulsively and died. +</p> + +<p> +None of us voiced his belief. But I think they were all alike: Victory and +Snider had stolen the launch, and deserted us. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p> +We stood there, grouped about the body of the dead Grabritin, looking futilely +down the river to where it made an abrupt curve to the west, a quarter of a +mile below us, and was lost to sight, as though we expected to see the truant +returning to us with our precious launch—the thing that meant life or +death to us in this unfriendly, savage world. +</p> + +<p> +I felt, rather than saw, Taylor turn his eyes slowly toward my profile, and, as +mine swung to meet them, the expression upon his face recalled me to my duty +and responsibility as an officer. +</p> + +<p> +The utter hopelessness that was reflected in his face must have been the +counterpart of what I myself felt, but in that brief instant I determined to +hide my own misgivings that I might bolster up the courage of the others. +</p> + +<p> +“We are lost!” was written as plainly upon Taylorl’s face as +though his features were the printed words upon an open book. He was thinking +of the launch, and of the launch alone. Was I? I tried to think that I was. But +a greater grief than the loss of the launch could have engendered in me, filled +my heart—a sullen, gnawing misery which I tried to deny—which I +refused to admit—but which persisted in obsessing me until my heart rose +and filled my throat, and I could not speak when I would have uttered words of +reassurance to my companions. +</p> + +<p> +And then rage came to my relief—rage against the vile traitor who had +deserted three of his fellow countrymen in so frightful a position. I tried to +feel an equal rage against the woman, but somehow I could not, and kept +searching for excuses for her—her youth, her inexperience, her savagery. +</p> + +<p> +My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness. I smiled, and told Taylor +not to look so glum. +</p> + +<p> +“We will follow them,” I said, “and the chances are that we +shall overtake them. They will not travel as rapidly as Snider probably hopes. +He will be forced to halt for fuel and for food, and the launch must follow the +windings of the river; we can take short cuts while they are traversing the +detour. I have my map—thank God! I always carry it upon my +person—and with that and the compass we will have an advantage over +them.” +</p> + +<p> +My words seemed to cheer them both, and they were for starting off at once in +pursuit. There was no reason why we should delay, and we set forth down the +river. As we tramped along, we discussed a question that was uppermost in the +mind of each—what we should do with Snider when we had captured him, for +with the action of pursuit had come the optimistic conviction that we should +succeed. As a matter of fact, we had to succeed. The very thought of remaining +in this utter wilderness for the rest of our lives was impossible. +</p> + +<p> +We arrived at nothing very definite in the matter of Sniderl’s +punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him, Delcarte insisting that he +should be hanged, while I, although fully conscious of the gravity of his +offense, could not bring myself to give the death penalty. +</p> + +<p> +I fell to wondering what charm Victory had found in such a man as Snider, and +why I insisted upon finding excuses for her and trying to defend her +indefensible act. She was nothing to me. Aside from the natural gratitude I +felt for her since she had saved my life, I owed her nothing. She was a +half-naked little savage—I, a gentleman, and an officer in the +worldl’s greatest navy. There could be no close bonds of interest between +us. +</p> + +<p> +This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing as the former, but, +though I tried to turn my mind to other things, it persisted in returning to +the vision of an oval face, sun-tanned; of smiling lips, revealing white and +even teeth; of brave eyes that harbored no shadow of guile; and of a tumbling +mass of wavy hair that crowned the loveliest picture on which my eyes had ever +rested. +</p> + +<p> +Every time this vision presented itself I felt myself turn cold with rage and +hate against Snider. I could forgive the launch, but if he had wronged her he +should die—he should die at my own hands; in this I was determined. +</p> + +<p> +For two days we followed the river northward, cutting off where we could, but +confined for the most part to the game trails that paralleled the stream. One +afternoon, we cut across a narrow neck of land that saved us many miles, where +the river wound to the west and back again. +</p> + +<p> +Here we decided to halt, for we had had a hard day of it, and, if the truth +were known, I think that we had all given up hope of overtaking the launch +other than by the merest accident. +</p> + +<p> +We had shot a deer just before our halt, and, as Taylor and Delcarte were +preparing it, I walked down to the water to fill our canteens. I had just +finished, and was straightening up, when something floating around a bend above +me caught my eye. For a moment I could not believe the testimony of my own +senses. It was a boat. +</p> + +<p> +I shouted to Delcarte and Taylor, who came running to my side. +</p> + +<p> +“The launch!” cried Delcarte; and, indeed, it was the launch, +floating down-river from above us. Where had it been? How had we passed it? And +how were we to reach it now, should Snider and the girl discover us? +</p> + +<p> +“Itl’s drifting,” said Taylor. “I see no one in +it.” +</p> + +<p> +I was stripping off my clothes, and Delcarte soon followed my example. I told +Taylor to remain on shore with the clothing and rifles. He might also serve us +better there, since it would give him an opportunity to take a shot at Snider +should the man discover us and show himself. +</p> + +<p> +With powerful strokes we swam out in the path of the oncoming launch. Being a +stronger swimmer than Delcarte, I soon was far in the lead, reaching the center +of the channel just as the launch bore down upon me. It was drifting broadside +on. I seized the gunwale and raised myself quickly, so that my chin topped the +side. I expected a blow the moment that I came within the view of the +occupants, but no blow fell. +</p> + +<p> +Snider lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat alone. Even before I had +clambered in and stooped above him I knew that he was dead. Without examining +him further, I ran forward to the control board and pressed the starting +button. To my relief, the mechanism responded—the launch was uninjured. +Coming about, I picked up Delcarte. He was astounded at the sight that met his +eyes, and immediately fell to examining Sniderl’s body for signs of life +or an explanation of the manner in which he met his death. +</p> + +<p> +The fellow had been dead for hours—he was cold and still. But +Delcarte’s search was not without results, for above Sniderl’s +heart was a wound, a slit about an inch in length—such a slit as a sharp +knife would make, and in the dead fingers of one hand was clutched a strand of +long brown hair—Victoryl’s hair was brown. +</p> + +<p> +They say that dead men tell no tales, but Snider told the story of his end as +clearly as though the dead lips had parted and poured forth the truth. The +beast had attacked the girl, and she had defended her honor. +</p> + +<p> +We buried Snider beside the Rhine, and no stone marks his last resting place. +Beasts do not require headstones. +</p> + +<p> +Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose upstream. When I had told +Delcarte and Taylor that I intended searching for the girl, neither had +demurred. +</p> + +<p> +“We had her wrong in our thoughts,” said Delcarte, “and the +least that we can do in expiation is to find and rescue her.” +</p> + +<p> +We called her name aloud every few minutes as we motored up the river, but, +though we returned all the way to our former camping place, we did not find +her. I then decided to retrace our journey, letting Taylor handle the launch, +while Delcarte and I, upon opposite sides of the river, searched for some sign +of the spot where Victory had landed. +</p> + +<p> +We found nothing until we had reached a point a few miles above the spot where +I had first seen the launch drifting down toward us, and there I discovered the +remnants of a recent camp fire. +</p> + +<p> +That Victory carried flint and steel I was aware, and that it was she who built +the fire I was positive. But which way had she gone since she stopped here? +</p> + +<p> +Would she go on down the river, that she might thus bring herself nearer her +own Grabritin, or would she have sought to search for us upstream, where she +had seen us last? +</p> + +<p> +I had hailed Taylor, and sent him across the river to take in Delcarte, that +the two might join me and discuss my discovery and our future plans. +</p> + +<p> +While waiting for them, I stood looking out over the river, my back toward the +woods that stretched away to the east behind me. Delcarte was just stepping +into the launch upon the opposite side of the stream, when, without the least +warning, I was violently seized by both arms and about the waist—three or +four men were upon me at once; my rifle was snatched from my hands and my +revolver from my belt. +</p> + +<p> +I struggled for an instant, but finding my efforts of no avail, I ceased them, +and turned my head to have a look at my assailants. At the same time several +others of them walked around in front of me, and, to my astonishment, I found +myself looking upon uniformed soldiery, armed with rifles, revolvers, and +sabers, but with faces as black as coal. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p> +Delcarte and Taylor were now in mid-stream, coming toward us, and I called to +them to keep aloof until I knew whether the intentions of my captors were +friendly or otherwise. My good men wanted to come on and annihilate the blacks. +But there were upward of a hundred of the latter, all well armed, and so I +commanded Delcarte to keep out of harml’s way, and stay where he was till +I needed him. +</p> + +<p> +A young officer called and beckoned to them. But they refused to come, and so +he gave orders that resulted in my hands being secured at my back, after which +the company marched away, straight toward the east. +</p> + +<p> +I noticed that the men wore spurs, which seemed strange to me. But when, late +in the afternoon, we arrived at their encampment, I discovered that my captors +were cavalrymen. +</p> + +<p> +In the center of a plain stood a log fort, with a blockhouse at each of its +four corners. As we approached, I saw a herd of cavalry horses grazing under +guard outside the walls of the post. They were small, stocky horses, but the +telltale saddle galls proclaimed their calling. The flag flying from a tall +staff inside the palisade was one which I had never before seen nor heard of. +</p> + +<p> +We marched directly into the compound, where the company was dismissed, with +the exception of a guard of four privates, who escorted me in the wake of the +young officer. The latter led us across a small parade ground, where a battery +of light field guns was parked, and toward a log building, in front of which +rose the flagstaff. +</p> + +<p> +I was escorted within the building into the presence of an old negro, a fine +looking man, with a dignified and military bearing. He was a colonel, I was to +learn later, and to him I owe the very humane treatment that was accorded me +while I remained his prisoner. +</p> + +<p> +He listened to the report of his junior, and then turned to question me, but +with no better results than the former had accomplished. Then he summoned an +orderly, and gave some instructions. The soldier saluted, and left the room, +returning in about five minutes with a hairy old white man—just such a +savage, primeval-looking fellow as I had discovered in the woods the day that +Snider had disappeared with the launch. +</p> + +<p> +The colonel evidently expected to use the fellow as interpreter, but when the +savage addressed me it was in a language as foreign to me as was that of the +blacks. At last the old officer gave it up, and, shaking his head, gave +instructions for my removal. +</p> + +<p> +From his office I was led to a guardhouse, in which I found about fifty +half-naked whites, clad in the skins of wild beasts. I tried to converse with +them, but not one of them could understand Pan-American, nor could I make head +or tail of their jargon. +</p> + +<p> +For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from morning until night +at odd jobs about the headquarters building of the commanding officer. The +other prisoners worked harder than I did, and I owe my better treatment solely +to the kindliness and discrimination of the old colonel. +</p> + +<p> +What had become of Victory, of Delcarte, of Taylor I could not know; nor did it +seem likely that I should ever learn. I was most depressed. But I whiled away +my time in performing the duties given me to the best of my ability and +attempting to learn the language of my captors. +</p> + +<p> +Who they were or where they came from was a mystery to me. That they were the +outpost of some powerful black nation seemed likely, yet where the seat of that +nation lay I could not guess. +</p> + +<p> +They looked upon the whites as their inferiors, and treated us accordingly. +They had a literature of their own, and many of the men, even the common +soldiers, were omnivorous readers. Every two weeks a dust-covered trooper would +trot his jaded mount into the post and deliver a bulging sack of mail at +headquarters. The next day he would be away again upon a fresh horse toward the +south, carrying the soldiers’ letters to friends in the far off land of +mystery from whence they all had come. +</p> + +<p> +Troops, sometimes mounted and sometimes afoot, left the post daily for what I +assumed to be patrol duty. I judged the little force of a thousand men were +detailed here to maintain the authority of a distant government in a conquered +country. Later, I learned that my surmise was correct, and this was but one of +a great chain of similar posts that dotted the new frontier of the black nation +into whose hands I had fallen. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly I learned their tongue, so that I could understand what was said before +me, and make myself understood. I had seen from the first that I was being +treated as a slave—that all whites that fell into the hands of the blacks +were thus treated. +</p> + +<p> +Almost daily new prisoners were brought in, and about three weeks after I was +brought in to the post a troop of cavalry came from the south to relieve one of +the troops stationed there. There was great jubilation in the encampment after +the arrival of the newcomers, old friendships were renewed and new ones made. +But the happiest men were those of the troop that was to be relieved. +</p> + +<p> +The next morning they started away, and as they were forced upon the parade +ground we prisoners were marched from our quarters and lined up before them. A +couple of long chains were brought, with rings in the links every few feet. At +first I could not guess the purpose of these chains. But I was soon to learn. +</p> + +<p> +A couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck of a powerful white +slave, and one by one the rest of us were herded to our places, and the work of +shackling us neck to neck commenced. +</p> + +<p> +The colonel stood watching the procedure. Presently his eyes fell upon me, and +he spoke to a young officer at his side. The latter stepped toward me and +motioned me to follow him. I did so, and was led back to the colonel. +</p> + +<p> +By this time I could understand a few words of their strange language, and when +the colonel asked me if I would prefer to remain at the post as his body +servant, I signified my willingness as emphatically as possible, for I had seen +enough of the brutality of the common soldiers toward their white slaves to +have no desire to start out upon a march of unknown length, chained by the +neck, and driven on by the great whips that a score of the soldiers carried to +accelerate the speed of their charges. +</p> + +<p> +About three hundred prisoners who had been housed in six prisons at the post +marched out of the gates that morning, toward what fate and what future I could +not guess. Neither had the poor devils themselves more than the most vague +conception of what lay in store for them, except that they were going elsewhere +to continue in the slavery that they had known since their capture by their +black conquerors—a slavery that was to continue until death released +them. +</p> + +<p> +My position was altered at the post. From working about the headquarters +office, I was transferred to the colonel’s living quarters. I had greater +freedom, and no longer slept in one of the prisons, but had a little room to +myself off the kitchen of the colonel’s log house. +</p> + +<p> +My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly learned the language +of my captors, and much concerning them that had been a mystery to me before. +His name was Abu Belik. He was a colonel in the cavalry of Abyssinia, a country +of which I do not remember ever hearing, but which Colonel Belik assured me is +the oldest civilized country in the world. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Belik was born in Adis Abeba, the capital of the empire, and until +recently had been in command of the emperorl’s palace guard. Jealousy and +the ambition and intrigue of another officer had lost him the favor of his +emperor, and he had been detailed to this frontier post as a mark of his +sovereignl’s displeasure. +</p> + +<p> +Some fifty years before, the young emperor, Menelek XIV, was ambitious. He knew +that a great world lay across the waters far to the north of his capital. Once +he had crossed the desert and looked out upon the blue sea that was the +northern boundary of his dominions. +</p> + +<p> +There lay another world to conquer. Menelek busied himself with the building of +a great fleet, though his people were not a maritime race. His army crossed +into Europe. It met with little resistance, and for fifty years his soldiers +had been pushing his boundaries farther and farther toward the north. +</p> + +<p> +“The yellow men from the east and north are contesting our rights here +now,” said the colonel, “but we shall win—we shall conquer +the world, carrying Christianity to all the benighted heathen of Europe, and +Asia as well.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are a Christian people?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +He looked at me in surprise, nodding his head affirmatively. +</p> + +<p> +“I am a Christian,” I said. “My people are the most powerful +on earth.” +</p> + +<p> +He smiled, and shook his head indulgently, as a father to a child who sets up +his childish judgment against that of his elders. +</p> + +<p> +Then I set out to prove my point. I told him of our cities, of our army, of our +great navy. He came right back at me asking for figures, and when he was done I +had to admit that only in our navy were we numerically superior. +</p> + +<p> +Menelek XIV is the undisputed ruler of all the continent of Africa, of all of +ancient Europe except the British Isles, Scandinavia, and eastern Russia, and +has large possessions and prosperous colonies in what once were Arabia and +Turkey in Asia. +</p> + +<p> +He has a standing army of ten million men, and his people possess +slaves—white slaves—to the number of ten or fifteen million. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Belik was much surprised, however, upon his part, to learn of the great +nation which lay across the ocean, and when he found that I was a naval +officer, he was inclined to accord me even greater consideration than formerly. +It was difficult for him to believe my assertion that there were but few blacks +in my country, and that these occupied a lower social plane than the whites. +</p> + +<p> +Just the reverse is true in Colonel Belikl’s land. He considered whites +inferior beings, creatures of a lower order, and assured me that even the few +white freemen of Abyssinia were never accorded anything approximating a +position of social equality with the blacks. They live in the poorer districts +of the cities, in little white colonies, and a black who marries a white is +socially ostracized. +</p> + +<p> +The arms and ammunition of the Abyssinians are greatly inferior to ours, yet +they are tremendously effective against the ill-armed barbarians of Europe. +Their rifles are of a type similar to the magazine rifles of twentieth century +Pan-America, but carrying only five cartridges in the magazine, in addition to +the one in the chamber. They are of extraordinary length, even those of the +cavalry, and are of extreme accuracy. +</p> + +<p> +The Abyssinians themselves are a fine looking race of black men—tall, +muscular, with fine teeth, and regular features, which incline distinctly +toward Semitic mold—I refer to the full-blooded natives of Abyssinia. +They are the patricians—the aristocracy. The army is officered almost +exclusively by them. Among the soldiery a lower type of negro predominates, +with thicker lips and broader, flatter noses. These men are recruited, so the +colonel told me, from among the conquered tribes of Africa. They are good +soldiers—brave and loyal. They can read and write, and they are endowed +with a self-confidence and pride which, from my readings of the words of +ancient African explorers, must have been wanting in their earliest +progenitors. On the whole, it is apparent that the black race has thrived far +better in the past two centuries under men of its own color than it had under +the domination of whites during all previous history. +</p> + +<p> +I had been a prisoner at the little frontier post for over a month, when orders +came to Colonel Belik to hasten to the eastern frontier with the major portion +of his command, leaving only one troop to garrison the fort. As his body +servant, I accompanied him mounted upon a fiery little Abyssinian pony. +</p> + +<p> +We marched rapidly for ten days through the heart of the ancient German empire, +halting when night found us in proximity to water. Often we passed small posts +similar to that at which the colonel’s regiment had been quartered, +finding in each instance that only a single company or troop remained for +defence, the balance having been withdrawn toward the northeast, in the same +direction in which we were moving. +</p> + +<p> +Naturally, the colonel had not confided to me the nature of his orders. But the +rapidity of our march and the fact that all available troops were being +hastened toward the northeast assured me that a matter of vital importance to +the dominion of Menelek XIV in that part of Europe was threatening or had +already broken. +</p> + +<p> +I could not believe that a simple rising of the savage tribes of whites would +necessitate the mobilizing of such a force as we presently met with converging +from the south into our trail. There were large bodies of cavalry and infantry, +endless streams of artillery wagons and guns, and countless horse-drawn covered +vehicles laden with camp equipage, munitions, and provisions. +</p> + +<p> +Here, for the first time, I saw camels, great caravans of them, bearing all +sorts of heavy burdens, and miles upon miles of elephants doing similar +service. It was a scene of wondrous and barbaric splendor, for the men and +beasts from the south were gaily caparisoned in rich colors, in marked contrast +to the gray uniformed forces of the frontier, with which I had been familiar. +</p> + +<p> +The rumor reached us that Menelek himself was coming, and the pitch of +excitement to which this announcement raised the troops was little short of +miraculous—at least, to one of my race and nationality whose rulers for +centuries had been but ordinary men, holding office at the will of the people +for a few brief years. +</p> + +<p> +As I witnessed it, I could not but speculate upon the moral effect upon his +troops of a sovereignl’s presence in the midst of battle. All else being +equal in war between the troops of a republic and an empire, could not this +exhilarated mental state, amounting almost to hysteria on the part of the +imperial troops, weigh heavily against the soldiers of a president? I wonder. +</p> + +<p> +But if the emperor chanced to be absent? What then? Again I wonder. +</p> + +<p> +On the eleventh day we reached our destination—a walled frontier city of +about twenty thousand. We passed some lakes, and crossed some old canals before +entering the gates. Within, beside the frame buildings, were many built of +ancient brick and well-cut stone. These, I was told, were of material taken +from the ruins of the ancient city which, once, had stood upon the site of the +present town. +</p> + +<p> +The name of the town, translated from the Abyssinian, is New Gondar. It stands, +I am convinced, upon the ruins of ancient Berlin, the one time capital of the +old German empire, but except for the old building material used in the new +town there is no sign of the former city. +</p> + +<p> +The day after we arrived, the town was gaily decorated with flags, streamers, +gorgeous rugs, and banners, for the rumor had proved true—the emperor was +coming. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Belik had accorded me the greatest liberty, permitting me to go where I +pleased, after my few duties had been performed. As a result of his kindness, I +spent much time wandering about New Gondar, talking with the inhabitants, and +exploring the city of black men. +</p> + +<p> +As I had been given a semi-military uniform which bore insignia indicating that +I was an officerl’s body servant, even the blacks treated me with a +species of respect, though I could see by their manner that I was really as the +dirt beneath their feet. They answered my questions civilly enough, but they +would not enter into conversation with me. It was from other slaves that I +learned the gossip of the city. +</p> + +<p> +Troops were pouring in from the west and south, and pouring out toward the +east. I asked an old slave who was sweeping the dirt into little piles in the +gutters of the street where the soldiers were going. He looked at me in +surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, to fight the yellow men, of course,” he said. “They +have crossed the border, and are marching toward New Gondar.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who will win?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +He shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows?” he said. “I hope it +will be the yellow men, but Menelek is powerful—it will take many yellow +men to defeat him.” +</p> + +<p> +Crowds were gathering along the sidewalks to view the emperorl’s entry +into the city. I took my place among them, although I hate crowds, and I am +glad that I did, for I witnessed such a spectacle of barbaric splendor as no +other Pan-American has ever looked upon. +</p> + +<p> +Down the broad main thoroughfare, which may once have been the historic Unter +den Linden, came a brilliant cortege. At the head rode a regiment of red-coated +hussars—enormous men, black as night. There were troops of riflemen +mounted on camels. The emperor rode in a golden howdah upon the back of a huge +elephant so covered with rich hangings and embellished with scintillating gems +that scarce more than the beastl’s eyes and feet were visible. +</p> + +<p> +Menelek was a rather gross-looking man, well past middle age, but he carried +himself with an air of dignity befitting one descended in unbroken line from +the Prophet—as was his claim. +</p> + +<p> +His eyes were bright but crafty, and his features denoted both sensuality and +cruelness. In his youth he may have been a rather fine looking black, but when +I saw him his appearance was revolting—to me, at least. +</p> + +<p> +Following the emperor came regiment after regiment from the various branches of +the service, among them batteries of field guns mounted on elephants. +</p> + +<p> +In the center of the troops following the imperial elephant marched a great +caravan of slaves. The old street sweeper at my elbow told me that these were +the gifts brought in from the far outlying districts by the commanding officers +of the frontier posts. The majority of them were women, destined, I was told, +for the harems of the emperor and his favorites. It made my old companion +clench his fists to see those poor white women marching past to their horrid +fates, and, though I shared his sentiments, I was as powerless to alter their +destinies as he. +</p> + +<p> +For a week the troops kept pouring in and out of New Gondar—in, always, +from the south and west, but always toward the east. Each new contingent +brought its gifts to the emperor. From the south they brought rugs and +ornaments and jewels; from the west, slaves; for the commanding officers of the +western frontier posts had naught else to bring. +</p> + +<p> +From the number of women they brought, I judged that they knew the weakness of +their imperial master. +</p> + +<p> +And then soldiers commenced coming in from the east, but not with the gay +assurance of those who came from the south and west—no, these others came +in covered wagons, blood-soaked and suffering. They came at first in little +parties of eight or ten, and then they came in fifties, in hundreds, and one +day a thousand maimed and dying men were carted into New Gondar. +</p> + +<p> +It was then that Menelek XIV became uneasy. For fifty years his armies had +conquered wherever they had marched. At first he had led them in person, lately +his presence within a hundred miles of the battle line had been sufficient for +large engagements—for minor ones only the knowledge that they were +fighting for the glory of their sovereign was necessary to win victories. +</p> + +<p> +One morning, New Gondar was awakened by the booming of cannon. It was the first +intimation that the townspeople had received that the enemy was forcing the +imperial troops back upon the city. Dust covered couriers galloped in from the +front. Fresh troops hastened from the city, and about noon Menelek rode out +surrounded by his staff. +</p> + +<p> +For three days thereafter we could hear the cannonading and the spitting of the +small arms, for the battle line was scarce two leagues from New Gondar. The +city was filled with wounded. Just outside, soldiers were engaged in throwing +up earthworks. It was evident to the least enlightened that Menelek expected +further reverses. +</p> + +<p> +And then the imperial troops fell back upon these new defenses, or, rather, +they were forced back by the enemy. Shells commenced to fall within the city. +Menelek returned and took up his headquarters in the stone building that was +called the palace. That night came a lull in the hostilities—a truce had +been arranged. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Belik summoned me about seven o’clock to dress him for a function +at the palace. In the midst of death and defeat the emperor was about to give a +great banquet to his officers. I was to accompany my master and wait upon +him—I, Jefferson Turck, lieutenant in the Pan-American navy! +</p> + +<p> +In the privacy of the colonel’s quarters I had become accustomed to my +menial duties, lightened as they were by the natural kindliness of my master, +but the thought of appearing in public as a common slave revolted every fine +instinct within me. Yet there was nothing for it but to obey. +</p> + +<p> +I cannot, even now, bring myself to a narration of the humiliation which I +experienced that night as I stood behind my black master in silent servility, +now pouring his wine, now cutting up his meats for him, now fanning him with a +large, plumed fan of feathers. +</p> + +<p> +As fond as I had grown of him, I could have thrust a knife into him, so keenly +did I feel the affront that had been put upon me. But at last the long banquet +was concluded. The tables were removed. The emperor ascended a dais at one end +of the room and seated himself upon a throne, and the entertainment commenced. +It was only what ancient history might have led me to expect—musicians, +dancing girls, jugglers, and the like. +</p> + +<p> +Near midnight, the master of ceremonies announced that the slave women who had +been presented to the emperor since his arrival in New Gondar would be +exhibited, that the royal host would select such as he wished, after which he +would present the balance of them to his guests. Ah, what royal generosity! +</p> + +<p> +A small door at one side of the room opened, and the poor creatures filed in +and were ranged in a long line before the throne. Their backs were toward me. I +saw only an occasional profile as now and then a bolder spirit among them +turned to survey the apartment and the gorgeous assemblage of officers in their +brilliant dress uniforms. They were profiles of young girls, and pretty, but +horror was indelibly stamped upon them all. I shuddered as I contemplated their +sad fate, and turned my eyes away. +</p> + +<p> +I heard the master of ceremonies command them to prostrate themselves before +the emperor, and the sounds as they went upon their knees before him, touching +their foreheads to the floor. Then came the official’s voice again, in +sharp and peremptory command. +</p> + +<p> +“Down, slave!” he cried. “Make obeisance to your +sovereign!” +</p> + +<p> +I looked up, attracted by the tone of the manl’s voice, to see a single, +straight, slim figure standing erect in the center of the line of prostrate +girls, her arms folded across her breast and little chin in the air. Her back +was toward me—I could not see her face, though I should like to see the +countenance of this savage young lioness, standing there defiant among that +herd of terrified sheep. +</p> + +<p> +“Down! Down!” shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a step +toward her and half drawing his sword. +</p> + +<p> +My blood boiled. To stand there, inactive, while a negro struck down that brave +girl of my own race! Instinctively I took a forward step to place myself in the +manl’s path. But at the same instant Menelek raised his hand in a gesture +that halted the officer. The emperor seemed interested, but in no way angered +at the girl’s attitude. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us inquire,” he said in a smooth, pleasant voice, “why +this young woman refuses to do homage to her sovereign,” and he put the +question himself directly to her. +</p> + +<p> +She answered him in Abyssinian, but brokenly and with an accent that betrayed +how recently she had acquired her slight knowledge of the tongue. +</p> + +<p> +“I go on my knees to no one,” she said. “I have no sovereign. +I myself am sovereign in my own country.” +</p> + +<p> +Menelek, at her words, leaned back in his throne and laughed uproariously. +Following his example, which seemed always the correct procedure, the assembled +guests vied with one another in an effort to laugh more noisily than the +emperor. +</p> + +<p> +The girl but tilted her chin a bit higher in the air—even her back +proclaimed her utter contempt for her captors. Finally Menelek restored quiet +by the simple expedient of a frown, whereupon each loyal guest exchanged his +mirthful mien for an emulative scowl. +</p> + +<p> +“And who,” asked Menelek, “are you, and by what name is your +country called?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am Victory, Queen of Grabritin,” replied the girl so quickly and +so unexpectedly that I gasped in astonishment. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p> +Victory! She was here, a slave to these black conquerors. Once more I started +toward her, but better judgment held me back—I could do nothing to help +her other than by stealth. Could I even accomplish aught by this means? I did +not know. It seemed beyond the pale of possibility, and yet I should try. +</p> + +<p> +“And you will not bend the knee to me?” continued Menelek, after +she had spoken. Victory shook her head in a most decided negation. +</p> + +<p> +“You shall be my first choice, then,” said the emperor. “I +like your spirit, for the breaking of it will add to my pleasure in you, and +never fear but that it shall be broken—this very night. Take her to my +apartments,” and he motioned to an officer at his side. +</p> + +<p> +I was surprised to see Victory follow the man off in apparent quiet submission. +I tried to follow, that I might be near her against some opportunity to speak +with her or assist in her escape. But, after I had followed them from the +throne room, through several other apartments, and down a long corridor, I +found my further progress barred by a soldier who stood guard before a doorway +through which the officer conducted Victory. +</p> + +<p> +Almost immediately the officer reappeared and started back in the direction of +the throne room. I had been hiding in a doorway after the guard had turned me +back, having taken refuge there while his back was turned, and, as the officer +approached me, I withdrew into the room beyond, which was in darkness. There I +remained for a long time, watching the sentry before the door of the room in +which Victory was a prisoner, and awaiting some favorable circumstance which +would give me entry to her. +</p> + +<p> +I have not attempted to fully describe my sensations at the moment I recognized +Victory, because, I can assure you, they were entirely indescribable. I should +never have imagined that the sight of any human being could affect me as had +this unexpected discovery of Victory in the same room in which I was, while I +had thought of her for weeks either as dead, or at best hundreds of miles to +the west, and as irretrievably lost to me as though she were, in truth, dead. +</p> + +<p> +I was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her. It was not enough +merely to assist her, or protect her—I desired to touch her—to take +her in my arms. I was astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled me—it +was my incomprehensible feeling of elation since I had again seen her. With a +fate worse than death staring her in the face, and with the knowledge that I +should probably die defending her within the hour, I was still happier than I +had been for weeks—and all because I had seen again for a few brief +minutes the figure of a little heathen maiden. I couldn’t account for it, +and it angered me; I had never before felt any such sensations in the presence +of a woman, and I had made love to some very beautiful ones in my time. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of that doorway, in the ill-lit +corridor of the palace of Menelek XIV. A sickly gas jet cast a sad pallor upon +the black face of the sentry. The fellow seemed rooted to the spot. Evidently +he would never leave, or turn his back again. +</p> + +<p> +I had been in hiding but a short time when I heard the sound of distant cannon. +The truce had ended, and the battle had been resumed. Very shortly thereafter +the earth shook to the explosion of a shell within the city, and from time to +time thereafter other shells burst at no great distance from the palace. The +yellow men were bombarding New Gondar again. +</p> + +<p> +Presently officers and slaves commenced to traverse the corridor on matters +pertaining to their duties, and then came the emperor, scowling and wrathful. +He was followed by a few personal attendants, whom he dismissed at the doorway +to his apartments—the same doorway through which Victory had been taken. +I chafed to follow him, but the corridor was filled with people. At last they +betook themselves to their own apartments, which lay upon either side of the +corridor. +</p> + +<p> +An officer and a slave entered the very room in which I hid, forcing me to +flatten myself to one side in the darkness until they had passed. Then the +slave made a light, and I knew that I must find another hiding place. +</p> + +<p> +Stepping boldly into the corridor, I saw that it was now empty save for the +single sentry before the emperorl’s door. He glanced up as I emerged from +the room, the occupants of which had not seen me. I walked straight toward the +soldier, my mind made up in an instant. I tried to simulate an expression of +cringing servility, and I must have succeeded, for I entirely threw the man off +his guard, so that he permitted me to approach within reach of his rifle before +stopping me. Then it was too late—for him. +</p> + +<p> +Without a word or a warning, I snatched the piece from his grasp, and, at the +same time struck him a terrific blow between the eyes with my clenched fist. He +staggered back in surprise, too dumbfounded even to cry out, and then I clubbed +his rifle and felled him with a single mighty blow. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later, I had burst into the room beyond. It was empty! +</p> + +<p> +I gazed about, mad with disappointment. Two doors opened from this to other +rooms. I ran to the nearer and listened. Yes, voices were coming from beyond +and one was a womanl’s, level and cold and filled with scorn. There was +no terror in it. It was Victoryl’s. +</p> + +<p> +I turned the knob and pushed the door inward just in time to see Menelek seize +the girl and drag her toward the far end of the apartment. At the same instant +there was a deafening roar just outside the palace—a shell had struck +much nearer than any of its predecessors. The noise of it drowned my rapid rush +across the room. +</p> + +<p> +But in her struggles, Victory turned Menelek about so that he saw me. She was +striking him in the face with her clenched fist, and now he was choking her. +</p> + +<p> +At sight of me, he gave voice to a roar of anger. +</p> + +<p> +“What means this, slave?” he cried. “Out of here! Out of +here! Quick, before I kill you!” +</p> + +<p> +But for answer I rushed upon him, striking him with the butt of the rifle. He +staggered back, dropping Victory to the floor, and then he cried aloud for the +guard, and came at me. Again and again I struck him; but his thick skull might +have been armor plate, for all the damage I did it. +</p> + +<p> +He tried to close with me, seizing the rifle, but I was stronger than he, and, +wrenching the weapon from his grasp, tossed it aside and made for his throat +with my bare hands. I had not dared fire the weapon for fear that its report +would bring the larger guard stationed at the farther end of the corridor. +</p> + +<p> +We struggled about the room, striking one another, knocking over furniture, and +rolling upon the floor. Menelek was a powerful man, and he was fighting for his +life. Continually he kept calling for the guard, until I succeeded in getting a +grip upon his throat; but it was too late. His cries had been heard, and +suddenly the door burst open, and a score of armed guardsmen rushed into the +apartment. +</p> + +<p> +Victory seized the rifle from the floor and leaped between me and them. I had +the black emperor upon his back, and both my hands were at his throat, choking +the life from him. +</p> + +<p> +The rest happened in the fraction of a second. There was a rending crash above +us, then a deafening explosion within the chamber. Smoke and powder fumes +filled the room. Half stunned, I rose from the lifeless body of my antagonist +just in time to see Victory stagger to her feet and turn toward me. Slowly the +smoke cleared to reveal the shattered remnants of the guard. A shell had fallen +through the palace roof and exploded just in the rear of the detachment of +guardsmen who were coming to the rescue of their emperor. Why neither Victory +nor I were struck is a miracle. The room was a wreck. A great, jagged hole was +torn in the ceiling, and the wall toward the corridor had been blown entirely +out. +</p> + +<p> +As I rose, Victory had risen, too, and started toward me. But when she saw that +I was uninjured she stopped, and stood there in the center of the demolished +apartment looking at me. Her expression was inscrutable—I could not guess +whether she was glad to see me, or not. +</p> + +<p> +“Victory!” I cried. “Thank God that you are safe!” And +I approached her, a greater gladness in my heart than I had felt since the +moment that I knew the Coldwater must be swept beyond thirty. +</p> + +<p> +There was no answering gladness in her eyes. Instead, she stamped her little +foot in anger. +</p> + +<p> +“Why did it have to be you who saved me!” she exclaimed. “I +hate you!” +</p> + +<p> +“Hate me?” I asked. “Why should you hate me, Victory? I do +not hate you. I—I—” What was I about to say? I was very close +to her as a great light broke over me. Why had I never realized it before? The +truth accounted for a great many hitherto inexplicable moods that had claimed +me from time to time since first I had seen Victory. +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I hate you?” she repeated. “Because Snider told +me—he told me that you had promised me to him, but he did not get me. I +killed him, as I should like to kill you!” +</p> + +<p> +“Snider lied!” I cried. And then I seized her and held her in my +arms, and made her listen to me, though she struggled and fought like a young +lioness. “I love you, Victory. You must know that I love you—that I +have always loved you, and that I never could have made so base a +promise.” +</p> + +<p> +She ceased her struggles, just a trifle, but still tried to push me from her. +“You called me a barbarian!” she said. +</p> + +<p> +Ah, so that was it! That still rankled. I crushed her to me. +</p> + +<p> +“You could not love a barbarian,” she went on, but she had ceased +to struggle. +</p> + +<p> +“But I do love a barbarian, Victory!” I cried, “the dearest +barbarian in the world.” +</p> + +<p> +She raised her eyes to mine, and then her smooth, brown arms encircled my neck +and drew my lips down to hers. +</p> + +<p> +“I love you—I have loved you always!” she said, and then she +buried her face upon my shoulder and sobbed. “I have been so +unhappy,” she said, “but I could not die while I thought that you +might live.” +</p> + +<p> +As we stood there, momentarily forgetful of all else than our new found +happiness, the ferocity of the bombardment increased until scarce thirty +seconds elapsed between the shells that rained about the palace. +</p> + +<p> +To remain long would be to invite certain death. We could not escape the way +that we had entered the apartment, for not only was the corridor now choked +with debris, but beyond the corridor there were doubtless many members of the +emperorl’s household who would stop us. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the opposite side of the room was another door, and toward this I led the +way. It opened into a third apartment with windows overlooking an inner court. +From one of these windows I surveyed the courtyard. Apparently it was empty, +and the rooms upon the opposite side were unlighted. +</p> + +<p> +Assisting Victory to the open, I followed, and together we crossed the court, +discovering upon the opposite side a number of wide, wooden doors set in the +wall of the palace, with small windows between. As we stood close behind one of +the doors, listening, a horse within neighed. +</p> + +<p> +“The stables!” I whispered, and, a moment later, had pushed back a +door and entered. From the city about us we could hear the din of great +commotion, and quite close the sounds of battle—the crack of thousands of +rifles, the yells of the soldiers, the hoarse commands of officers, and the +blare of bugles. +</p> + +<p> +The bombardment had ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. I judged that the +enemy was storming the city, for the sounds we heard were the sounds of +hand-to-hand combat. +</p> + +<p> +Within the stables I groped about until I had found saddles and bridles for two +horses. But afterward, in the darkness, I could find but a single mount. The +doors of the opposite side, leading to the street, were open, and we could see +great multitudes of men, women, and children fleeing toward the west. Soldiers, +afoot and mounted, were joining the mad exodus. Now and then a camel or an +elephant would pass bearing some officer or dignitary to safety. It was evident +that the city would fall at any moment—a fact which was amply proclaimed +by the terror-stricken haste of the fear-mad mob. +</p> + +<p> +Horse, camel, and elephant trod helpless women and children beneath their feet. +A common soldier dragged a general from his mount, and, leaping to the +animal’s back, fled down the packed street toward the west. A woman +seized a gun and brained a court dignitary, whose horse had trampled her child +to death. Shrieks, curses, commands, supplications filled the air. It was a +frightful scene—one that will be burned upon my memory forever. +</p> + +<p> +I had saddled and bridled the single horse which had evidently been overlooked +by the royal household in its flight, and, standing a little back in the shadow +of the stable’s interior, Victory and I watched the surging throng +without. +</p> + +<p> +To have entered it would have been to have courted greater danger than we were +already in. We decided to wait until the stress of blacks thinned, and for more +than an hour we stood there while the sounds of battle raged upon the eastern +side of the city and the population flew toward the west. More and more +numerous became the uniformed soldiers among the fleeing throng, until, toward +the last, the street was packed with them. It was no orderly retreat, but a +rout, complete and terrible. +</p> + +<p> +The fighting was steadily approaching us now, until the crack of rifles sounded +in the very street upon which we were looking. And then came a handful of brave +men—a little rear guard backing slowly toward the west, working their +smoking rifles in feverish haste as they fired volley after volley at the foe +we could not see. +</p> + +<p> +But these were pressed back and back until the first line of the enemy came +opposite our shelter. They were men of medium height, with olive complexions +and almond eyes. In them I recognized the descendants of the ancient Chinese +race. +</p> + +<p> +They were well uniformed and superbly armed, and they fought bravely and under +perfect discipline. So rapt was I in the exciting events transpiring in the +street that I did not hear the approach of a body of men from behind. It was a +party of the conquerors who had entered the palace and were searching it. +</p> + +<p> +They came upon us so unexpectedly that we were prisoners before we realized +what had happened. That night we were held under a strong guard just outside +the eastern wall of the city, and the next morning were started upon a long +march toward the east. +</p> + +<p> +Our captors were not unkind to us, and treated the women prisoners with +respect. We marched for many days—so many that I lost count of +them—and at last we came to another city—a Chinese city this +time—which stands upon the site of ancient Moscow. +</p> + +<p> +It is only a small frontier city, but it is well built and well kept. Here a +large military force is maintained, and here also, is a terminus of the +railroad that crosses modern China to the Pacific. +</p> + +<p> +There was every evidence of a high civilization in all that we saw within the +city, which, in connection with the humane treatment that had been accorded all +prisoners upon the long and tiresome march, encouraged me to hope that I might +appeal to some high officer here for the treatment which my rank and birth +merited. +</p> + +<p> +We could converse with our captors only through the medium of interpreters who +spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian. But there were many of these, and shortly +after we reached the city I persuaded one of them to carry a verbal message to +the officer who had commanded the troops during the return from New Gondar, +asking that I might be given a hearing by some high official. +</p> + +<p> +The reply to my request was a summons to appear before the officer to whom I +had addressed my appeal. A sergeant came for me along with the interpreter, and +I managed to obtain his permission to let Victory accompany me—I had +never left her alone with the prisoners since we had been captured. +</p> + +<p> +To my delight I found that the officer into whose presence we were conducted +spoke Abyssinian fluently. He was astounded when I told him that I was a +Pan-American. Unlike all others whom I had spoken with since my arrival in +Europe, he was well acquainted with ancient history—was familiar with +twentieth century conditions in Pan-America, and after putting a half dozen +questions to me was satisfied that I spoke the truth. +</p> + +<p> +When I told him that Victory was Queen of England he showed little surprise, +telling me that in their recent explorations in ancient Russia they had found +many descendants of the old nobility and royalty. +</p> + +<p> +He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, furnished us with servants +and with money, and in other ways showed us every attention and kindness. +</p> + +<p> +He told me that he would telegraph his emperor at once, and the result was that +we were presently commanded to repair to Peking and present ourselves before +the ruler. +</p> + +<p> +We made the journey in a comfortable railway carriage, through a country which, +as we traveled farther toward the east, showed increasing evidence of +prosperity and wealth. +</p> + +<p> +At the imperial court we were received with great kindness, the emperor being +most inquisitive about the state of modern Pan-America. He told me that while +he personally deplored the existence of the strict regulations which had raised +a barrier between the east and the west, he had felt, as had his predecessors, +that recognition of the wishes of the great Pan-American federation would be +most conducive to the continued peace of the world. +</p> + +<p> +His empire includes all of Asia, and the islands of the Pacific as far east as +175°W. The empire of Japan no longer exists, having been conquered and absorbed +by China over a hundred years ago. The Philippines are well administered, and +constitute one of the most progressive colonies of the Chinese empire. +</p> + +<p> +The emperor told me that the building of this great empire and the spreading of +enlightenment among its diversified and savage peoples had required all the +best efforts of nearly two hundred years. Upon his accession to the throne he +had found the labor well nigh perfected and had turned his attention to the +reclamation of Europe. +</p> + +<p> +His ambition is to wrest it from the hands of the blacks, and then to attempt +the work of elevating its fallen peoples to the high estate from which the +Great War precipitated them. +</p> + +<p> +I asked him who was victorious in that war, and he shook his head sadly as he +replied: +</p> + +<p> +“Pan-America, perhaps, and China, with the blacks of Abyssinia,” he +said. “Those who did not fight were the only ones to reap any of the +rewards that are supposed to belong to victory. The combatants reaped naught +but annihilation. You have seen—better than any man you must realize that +there was no victory for any nation embroiled in that frightful war.” +</p> + +<p> +“When did it end?” I asked him. +</p> + +<p> +Again he shook his head. “It has not ended yet. There has never been a +formal peace declared in Europe. After a while there were none left to make +peace, and the rude tribes which sprang from the survivors continued to fight +among themselves because they knew no better condition of society. War razed +the works of man—war and pestilence razed man. God give that there shall +never be such another war!” +</p> + +<p> +You all know how Porfirio Johnson returned to Pan-America with John Alvarez in +chains; how Alvarezl’s trial raised a popular demonstration that the +government could not ignore. His eloquent appeal—not for himself, but for +me—is historic, as are its results. You know how a fleet was sent across +the Atlantic to search for me, how the restrictions against crossing thirty to +one hundred seventy-five were removed forever, and how the officers were +brought to Peking, arriving upon the very day that Victory and I were married +at the imperial court. +</p> + +<p> +My return to Pan-America was very different from anything I could possibly have +imagined a year before. Instead of being received as a traitor to my country, I +was acclaimed a hero. It was good to get back again, good to witness the kindly +treatment that was accorded my dear Victory, and when I learned that Delcarte +and Taylor had been found at the mouth of the Rhine and were already back in +Pan-America my joy was unalloyed. +</p> + +<p> +And now we are going back, Victory and I, with the men and the munitions and +power to reclaim England for her queen. Again I shall cross thirty, but under +what altered conditions! +</p> + +<p> +A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated, with enlightened China on the east and +enlightened Pan-America on the west—the two great peace powers whom God +has preserved to regenerate chastened and forgiven Europe. I have been through +much—I have suffered much, but I have won two great laurel wreaths beyond +thirty. One is the opportunity to rescue Europe from barbarism, the other is a +little barbarian, and the greater of these is—Victory. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Continent, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST CONTINENT *** + +***** This file should be named 149-h.htm or 149-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/149/ + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a57496 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #149 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/149) diff --git a/old/149.txt b/old/149.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f1375b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/149.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4656 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Continent, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: The Lost Continent + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Release Date: June 19, 2008 [EBook #149] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST CONTINENT *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + + + The Lost Continent was originally published + under the title Beyond Thirty + + + + +THE LOST CONTINENT + + +by + +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + +JTABLE 3 9 1 + + + +1 + + +Since earliest childhood I have been strangely fascinated by the +mystery surrounding the history of the last days of twentieth century +Europe. My interest is keenest, perhaps, not so much in relation to +known facts as to speculation upon the unknowable of the two centuries +that have rolled by since human intercourse between the Western and +Eastern Hemispheres ceased--the mystery of Europe's state following the +termination of the Great War--provided, of course, that the war had +been terminated. + +From out of the meagerness of our censored histories we learned that +for fifteen years after the cessation of diplomatic relations between +the United States of North America and the belligerent nations of the +Old World, news of more or less doubtful authenticity filtered, from +time to time, into the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern. + +Then came the fruition of that historic propaganda which is best +described by its own slogan: "The East for the East--the West for the +West," and all further intercourse was stopped by statute. + +Even prior to this, transoceanic commerce had practically ceased, owing +to the perils and hazards of the mine-strewn waters of both the +Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Just when submarine activities ended we +do not know but the last vessel of this type sighted by a Pan-American +merchantman was the huge Q 138, which discharged twenty-nine torpedoes +at a Brazilian tank steamer off the Bermudas in the fall of 1972. A +heavy sea and the excellent seamanship of the master of the Brazilian +permitted the Pan-American to escape and report this last of a long +series of outrages upon our commerce. God alone knows how many +hundreds of our ancient ships fell prey to the roving steel sharks of +blood-frenzied Europe. Countless were the vessels and men that passed +over our eastern and western horizons never to return; but whether they +met their fates before the belching tubes of submarines or among the +aimlessly drifting mine fields, no man lived to tell. + +And then came the great Pan-American Federation which linked the +Western Hemisphere from pole to pole under a single flag, which joined +the navies of the New World into the mightiest fighting force that ever +sailed the seven seas--the greatest argument for peace the world had +ever known. + +Since that day peace had reigned from the western shores of the Azores +to the western shores of the Hawaiian Islands, nor has any man of +either hemisphere dared cross 30dW. or 175dW. From 30d to 175d is +ours--from 30d to 175d is peace, prosperity and happiness. + +Beyond was the great unknown. Even the geographies of my boyhood +showed nothing beyond. We were taught of nothing beyond. Speculation +was discouraged. For two hundred years the Eastern Hemisphere had been +wiped from the maps and histories of Pan-America. Its mention in +fiction, even, was forbidden. + +Our ships of peace patrol thirty and one hundred seventy-five. What +ships from beyond they have warned only the secret archives of +government show; but, a naval officer myself, I have gathered from the +traditions of the service that it has been fully two hundred years +since smoke or sail has been sighted east of 30d or west of 175d. The +fate of the relinquished provinces which lay beyond the dead lines we +could only speculate upon. That they were taken by the military power, +which rose so suddenly in China after the fall of the republic, and +which wrested Manchuria and Korea from Russia and Japan, and also +absorbed the Philippines, is quite within the range of possibility. + +It was the commander of a Chinese man-of-war who received a copy of the +edict of 1972 from the hand of my illustrious ancestor, Admiral Turck, +on one hundred seventy-five, two hundred and six years ago, and from +the yellowed pages of the admiral's diary I learned that the fate of +the Philippines was even then presaged by these Chinese naval officers. + +Yes, for over two hundred years no man crossed 30d to 175d and lived to +tell his story--not until chance drew me across and back again, and +public opinion, revolting at last against the drastic regulations of +our long-dead forbears, demanded that my story be given to the world, +and that the narrow interdict which commanded peace, prosperity, and +happiness to halt at 30d and 175d be removed forever. + +I am glad that it was given to me to be an instrument in the hands of +Providence for the uplifting of benighted Europe, and the amelioration +of the suffering, degradation, and abysmal ignorance in which I found +her. + +I shall not live to see the complete regeneration of the savage hordes +of the Eastern Hemisphere--that is a work which will require many +generations, perhaps ages, so complete has been their reversion to +savagery; but I know that the work has been started, and I am proud of +the share in it which my generous countrymen have placed in my hands. + +The government already possesses a complete official report of my +adventures beyond thirty. In the narrative I purpose telling my story +in a less formal, and I hope, a more entertaining, style; though, being +only a naval officer and without claim to the slightest literary +ability, I shall most certainly fall far short of the possibilities +which are inherent in my subject. That I have passed through the most +wondrous adventures that have befallen a civilized man during the past +two centuries encourages me in the belief that, however ill the +telling, the facts themselves will command your interest to the final +page. + +Beyond thirty! Romance, adventure, strange peoples, fearsome +beasts--all the excitement and scurry of the lives of the twentieth +century ancients that have been denied us in these dull days of peace +and prosaic prosperity--all, all lay beyond thirty, the invisible +barrier between the stupid, commercial present and the carefree, +barbarous past. + +What boy has not sighed for the good old days of wars, revolutions, and +riots; how I used to pore over the chronicles of those old days, those +dear old days, when workmen went armed to their labors; when they fell +upon one another with gun and bomb and dagger, and the streets ran red +with blood! Ah, but those were the times when life was worth the +living; when a man who went out by night knew not at which dark corner +a "footpad" might leap upon and slay him; when wild beasts roamed the +forest and the jungles, and there were savage men, and countries yet +unexplored. + +Now, in all the Western Hemisphere dwells no man who may not find a +school house within walking distance of his home, or at least within +flying distance. + +The wildest beast that roams our waste places lairs in the frozen north +or the frozen south within a government reserve, where the curious may +view him and feed him bread crusts from the hand with perfect impunity. + +But beyond thirty! And I have gone there, and come back; and now you +may go there, for no longer is it high treason, punishable by disgrace +or death, to cross 30d or 175d. + +My name is Jefferson Turck. I am a lieutenant in the navy--in the +great Pan-American navy, the only navy which now exists in all the +world. + +I was born in Arizona, in the United States of North America, in the +year of our Lord 2116. Therefore, I am twenty-one years old. + +In early boyhood I tired of the teeming cities and overcrowded rural +districts of Arizona. Every generation of Turcks for over two +centuries has been represented in the navy. The navy called to me, as +did the free, wide, unpeopled spaces of the mighty oceans. And so I +joined the navy, coming up from the ranks, as we all must, learning our +craft as we advance. My promotion was rapid, for my family seems to +inherit naval lore. We are born officers, and I reserve to myself no +special credit for an early advancement in the service. + +At twenty I found myself a lieutenant in command of the aero-submarine +Coldwater, of the SS-96 class. The Coldwater was one of the first of +the air and underwater craft which have been so greatly improved since +its launching, and was possessed of innumerable weaknesses which, +fortunately, have been eliminated in more recent vessels of similar +type. + +Even when I took command, she was fit only for the junk pile; but the +world-old parsimony of government retained her in active service, and +sent two hundred men to sea in her, with myself, a mere boy, in command +of her, to patrol thirty from Iceland to the Azores. + +Much of my service had been spent aboard the great merchantmen-of-war. +These are the utility naval vessels that have transformed the navies of +old, which burdened the peoples with taxes for their support, into the +present day fleets of self-supporting ships that find ample time for +target practice and gun drill while they bear freight and the mails +from the continents to the far-scattered island of Pan-America. + +This change in service was most welcome to me, especially as it brought +with it coveted responsibilities of sole command, and I was prone to +overlook the deficiencies of the Coldwater in the natural pride I felt +in my first ship. + +The Coldwater was fully equipped for two months' patrolling--the +ordinary length of assignment to this service--and a month had already +passed, its monotony entirely unrelieved by sight of another craft, +when the first of our misfortunes befell. + +We had been riding out a storm at an altitude of about three thousand +feet. All night we had hovered above the tossing billows of the +moonlight clouds. The detonation of the thunder and the glare of +lightning through an occasional rift in the vaporous wall proclaimed +the continued fury of the tempest upon the surface of the sea; but we, +far above it all, rode in comparative ease upon the upper gale. With +the coming of dawn the clouds beneath us became a glorious sea of gold +and silver, soft and beautiful; but they could not deceive us as to the +blackness and the terrors of the storm-lashed ocean which they hid. + +I was at breakfast when my chief engineer entered and saluted. His +face was grave, and I thought he was even a trifle paler than usual. + +"Well?" I asked. + +He drew the back of his forefinger nervously across his brow in a +gesture that was habitual with him in moments of mental stress. + +"The gravitation-screen generators, sir," he said. "Number one went to +the bad about an hour and a half ago. We have been working upon it +steadily since; but I have to report, sir, that it is beyond repair." + +"Number two will keep us supplied," I answered. "In the meantime we +will send a wireless for relief." + +"But that is the trouble, sir," he went on. "Number two has stopped. +I knew it would come, sir. I made a report on these generators three +years ago. I advised then that they both be scrapped. Their principle +is entirely wrong. They're done for." And, with a grim smile, "I +shall at least have the satisfaction of knowing my report was accurate." + +"Have we sufficient reserve screen to permit us to make land, or, at +least, meet our relief halfway?" I asked. + +"No, sir," he replied gravely; "we are sinking now." + +"Have you anything further to report?" I asked. + +"No, sir," he said. + +"Very good," I replied; and, as I dismissed him, I rang for my wireless +operator. When he appeared, I gave him a message to the secretary of +the navy, to whom all vessels in service on thirty and one hundred +seventy-five report direct. I explained our predicament, and stated +that with what screening force remained I should continue in the air, +making as rapid headway toward St. Johns as possible, and that when we +were forced to take to the water I should continue in the same +direction. + +The accident occurred directly over 30d and about 52d N. The surface +wind was blowing a tempest from the west. To attempt to ride out such +a storm upon the surface seemed suicidal, for the Coldwater was not +designed for surface navigation except under fair weather conditions. +Submerged, or in the air, she was tractable enough in any sort of +weather when under control; but without her screen generators she was +almost helpless, since she could not fly, and, if submerged, could not +rise to the surface. + +All these defects have been remedied in later models; but the knowledge +did not help us any that day aboard the slowly settling Coldwater, with +an angry sea roaring beneath, a tempest raging out of the west, and 30d +only a few knots astern. + +To cross thirty or one hundred seventy-five has been, as you know, the +direst calamity that could befall a naval commander. Court-martial and +degradation follow swiftly, unless as is often the case, the +unfortunate man takes his own life before this unjust and heartless +regulation can hold him up to public scorn. + +There has been in the past no excuse, no circumstance, that could +palliate the offense. + +"He was in command, and he took his ship across thirty!" That was +sufficient. It might not have been in any way his fault, as, in the +case of the Coldwater, it could not possibly have been justly charged +to my account that the gravitation-screen generators were worthless; +but well I knew that should chance have it that we were blown across +thirty today--as we might easily be before the terrific west wind that +we could hear howling below us, the responsibility would fall upon my +shoulders. + +In a way, the regulation was a good one, for it certainly accomplished +that for which it was intended. We all fought shy of 30d on the east +and 175d on the west, and, though we had to skirt them pretty close, +nothing but an act of God ever drew one of us across. You all are +familiar with the naval tradition that a good officer could sense +proximity to either line, and for my part, I am firmly convinced of the +truth of this as I am that the compass finds the north without recourse +to tedious processes of reasoning. + +Old Admiral Sanchez was wont to maintain that he could smell thirty, +and the men of the first ship in which I sailed claimed that Coburn, +the navigating officer, knew by name every wave along thirty from 60dN. +to 60dS. However, I'd hate to vouch for this. + +Well, to get back to my narrative; we kept on dropping slowly toward +the surface the while we bucked the west wind, clawing away from thirty +as fast as we could. I was on the bridge, and as we dropped from the +brilliant sunlight into the dense vapor of clouds and on down through +them to the wild, dark storm strata beneath, it seemed that my spirits +dropped with the falling ship, and the buoyancy of hope ran low in +sympathy. + +The waves were running to tremendous heights, and the Coldwater was not +designed to meet such waves head on. Her elements were the blue ether, +far above the raging storm, or the greater depths of ocean, which no +storm could ruffle. + +As I stood speculating upon our chances once we settled into the +frightful Maelstrom beneath us and at the same time mentally computing +the hours which must elapse before aid could reach us, the wireless +operator clambered up the ladder to the bridge, and, disheveled and +breathless, stood before me at salute. It needed but a glance at him +to assure me that something was amiss. + +"What now?" I asked. + +"The wireless, sir!" he cried. "My God, sir, I cannot send." + +"But the emergency outfit?" I asked. + +"I have tried everything, sir. I have exhausted every resource. We +cannot send," and he drew himself up and saluted again. + +I dismissed him with a few kind words, for I knew that it was through +no fault of his that the mechanism was antiquated and worthless, in +common with the balance of the Coldwater's equipment. There was no +finer operator in Pan-America than he. + +The failure of the wireless did not appear as momentous to me as to +him, which is not unnatural, since it is but human to feel that when +our own little cog slips, the entire universe must necessarily be put +out of gear. I knew that if this storm were destined to blow us across +thirty, or send us to the bottom of the ocean, no help could reach us +in time to prevent it. I had ordered the message sent solely because +regulations required it, and not with any particular hope that we could +benefit by it in our present extremity. + +I had little time to dwell upon the coincidence of the simultaneous +failure of the wireless and the buoyancy generators, since very shortly +after the Coldwater had dropped so low over the waters that all my +attention was necessarily centered upon the delicate business of +settling upon the waves without breaking my ship's back. With our +buoyancy generators in commission it would have been a simple thing to +enter the water, since then it would have been but a trifling matter of +a forty-five degree dive into the base of a huge wave. We should have +cut into the water like a hot knife through butter, and have been +totally submerged with scarce a jar--I have done it a thousand +times--but I did not dare submerge the Coldwater for fear that it would +remain submerged to the end of time--a condition far from conducive to +the longevity of commander or crew. + +Most of my officers were older men than I. John Alvarez, my first +officer, is twenty years my senior. He stood at my side on the bridge +as the ship glided closer and closer to those stupendous waves. He +watched my every move, but he was by far too fine an officer and +gentleman to embarrass me by either comment or suggestion. + +When I saw that we soon would touch, I ordered the ship brought around +broadside to the wind, and there we hovered a moment until a huge wave +reached up and seized us upon its crest, and then I gave the order that +suddenly reversed the screening force, and let us into the ocean. Down +into the trough we went, wallowing like the carcass of a dead whale, +and then began the fight, with rudder and propellers, to force the +Coldwater back into the teeth of the gale and drive her on and on, +farther and farther from relentless thirty. + +I think that we should have succeeded, even though the ship was wracked +from stem to stern by the terrific buffetings she received, and though +she were half submerged the greater part of the time, had no further +accident befallen us. + +We were making headway, though slowly, and it began to look as though +we were going to pull through. Alvarez never left my side, though I +all but ordered him below for much-needed rest. My second officer, +Porfirio Johnson, was also often on the bridge. He was a good officer, +but a man for whom I had conceived a rather unreasoning aversion almost +at the first moment of meeting him, an aversion which was not lessened +by the knowledge which I subsequently gained that he looked upon my +rapid promotion with jealousy. He was ten years my senior both in +years and service, and I rather think he could never forget the fact +that he had been an officer when I was a green apprentice. + +As it became more and more apparent that the Coldwater, under my +seamanship, was weathering the tempest and giving promise of pulling +through safely, I could have sworn that I perceived a shade of +annoyance and disappointment growing upon his dark countenance. He +left the bridge finally and went below. I do not know that he is +directly responsible for what followed so shortly after; but I have +always had my suspicions, and Alvarez is even more prone to place the +blame upon him than I. + +It was about six bells of the forenoon watch that Johnson returned to +the bridge after an absence of some thirty minutes. He seemed nervous +and ill at ease--a fact which made little impression on me at the time, +but which both Alvarez and I recalled subsequently. + +Not three minutes after his reappearance at my side the Coldwater +suddenly commenced to lose headway. I seized the telephone at my +elbow, pressing upon the button which would call the chief engineer to +the instrument in the bowels of the ship, only to find him already at +the receiver attempting to reach me. + +"Numbers one, two, and five engines have broken down, sir," he called. +"Shall we force the remaining three?" + +"We can do nothing else," I bellowed into the transmitter. + +"They won't stand the gaff, sir," he returned. + +"Can you suggest a better plan?" I asked. + +"No, sir," he replied. + +"Then give them the gaff, lieutenant," I shouted back, and hung up the +receiver. + +For twenty minutes the Coldwater bucked the great seas with her three +engines. I doubt if she advanced a foot; but it was enough to keep her +nose in the wind, and, at least, we were not drifting toward thirty. + +Johnson and Alvarez were at my side when, without warning, the bow +swung swiftly around and the ship fell into the trough of the sea. + +"The other three have gone," I said, and I happened to be looking at +Johnson as I spoke. Was it the shadow of a satisfied smile that +crossed his thin lips? I do not know; but at least he did not weep. + +"You always have been curious, sir, about the great unknown beyond +thirty," he said. "You are in a good way to have your curiosity +satisfied." And then I could not mistake the slight sneer that curved +his upper lip. There must have been a trace of disrespect in his tone +or manner which escaped me, for Alvarez turned upon him like a flash. + +"When Lieutenant Turck crosses thirty," he said, "we shall all cross +with him, and God help the officer or the man who reproaches him!" + +"I shall not be a party to high treason," snapped Johnson. "The +regulations are explicit, and if the Coldwater crosses thirty it +devolves upon you to place Lieutenant Turck under arrest and +immediately exert every endeavor to bring the ship back into +Pan-American waters." + +"I shall not know," replied Alvarez, "that the Coldwater passes thirty; +nor shall any other man aboard know it," and, with his words, he drew a +revolver from his pocket, and before either I or Johnson could prevent +it had put a bullet into every instrument upon the bridge, ruining them +beyond repair. + +And then he saluted me, and strode from the bridge, a martyr to loyalty +and friendship, for, though no man might know that Lieutenant Jefferson +Turck had taken his ship across thirty, every man aboard would know +that the first officer had committed a crime that was punishable by +both degradation and death. Johnson turned and eyed me narrowly. + +"Shall I place him under arrest?" he asked. + +"You shall not," I replied. "Nor shall anyone else." + +"You become a party to his crime!" he cried angrily. + +"You may go below, Mr. Johnson," I said, "and attend to the work of +unpacking the extra instruments and having them properly set upon the +bridge." + +He saluted, and left me, and for some time I stood, gazing out upon the +angry waters, my mind filled with unhappy reflections upon the unjust +fate that had overtaken me, and the sorrow and disgrace that I had +unwittingly brought down upon my house. + +I rejoiced that I should leave neither wife nor child to bear the +burden of my shame throughout their lives. + +As I thought upon my misfortune, I considered more clearly than ever +before the unrighteousness of the regulation which was to prove my +doom, and in the natural revolt against its injustice my anger rose, +and there mounted within me a feeling which I imagine must have +paralleled that spirit that once was prevalent among the ancients +called anarchy. + +For the first time in my life I found my sentiments arraying themselves +against custom, tradition, and even government. The wave of rebellion +swept over me in an instant, beginning with an heretical doubt as to +the sanctity of the established order of things--that fetish which has +ruled Pan-Americans for two centuries, and which is based upon a blind +faith in the infallibility of the prescience of the long-dead framers +of the articles of Pan-American federation--and ending in an adamantine +determination to defend my honor and my life to the last ditch against +the blind and senseless regulation which assumed the synonymity of +misfortune and treason. + +I would replace the destroyed instruments upon the bridge; every +officer and man should know when we crossed thirty. But then I should +assert the spirit which dominated me, I should resist arrest, and +insist upon bringing my ship back across the dead line, remaining at my +post until we had reached New York. Then I should make a full report, +and with it a demand upon public opinion that the dead lines be wiped +forever from the seas. + +I knew that I was right. I knew that no more loyal officer wore the +uniform of the navy. I knew that I was a good officer and sailor, and +I didn't propose submitting to degradation and discharge because a lot +of old, preglacial fossils had declared over two hundred years before +that no man should cross thirty. + +Even while these thoughts were passing through my mind I was busy with +the details of my duties. I had seen to it that a sea anchor was +rigged, and even now the men had completed their task, and the +Coldwater was swinging around rapidly, her nose pointing once more into +the wind, and the frightful rolling consequent upon her wallowing in +the trough was happily diminishing. + +It was then that Johnson came hurrying to the bridge. One of his eyes +was swollen and already darkening, and his lip was cut and bleeding. +Without even the formality of a salute, he burst upon me, white with +fury. + +"Lieutenant Alvarez attacked me!" he cried. "I demand that he be +placed under arrest. I found him in the act of destroying the reserve +instruments, and when I would have interfered to protect them he fell +upon me and beat me. I demand that you arrest him!" + +"You forget yourself, Mr. Johnson," I said. "You are not in command of +the ship. I deplore the action of Lieutenant Alvarez, but I cannot +expunge from my mind the loyalty and self-sacrificing friendship which +has prompted him to his acts. Were I you, sir, I should profit by the +example he has set. Further, Mr. Johnson, I intend retaining command +of the ship, even though she crosses thirty, and I shall demand +implicit obedience from every officer and man aboard until I am +properly relieved from duty by a superior officer in the port of New +York." + +"You mean to say that you will cross thirty without submitting to +arrest?" he almost shouted. + +"I do, sir," I replied. "And now you may go below, and, when again you +find it necessary to address me, you will please be so good as to bear +in mind the fact that I am your commanding officer, and as such +entitled to a salute." + +He flushed, hesitated a moment, and then, saluting, turned upon his +heel and left the bridge. Shortly after, Alvarez appeared. He was +pale, and seemed to have aged ten years in the few brief minutes since +I last had seen him. Saluting, he told me very simply what he had +done, and asked that I place him under arrest. + +I put my hand on his shoulder, and I guess that my voice trembled a +trifle as, while reproving him for his act, I made it plain to him that +my gratitude was no less potent a force than his loyalty to me. Then +it was that I outlined to him my purpose to defy the regulation that +had raised the dead lines, and to take my ship back to New York myself. + +I did not ask him to share the responsibility with me. I merely stated +that I should refuse to submit to arrest, and that I should demand of +him and every other officer and man implicit obedience to my every +command until we docked at home. + +His face brightened at my words, and he assured me that I would find +him as ready to acknowledge my command upon the wrong side of thirty as +upon the right, an assurance which I hastened to tell him I did not +need. + +The storm continued to rage for three days, and as far as the wind +scarce varied a point during all that time, I knew that we must be far +beyond thirty, drifting rapidly east by south. All this time it had +been impossible to work upon the damaged engines or the gravity-screen +generators; but we had a full set of instruments upon the bridge, for +Alvarez, after discovering my intentions, had fetched the reserve +instruments from his own cabin, where he had hidden them. Those which +Johnson had seen him destroy had been a third set which only Alvarez +had known was aboard the Coldwater. + +We waited impatiently for the sun, that we might determine our exact +location, and upon the fourth day our vigil was rewarded a few minutes +before noon. + +Every officer and man aboard was tense with nervous excitement as we +awaited the result of the reading. The crew had known almost as soon +as I that we were doomed to cross thirty, and I am inclined to believe +that every man jack of them was tickled to death, for the spirits of +adventure and romance still live in the hearts of men of the +twenty-second century, even though there be little for them to feed +upon between thirty and one hundred seventy-five. + +The men carried none of the burdens of responsibility. They might +cross thirty with impunity, and doubtless they would return to be +heroes at home; but how different the home-coming of their commanding +officer! + +The wind had dropped to a steady blow, still from west by north, and +the sea had gone down correspondingly. The crew, with the exception of +those whose duties kept them below, were ranged on deck below the +bridge. When our position was definitely fixed I personally announced +it to the eager, waiting men. + +"Men," I said, stepping forward to the handrail and looking down into +their upturned, bronzed faces, "you are anxiously awaiting information +as to the ship's position. It has been determined at latitude fifty +degrees seven minutes north, longitude twenty degrees sixteen minutes +west." + +I paused and a buzz of animated comment ran through the massed men +beneath me. "Beyond thirty. But there will be no change in commanding +officers, in routine or in discipline, until after we have docked again +in New York." + +As I ceased speaking and stepped back from the rail there was a roar of +applause from the deck such as I never before had heard aboard a ship +of peace. It recalled to my mind tales that I had read of the good old +days when naval vessels were built to fight, when ships of peace had +been man-of-war, and guns had flashed in other than futile target +practice, and decks had run red with blood. + +With the subsistence of the sea, we were able to go to work upon the +damaged engines to some effect, and I also set men to examining the +gravitation-screen generators with a view to putting them in working +order should it prove not beyond our resources. + +For two weeks we labored at the engines, which indisputably showed +evidence of having been tampered with. I appointed a board to +investigate and report upon the disaster. But it accomplished nothing +other than to convince me that there were several officers upon it who +were in full sympathy with Johnson, for, though no charges had been +preferred against him, the board went out of its way specifically to +exonerate him in its findings. + +All this time we were drifting almost due east. The work upon the +engines had progressed to such an extent that within a few hours we +might expect to be able to proceed under our own power westward in the +direction of Pan-American waters. + +To relieve the monotony I had taken to fishing, and early that morning +I had departed from the Coldwater in one of the boats on such an +excursion. A gentle west wind was blowing. The sea shimmered in the +sunlight. A cloudless sky canopied the west for our sport, as I had +made it a point never voluntarily to make an inch toward the east that +I could avoid. At least, they should not be able to charge me with a +willful violation of the dead lines regulation. + +I had with me only the boat's ordinary complement of men--three in all, +and more than enough to handle any small power boat. I had not asked +any of my officers to accompany me, as I wished to be alone, and very +glad am I now that I had not. My only regret is that, in view of what +befell us, it had been necessary to bring the three brave fellows who +manned the boat. + +Our fishing, which proved excellent, carried us so far to the west that +we no longer could see the Coldwater. The day wore on, until at last, +about mid-afternoon, I gave the order to return to the ship. + +We had proceeded but a short distance toward the east when one of the +men gave an exclamation of excitement, at the same time pointing +eastward. We all looked on in the direction he had indicated, and +there, a short distance above the horizon, we saw the outlines of the +Coldwater silhouetted against the sky. + +"They've repaired the engines and the generators both," exclaimed one +of the men. + +It seemed impossible, but yet it had evidently been done. Only that +morning, Lieutenant Johnson had told me that he feared that it would be +impossible to repair the generators. I had put him in charge of this +work, since he always had been accounted one of the best +gravitation-screen men in the navy. He had invented several of the +improvements that are incorporated in the later models of these +generators, and I am convinced that he knows more concerning both the +theory and the practice of screening gravitation than any living +Pan-American. + +At the sight of the Coldwater once more under control, the three men +burst into a glad cheer. But, for some reason which I could not then +account, I was strangely overcome by a premonition of personal +misfortune. It was not that I now anticipated an early return to +Pan-America and a board of inquiry, for I had rather looked forward to +the fight that must follow my return. No, there was something else, +something indefinable and vague that cast a strange gloom upon me as I +saw my ship rising farther above the water and making straight in our +direction. + +I was not long in ascertaining a possible explanation of my depression, +for, though we were plainly visible from the bridge of the +aero-submarine and to the hundreds of men who swarmed her deck, the +ship passed directly above us, not five hundred feet from the water, +and sped directly westward. + +We all shouted, and I fired my pistol to attract their attention, +though I knew full well that all who cared to had observed us, but the +ship moved steadily away, growing smaller and smaller to our view until +at last she passed completely out of sight. + + + +2 + + +What could it mean? I had left Alvarez in command. He was my most +loyal subordinate. It was absolutely beyond the pale of possibility +that Alvarez should desert me. No, there was some other explanation. +Something occurred to place my second officer, Porfirio Johnson, in +command. I was sure of it but why speculate? The futility of +conjecture was only too palpable. The Coldwater had abandoned us in +midocean. Doubtless none of us would survive to know why. + +The young man at the wheel of the power boat had turned her nose about +as it became evident that the ship intended passing over us, and now he +still held her in futile pursuit of the Coldwater. + +"Bring her about, Snider," I directed, "and hold her due east. We +can't catch the Coldwater, and we can't cross the Atlantic in this. +Our only hope lies in making the nearest land, which, unless I am +mistaken, is the Scilly Islands, off the southwest coast of England. +Ever heard of England, Snider?" + +"There's a part of the United States of North America that used to be +known to the ancients as New England," he replied. "Is that where you +mean, sir?" + +"No, Snider," I replied. "The England I refer to was an island off the +continent of Europe. It was the seat of a very powerful kingdom that +flourished over two hundred years ago. A part of the United States of +North America and all of the Federated States of Canada once belonged +to this ancient England." + +"Europe," breathed one of the men, his voice tense with excitement. +"My grandfather used to tell me stories of the world beyond thirty. He +had been a great student, and he had read much from forbidden books." + +"In which I resemble your grandfather," I said, "for I, too, have read +more even than naval officers are supposed to read, and, as you men +know, we are permitted a greater latitude in the study of geography and +history than men of other professions. + +"Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turck, who lived two +hundred years ago, and from whom I am descended, many volumes still +exist, and are in my possession, which deal with the history and +geography of ancient Europe. Usually I bring several of these books +with me upon a cruise, and this time, among others, I have maps of +Europe and her surrounding waters. I was studying them as we came away +from the Coldwater this morning, and luckily I have them with me." + +"You are going to try to make Europe, sir?" asked Taylor, the young man +who had last spoken. + +"It is the nearest land," I replied. "I have always wanted to explore +the forgotten lands of the Eastern Hemisphere. Here's our chance. To +remain at sea is to perish. None of us ever will see home again. Let +us make the best of it, and enjoy while we do live that which is +forbidden the balance of our race--the adventure and the mystery which +lie beyond thirty." + +Taylor and Delcarte seized the spirit of my mood but Snider, I think, +was a trifle sceptical. + +"It is treason, sir," I replied, "but there is no law which compels us +to visit punishment upon ourselves. Could we return to Pan-America, I +should be the first to insist that we face it. But we know that's not +possible. Even if this craft would carry us so far, we haven't enough +water or food for more than three days. + +"We are doomed, Snider, to die far from home and without ever again +looking upon the face of another fellow countryman than those who sit +here now in this boat. Isn't that punishment sufficient for even the +most exacting judge?" + +Even Snider had to admit that it was. + +"Very well, then, let us live while we live, and enjoy to the fullest +whatever of adventure or pleasure each new day brings, since any day +may be our last, and we shall be dead for a considerable while." + +I could see that Snider was still fearful, but Taylor and Delcarte +responded with a hearty, "Aye, aye, sir!" + +They were of different mold. Both were sons of naval officers. They +represented the aristocracy of birth, and they dared to think for +themselves. + +Snider was in the minority, and so we continued toward the east. +Beyond thirty, and separated from my ship, my authority ceased. I held +leadership, if I was to hold it at all, by virtue of personal +qualifications only, but I did not doubt my ability to remain the +director of our destinies in so far as they were amenable to human +agencies. I have always led. While my brain and brawn remain +unimpaired I shall continue always to lead. Following is an art which +Turcks do not easily learn. + +It was not until the third day that we raised land, dead ahead, which I +took, from my map, to be the isles of Scilly. But such a gale was +blowing that I did not dare attempt to land, and so we passed to the +north of them, skirted Land's End, and entered the English Channel. + +I think that up to that moment I had never experienced such a thrill as +passed through me when I realized that I was navigating these historic +waters. The lifelong dreams that I never had dared hope to see +fulfilled were at last a reality--but under what forlorn circumstances! + +Never could I return to my native land. To the end of my days I must +remain in exile. Yet even these thoughts failed to dampen my ardor. + +My eyes scanned the waters. To the north I could see the rockbound +coast of Cornwall. Mine were the first American eyes to rest upon it +for more than two hundred years. In vain, I searched for some sign of +ancient commerce that, if history is to be believed, must have dotted +the bosom of the Channel with white sails and blackened the heavens +with the smoke of countless funnels, but as far as eye could reach the +tossing waters of the Channel were empty and deserted. + +Toward midnight the wind and sea abated, so that shortly after dawn I +determined to make inshore in an attempt to effect a landing, for we +were sadly in need of fresh water and food. + +According to my observations, we were just off Ram Head, and it was my +intention to enter Plymouth Bay and visit Plymouth. From my map it +appeared that this city lay back from the coast a short distance, and +there was another city given as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the +mouth of the river Tamar. + +However, I knew that it would make little difference which city we +entered, as the English people were famed of old for their hospitality +toward visiting mariners. As we approached the mouth of the bay I +looked for the fishing craft which I expected to see emerging thus +early in the day for their labors. But even after we rounded Ram Head +and were well within the waters of the bay I saw no vessel. Neither +was there buoy nor light nor any other mark to show larger ships the +channel, and I wondered much at this. + +The coast was densely overgrown, nor was any building or sign of man +apparent from the water. Up the bay and into the River Tamar we +motored through a solitude as unbroken as that which rested upon the +waters of the Channel. For all we could see, there was no indication +that man had ever set his foot upon this silent coast. + +I was nonplused, and then, for the first time, there crept over me an +intuition of the truth. + +Here was no sign of war. As far as this portion of the Devon coast was +concerned, that seemed to have been over for many years, but neither +were there any people. Yet I could not find it within myself to +believe that I should find no inhabitants in England. Reasoning thus, +I discovered that it was improbable that a state of war still existed, +and that the people all had been drawn from this portion of England to +some other, where they might better defend themselves against an +invader. + +But what of their ancient coast defenses? What was there here in +Plymouth Bay to prevent an enemy landing in force and marching where +they wished? Nothing. I could not believe that any enlightened +military nation, such as the ancient English are reputed to have been, +would have voluntarily so deserted an exposed coast and an excellent +harbor to the mercies of an enemy. + +I found myself becoming more and more deeply involved in quandary. The +puzzle which confronted me I could not unravel. We had landed, and I +now stood upon the spot where, according to my map, a large city should +rear its spires and chimneys. There was nothing but rough, broken +ground covered densely with weeds and brambles, and tall, rank, grass. + +Had a city ever stood there, no sign of it remained. The roughness and +unevenness of the ground suggested something of a great mass of debris +hidden by the accumulation of centuries of undergrowth. + +I drew the short cutlass with which both officers and men of the navy +are, as you know, armed out of courtesy to the traditions and memories +of the past, and with its point dug into the loam about the roots of +the vegetation growing at my feet. + +The blade entered the soil for a matter of seven inches, when it struck +upon something stonelike. Digging about the obstacle, I presently +loosened it, and when I had withdrawn it from its sepulcher I found the +thing to be an ancient brick of clay, baked in an oven. + +Delcarte we had left in charge of the boat; but Snider and Taylor were +with me, and following my example, each engaged in the fascinating +sport of prospecting for antiques. Each of us uncovered a great number +of these bricks, until we commenced to weary of the monotony of it, +when Snider suddenly gave an exclamation of excitement, and, as I +turned to look, he held up a human skull for my inspection. + +I took it from him and examined it. Directly in the center of the +forehead was a small round hole. The gentleman had evidently come to +his end defending his country from an invader. + +Snider again held aloft another trophy of the search--a metal spike and +some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments. They had lain close +beside the skull. + +With the point of his cutlass Snider scraped the dirt and verdigris +from the face of the larger ornament. + +"An inscription," he said, and handed the thing to me. + +They were the spike and ornaments of an ancient German helmet. Before +long we had uncovered many other indications that a great battle had +been fought upon the ground where we stood. But I was then, and still +am, at loss to account for the presence of German soldiers upon the +English coast so far from London, which history suggests would have +been the natural goal of an invader. + +I can only account for it by assuming that either England was +temporarily conquered by the Teutons, or that an invasion of so vast +proportions was undertaken that German troops were hurled upon the +England coast in huge numbers and that landings were necessarily +effected at many places simultaneously. Subsequent discoveries tend to +strengthen this view. + +We dug about for a short time with our cutlasses until I became +convinced that a city had stood upon the spot at some time in the past, +and that beneath our feet, crumbled and dead, lay ancient Devonport. + +I could not repress a sigh at the thought of the havoc war had wrought +in this part of England, at least. Farther east, nearer London, we +should find things very different. There would be the civilization +that two centuries must have wrought upon our English cousins as they +had upon us. There would be mighty cities, cultivated fields, happy +people. There we would be welcomed as long-lost brothers. There would +we find a great nation anxious to learn of the world beyond their side +of thirty, as I had been anxious to learn of that which lay beyond our +side of the dead line. + +I turned back toward the boat. + +"Come, men!" I said. "We will go up the river and fill our casks with +fresh water, search for food and fuel, and then tomorrow be in +readiness to push on toward the east. I am going to London." + + + +3 + + +The report of a gun blasted the silence of a dead Devonport with +startling abruptness. + +It came from the direction of the launch, and in an instant we three +were running for the boat as fast as our legs would carry us. As we +came in sight of it we saw Delcarte a hundred yards inland from the +launch, leaning over something which lay upon the ground. As we called +to him he waved his cap, and stooping, lifted a small deer for our +inspection. + +I was about to congratulate him on his trophy when we were startled by +a horrid, half-human, half-bestial scream a little ahead and to the +right of us. It seemed to come from a clump of rank and tangled bush +not far from where Delcarte stood. It was a horrid, fearsome sound, +the like of which never had fallen upon my ears before. + +We looked in the direction from which it came. The smile had died from +Delcarte's lips. Even at the distance we were from him I saw his face +go suddenly white, and he quickly threw his rifle to his shoulder. At +the same moment the thing that had given tongue to the cry moved from +the concealing brushwood far enough for us, too, to see it. + +Both Taylor and Snider gave little gasps of astonishment and dismay. + +"What is it, sir?" asked the latter. + +The creature stood about the height of a tall man's waist, and was long +and gaunt and sinuous, with a tawny coat striped with black, and with +white throat and belly. In conformation it was similar to a cat--a +huge cat, exaggerated colossal cat, with fiendish eyes and the most +devilish cast of countenance, as it wrinkled its bristling snout and +bared its great yellow fangs. + +It was pacing, or rather, slinking, straight for Delcarte, who had now +leveled his rifle upon it. + +"What is it, sir?" mumbled Snider again, and then a half-forgotten +picture from an old natural history sprang to my mind, and I recognized +in the frightful beast the Felis tigris of ancient Asia, specimens of +which had, in former centuries, been exhibited in the Western +Hemisphere. + +Snider and Taylor were armed with rifles and revolvers, while I carried +only a revolver. Seizing Snider's rifle from his trembling hands, I +called to Taylor to follow me, and together we ran forward, shouting, +to attract the beast's attention from Delcarte until we should all be +quite close enough to attack with the greatest assurance of success. + +I cried to Delcarte not to fire until we reached his side, for I was +fearful lest our small caliber, steel-jacketed bullets should, far from +killing the beast, tend merely to enrage it still further. But he +misunderstood me, thinking that I had ordered him to fire. + +With the report of his rifle the tiger stopped short in apparent +surprise, then turned and bit savagely at its shoulder for an instant, +after which it wheeled again toward Delcarte, issuing the most terrific +roars and screams, and launched itself, with incredible speed, toward +the brave fellow, who now stood his ground pumping bullets from his +automatic rifle as rapidly as the weapon would fire. + +Taylor and I also opened up on the creature, and as it was broadside to +us it offered a splendid target, though for all the impression we +appeared to make upon the great cat we might as well have been +launching soap bubbles at it. + +Straight as a torpedo it rushed for Delcarte, and, as Taylor and I +stumbled on through the tall grass toward our unfortunate comrade, we +saw the tiger rear upon him and crush him to the earth. + +Not a backward step had the noble Delcarte taken. Two hundred years of +peace had not sapped the red blood from his courageous line. He went +down beneath that avalanche of bestial savagery still working his gun +and with his face toward his antagonist. Even in the instant that I +thought him dead I could not help but feel a thrill of pride that he +was one of my men, one of my class, a Pan-American gentleman of birth. +And that he had demonstrated one of the principal contentions of the +army-and-navy adherents--that military training was necessary for the +salvation of personal courage in the Pan-American race which for +generations had had to face no dangers more grave than those incident +to ordinary life in a highly civilized community, safeguarded by every +means at the disposal of a perfectly organized and all-powerful +government utilizing the best that advanced science could suggest. + +As we ran toward Delcarte, both Taylor and I were struck by the fact +that the beast upon him appeared not to be mauling him, but lay quiet +and motionless upon its prey, and when we were quite close, and the +muzzles of our guns were at the animal's head, I saw the explanation of +this sudden cessation of hostilities--Felis tigris was dead. + +One of our bullets, or one of the last that Delcarte fired, had +penetrated the heart, and the beast had died even as it sprawled +forward crushing Delcarte to the ground. + +A moment later, with our assistance, the man had scrambled from beneath +the carcass of his would-be slayer, without a scratch to indicate how +close to death he had been. + +Delcarte's buoyance was entirely unruffled. He came from under the +tiger with a broad grin on his handsome face, nor could I perceive that +a muscle trembled or that his voice showed the least indication of +nervousness or excitement. + +With the termination of the adventure, we began to speculate upon the +explanation of the presence of this savage brute at large so great a +distance from its native habitat. My readings had taught me that it +was practically unknown outside of Asia, and that, so late as the +twentieth century, at least, there had been no savage beasts outside +captivity in England. + +As we talked, Snider joined us, and I returned his rifle to him. +Taylor and Delcarte picked up the slain deer, and we all started down +toward the launch, walking slowly. Delcarte wanted to fetch the +tiger's skin, but I had to deny him permission, since we had no means +to properly cure it. + +Upon the beach, we skinned the deer and cut away as much meat as we +thought we could dispose of, and as we were again embarking to continue +up the river for fresh water and fuel, we were startled by a series of +screams from the bushes a short distance away. + +"Another Felis tigris," said Taylor. + +"Or a dozen of them," supplemented Delcarte, and, even as he spoke, +there leaped into sight, one after another, eight of the beasts, full +grown--magnificent specimens. + +At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated demons. I +saw that three rifles would be no match for them, and so I gave the +word to put out from shore, hoping that the "tiger," as the ancients +called him, could not swim. + +Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and forth, +uttering fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the most malevolent +manner. + +As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar animals far +inland. They seemed to be answering the cries of their fellows at the +water's edge, and from the wide distribution and great volume of the +sound we came to the conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts +must roam the adjacent country. + +"They have eaten up the inhabitants," murmured Snider, shuddering. + +"I imagine you are right," I agreed, "for their extreme boldness and +fearlessness in the presence of man would suggest either that man is +entirely unknown to them, or that they are extremely familiar with him +as their natural and most easily procured prey." + +"But where did they come from?" asked Delcarte. "Could they have +traveled here from Asia?" + +I shook my head. The thing was a puzzle to me. I knew that it was +practically beyond reason to imagine that tigers had crossed the +mountain ranges and rivers and all the great continent of Europe to +travel this far from their native lairs, and entirely impossible that +they should have crossed the English Channel at all. Yet here they +were, and in great numbers. + +We continued up the Tamar several miles, filled our casks, and then +landed to cook some of our deer steak, and have the first square meal +that had fallen to our lot since the Coldwater deserted us. But scarce +had we built our fire and prepared the meat for cooking than Snider, +whose eyes had been constantly roving about the landscape from the +moment that we left the launch, touched me on the arm and pointed to a +clump of bushes which grew a couple of hundred yards away. + +Half concealed behind their screening foliage I saw the yellow and +black of a big tiger, and, as I looked, the beast stalked majestically +toward us. A moment later, he was followed by another and another, and +it is needless to state that we beat a hasty retreat to the launch. + +The country was apparently infested by these huge Carnivora, for after +three other attempts to land and cook our food we were forced to +abandon the idea entirely, as each time we were driven off by hunting +tigers. + +It was also equally impossible to obtain the necessary ingredients for +our chemical fuel, and, as we had very little left aboard, we +determined to step our folding mast and proceed under sail, hoarding +our fuel supply for use in emergencies. + +I may say that it was with no regret that we bid adieu to Tigerland, as +we rechristened the ancient Devon, and, beating out into the Channel, +turned the launch's nose southeast, to round Bolt Head and continue up +the coast toward the Strait of Dover and the North Sea. + +I was determined to reach London as soon as possible, that we might +obtain fresh clothing, meet with cultured people, and learn from the +lips of Englishmen the secrets of the two centuries since the East had +been divorced from the West. + +Our first stopping place was the Isle of Wight. We entered the Solent +about ten o'clock one morning, and I must confess that my heart sank as +we came close to shore. No lighthouse was visible, though one was +plainly indicated upon my map. Upon neither shore was sign of human +habitation. We skirted the northern shore of the island in fruitless +search for man, and then at last landed upon an eastern point, where +Newport should have stood, but where only weeds and great trees and +tangled wild wood rioted, and not a single manmade thing was visible to +the eye. + +Before landing, I had the men substitute soft bullets for the +steel-jacketed projectiles with which their belts and magazines were +filled. Thus equipped, we felt upon more even terms with the tigers, +but there was no sign of the tigers, and I decided that they must be +confined to the mainland. + +After eating, we set out in search of fuel, leaving Taylor to guard the +launch. For some reason I could not trust Snider alone. I knew that +he looked with disapproval upon my plan to visit England, and I did not +know but what at his first opportunity, he might desert us, taking the +launch with him, and attempt to return to Pan-America. + +That he would be fool enough to venture it, I did not doubt. + +We had gone inland for a mile or more, and were passing through a +park-like wood, when we came suddenly upon the first human beings we +had seen since we sighted the English coast. + +There were a score of men in the party. Hairy, half-naked men they +were, resting in the shade of a great tree. At the first sight of us +they sprang to their feet with wild yells, seizing long spears that had +lain beside them as they rested. + +For a matter of fifty yards they ran from us as rapidly as they could, +and then they turned and surveyed us for a moment. Evidently +emboldened by the scarcity of our numbers, they commenced to advance +upon us, brandishing their spears and shouting horribly. + +They were short and muscular of build, with long hair and beards +tangled and matted with filth. Their heads, however, were shapely, and +their eyes, though fierce and warlike, were intelligent. + +Appreciation of these physical attributes came later, of course, when I +had better opportunity to study the men at close range and under +circumstances less fraught with danger and excitement. At the moment I +saw, and with unmixed wonder, only a score of wild savages charging +down upon us, where I had expected to find a community of civilized and +enlightened people. + +Each of us was armed with rifle, revolver, and cutlass, but as we stood +shoulder to shoulder facing the wild men I was loath to give the +command to fire upon them, inflicting death or suffering upon strangers +with whom we had no quarrel, and so I attempted to restrain them for +the moment that we might parley with them. + +To this end I raised my left hand above my head with the palm toward +them as the most natural gesture indicative of peaceful intentions +which occurred to me. At the same time I called aloud to them that we +were friends, though, from their appearance, there was nothing to +indicate that they might understand Pan-American, or ancient English, +which are of course practically identical. + +At my gesture and words they ceased their shouting and came to a halt a +few paces from us. Then, in deep tones, one who was in advance of the +others and whom I took to be the chief or leader of the party replied +in a tongue which while intelligible to us, was so distorted from the +English language from which it evidently had sprung, that it was with +difficulty that we interpreted it. + +"Who are you," he asked, "and from what country?" + +I told him that we were from Pan-America, but he only shook his head +and asked where that was. He had never heard of it, or of the Atlantic +Ocean which I told him separated his country from mine. + +"It has been two hundred years," I told him, "since a Pan-American +visited England." + +"England?" he asked. "What is England?" + +"Why this is a part of England!" I exclaimed. + +"This is Grubitten," he assured me. "I know nothing about England, and +I have lived here all my life." + +It was not until long after that the derivation of Grubitten occurred +to me. Unquestionably it is a corruption of Great Britain, a name +formerly given to the large island comprising England, Scotland and +Wales. Subsequently we heard it pronounced Grabrittin and Grubritten. + +I then asked the fellow if he could direct us to Ryde or Newport; but +again he shook his head, and said that he never had heard of such +countries. And when I asked him if there were any cities in this +country he did not know what I meant, never having heard the word +cities. + +I explained my meaning as best I could by stating that by city I +referred to a place where many people lived together in houses. + +"Oh," he exclaimed, "you mean a camp! Yes, there are two great camps +here, East Camp and West Camp. We are from East Camp." + +The use of the word camp to describe a collection of habitations +naturally suggested war to me, and my next question was as to whether +the war was over, and who had been victorious. + +"No," he replied to this question. "The war is not yet over. But it +soon will be, and it will end, as it always does, with the Westenders +running away. We, the Eastenders, are always victorious." + +"No," I said, seeing that he referred to the petty tribal wars of his +little island, "I mean the Great War, the war with Germany. Is it +ended--and who was victorious?" + +He shook his head impatiently. + +"I never heard," he said, "of any of these strange countries of which +you speak." + +It seemed incredible, and yet it was true. These people living at the +very seat of the Great War knew nothing of it, though but two centuries +had passed since, to our knowledge, it had been running in the height +of its titanic frightfulness all about them, and to us upon the far +side of the Atlantic still was a subject of keen interest. + +Here was a lifelong inhabitant of the Isle of Wight who never had heard +of either Germany or England! I turned to him quite suddenly with a +new question. + +"What people live upon the mainland?" I asked, and pointed in the +direction of the Hants coast. + +"No one lives there," he replied. + +"Long ago, it is said, my people dwelt across the waters upon that +other land; but the wild beasts devoured them in such numbers that +finally they were driven here, paddling across upon logs and driftwood, +nor has any dared return since, because of the frightful creatures +which dwell in that horrid country." + +"Do no other peoples ever come to your country in ships?" I asked. + +He never heard the word ship before, and did not know its meaning. But +he assured me that until we came he had thought that there were no +other peoples in the world other than the Grubittens, who consist of +the Eastenders and the Westenders of the ancient Isle of Wight. + +Assured that we were inclined to friendliness, our new acquaintances +led us to their village, or, as they call it, camp. There we found a +thousand people, perhaps, dwelling in rude shelters, and living upon +the fruits of the chase and such sea food as is obtainable close to +shore, for they had no boats, nor any knowledge of such things. + +Their weapons were most primitive, consisting of rude spears tipped +with pieces of metal pounded roughly into shape. They had no +literature, no religion, and recognized no law other than the law of +might. They produced fire by striking a bit of flint and steel +together, but for the most part they ate their food raw. Marriage is +unknown among them, and while they have the word, mother, they did not +know what I meant by "father." The males fight for the favor of the +females. They practice infanticide, and kill the aged and physically +unfit. + +The family consists of the mother and the children, the men dwelling +sometimes in one hut and sometimes in another. Owing to their bloody +duels, they are always numerically inferior to the women, so there is +shelter for them all. + +We spent several hours in the village, where we were objects of the +greatest curiosity. The inhabitants examined our clothing and all our +belongings, and asked innumerable questions concerning the strange +country from which we had come and the manner of our coming. + +I questioned many of them concerning past historical events, but they +knew nothing beyond the narrow limits of their island and the savage, +primitive life they led there. London they had never heard of, and +they assured me that I would find no human beings upon the mainland. + +Much saddened by what I had seen, I took my departure from them, and +the three of us made our way back to the launch, accompanied by about +five hundred men, women, girls, and boys. + +As we sailed away, after procuring the necessary ingredients of our +chemical fuel, the Grubittens lined the shore in silent wonder at the +strange sight of our dainty craft dancing over the sparkling waters, +and watched us until we were lost to their sight. + + + +4 + + +It was during the morning of July 6, 2137, that we entered the mouth of +the Thames--to the best of my knowledge the first Western keel to cut +those historic waters for two hundred and twenty-one years! + +But where were the tugs and the lighters and the barges, the lightships +and the buoys, and all those countless attributes which went to make up +the myriad life of the ancient Thames? + +Gone! All gone! Only silence and desolation reigned where once the +commerce of the world had centered. + +I could not help but compare this once great water-way with the waters +about our New York, or Rio, or San Diego, or Valparaiso. They had +become what they are today during the two centuries of the profound +peace which we of the navy have been prone to deplore. And what, +during this same period, had shorn the waters of the Thames of their +pristine grandeur? + +Militarist that I am, I could find but a single word of +explanation--war! + +I bowed my head and turned my eyes downward from the lonely and +depressing sight, and in a silence which none of us seemed willing to +break, we proceeded up the deserted river. + +We had reached a point which, from my map, I imagined must have been +about the former site of Erith, when I discovered a small band of +antelope a short distance inland. As we were now entirely out of meat +once more, and as I had given up all expectations of finding a city +upon the site of ancient London, I determined to land and bag a couple +of the animals. + +Assured that they would be timid and easily frightened, I decided to +stalk them alone, telling the men to wait at the boat until I called to +them to come and carry the carcasses back to the shore. + +Crawling carefully through the vegetation, making use of such trees and +bushes as afforded shelter, I came at last almost within easy range of +my quarry, when the antlered head of the buck went suddenly into the +air, and then, as though in accordance with a prearranged signal, the +whole band moved slowly off, farther inland. + +As their pace was leisurely, I determined to follow them until I came +again within range, as I was sure that they would stop and feed in a +short time. + +They must have led me a mile or more at least before they again halted +and commenced to browse upon the rank, luxuriant grasses. All the time +that I had followed them I had kept both eyes and ears alert for sign +or sound that would indicate the presence of Felis tigris; but so far +not the slightest indication of the beast had been apparent. + +As I crept closer to the antelope, sure this time of a good shot at a +large buck, I suddenly saw something that caused me to forget all about +my prey in wonderment. + +It was the figure of an immense grey-black creature, rearing its +colossal shoulders twelve or fourteen feet above the ground. Never in +my life had I seen such a beast, nor did I at first recognize it, so +different in appearance is the live reality from the stuffed, unnatural +specimens preserved to us in our museums. + +But presently I guessed the identity of the mighty creature as Elephas +africanus, or, as the ancients commonly described it, African elephant. + +The antelope, although in plain view of the huge beast, paid not the +slightest attention to it, and I was so wrapped up in watching the +mighty pachyderm that I quite forgot to shoot at the buck and +presently, and in quite a startling manner, it became impossible to do +so. + +The elephant was browsing upon the young and tender shoots of some low +bushes, waving his great ears and switching his short tail. The +antelope, scarce twenty paces from him, continued their feeding, when +suddenly, from close beside the latter, there came a most terrifying +roar, and I saw a great, tawny body shoot, from the concealing verdure +beyond the antelope, full upon the back of a small buck. + +Instantly the scene changed from one of quiet and peace to +indescribable chaos. The startled and terrified buck uttered cries of +agony. His fellows broke and leaped off in all directions. The +elephant raised his trunk, and, trumpeting loudly, lumbered off through +the wood, crushing down small trees and trampling bushes in his mad +flight. + +Growling horribly, a huge lion stood across the body of his prey--such +a creature as no Pan-American of the twenty-second century had ever +beheld until my eyes rested upon this lordly specimen of "the king of +beasts." But what a different creature was this fierce-eyed demon, +palpitating with life and vigor, glossy of coat, alert, growling, +magnificent, from the dingy, moth-eaten replicas beneath their glass +cases in the stuffy halls of our public museums. + +I had never hoped or expected to see a living lion, tiger, or +elephant--using the common terms that were familiar to the ancients, +since they seem to me less unwieldy than those now in general use among +us--and so it was with sentiments not unmixed with awe that I stood +gazing at this regal beast as, above the carcass of his kill, he roared +out his challenge to the world. + +So enthralled was I by the spectacle that I quite forgot myself, and +the better to view him, the great lion, I had risen to my feet and +stood, not fifty paces from him, in full view. + +For a moment he did not see me, his attention being directed toward the +retreating elephant, and I had ample time to feast my eyes upon his +splendid proportions, his great head, and his thick black mane. + +Ah, what thoughts passed through my mind in those brief moments as I +stood there in rapt fascination! I had come to find a wondrous +civilization, and instead I found a wild-beast monarch of the realm +where English kings had ruled. A lion reigned, undisturbed, within a +few miles of the seat of one of the greatest governments the world has +ever known, his domain a howling wilderness, where yesterday fell the +shadows of the largest city in the world. + +It was appalling; but my reflections upon this depressing subject were +doomed to sudden extinction. The lion had discovered me. + +For an instant he stood silent and motionless as one of the mangy +effigies at home, but only for an instant. Then, with a most ferocious +roar, and without the slightest hesitancy or warning, he charged upon +me. + +He forsook the prey already dead beneath him for the pleasures of the +delectable tidbit, man. From the remorselessness with which the great +Carnivora of modern England hunted man, I am constrained to believe +that, whatever their appetites in times past, they have cultivated a +gruesome taste for human flesh. + +As I threw my rifle to my shoulder, I thanked God, the ancient God of +my ancestors, that I had replaced the hard-jacketed bullets in my +weapon with soft-nosed projectiles, for though this was my first +experience with Felis leo, I knew the moment that I faced that charge +that even my wonderfully perfected firearm would be as futile as a +peashooter unless I chanced to place my first bullet in a vital spot. + +Unless you had seen it you could not believe credible the speed of a +charging lion. Apparently the animal is not built for speed, nor can +he maintain it for long. But for a matter of forty or fifty yards +there is, I believe, no animal on earth that can overtake him. + +Like a bolt he bore down upon me, but, fortunately for me, I did not +lose my head. I guessed that no bullet would kill him instantly. I +doubted that I could pierce his skull. There was hope, though, in +finding his heart through his exposed chest, or, better yet, of +breaking his shoulder or foreleg, and bringing him up long enough to +pump more bullets into him and finish him. + +I covered his left shoulder and pulled the trigger as he was almost +upon me. It stopped him. With a terrific howl of pain and rage, the +brute rolled over and over upon the ground almost to my feet. As he +came I pumped two more bullets into him, and as he struggled to rise, +clawing viciously at me, I put a bullet in his spine. + +That finished him, and I am free to admit that I was mighty glad of it. +There was a great tree close behind me, and, stepping within its shade, +I leaned against it, wiping the perspiration from my face, for the day +was hot, and the exertion and excitement left me exhausted. + +I stood there, resting, for a moment, preparatory to turning and +retracing my steps to the launch, when, without warning, something +whizzed through space straight toward me. There was a dull thud of +impact as it struck the tree, and as I dodged to one side and turned to +look at the thing I saw a heavy spear imbedded in the wood not three +inches from where my head had been. + +The thing had come from a little to one side of me, and, without +waiting to investigate at the instant, I leaped behind the tree, and, +circling it, peered around the other side to get a sight of my would-be +murderer. + +This time I was pitted against men--the spear told me that all too +plainly--but so long as they didn't take me unawares or from behind I +had little fear of them. + +Cautiously I edged about the far side of the trees until I could obtain +a view of the spot from which the spear must have come, and when I did +I saw the head of a man just emerging from behind a bush. + +The fellow was quite similar in type to those I had seen upon the Isle +of Wight. He was hairy and unkempt, and as he finally stepped into +view I saw that he was garbed in the same primitive fashion. + +He stood for a moment gazing about in search of me, and then he +advanced. As he did so a number of others, precisely like him, stepped +from the concealing verdure of nearby bushes and followed in his wake. +Keeping the trees between them and me, I ran back a short distance +until I found a clump of underbrush that would effectually conceal me, +for I wished to discover the strength of the party and its armament +before attempting to parley with it. + +The useless destruction of any of these poor creatures was the farthest +idea from my mind. I should have liked to have spoken with them, but I +did not care to risk having to use my high-powered rifle upon them +other than in the last extremity. + +Once in my new place of concealment, I watched them as they approached +the tree. There were about thirty men in the party and one woman--a +girl whose hands seemed to be bound behind her and who was being pulled +along by two of the men. + +They came forward warily, peering cautiously into every bush and +halting often. At the body of the lion, they paused, and I could see +from their gesticulations and the higher pitch of their voices that +they were much excited over my kill. + +But presently they resumed their search for me, and as they advanced I +became suddenly aware of the unnecessary brutality with which the +girl's guards were treating her. She stumbled once, not far from my +place of concealment, and after the balance of the party had passed me. +As she did so one of the men at her side jerked her roughly to her feet +and struck her across the mouth with his fist. + +Instantly my blood boiled, and forgetting every consideration of +caution, I leaped from my concealment, and, springing to the man's +side, felled him with a blow. + +So unexpected had been my act that it found him and his fellow +unprepared; but instantly the latter drew the knife that protruded from +his belt and lunged viciously at me, at the same time giving voice to a +wild cry of alarm. + +The girl shrank back at sight of me, her eyes wide in astonishment, and +then my antagonist was upon me. I parried his first blow with my +forearm, at the same time delivering a powerful blow to his jaw that +sent him reeling back; but he was at me again in an instant, though in +the brief interim I had time to draw my revolver. + +I saw his companion crawling slowly to his feet, and the others of the +party racing down upon me. There was no time to argue now, other than +with the weapons we wore, and so, as the fellow lunged at me again with +the wicked-looking knife, I covered his heart and pulled the trigger. + +Without a sound, he slipped to the earth, and then I turned the weapon +upon the other guard, who was now about to attack me. He, too, +collapsed, and I was alone with the astonished girl. + +The balance of the party was some twenty paces from us, but coming +rapidly. I seized her arm and drew her after me behind a nearby tree, +for I had seen that with both their comrades down the others were +preparing to launch their spears. + +With the girl safe behind the tree, I stepped out in sight of the +advancing foe, shouting to them that I was no enemy, and that they +should halt and listen to me. But for answer they only yelled in +derision and launched a couple of spears at me, both of which missed. + +I saw then that I must fight, yet still I hated to slay them, and it +was only as a final resort that I dropped two of them with my rifle, +bringing the others to a temporary halt. Again, I appealed to them to +desist. But they only mistook my solicitude for them for fear, and, +with shouts of rage and derision, leaped forward once again to +overwhelm me. + +It was now quite evident that I must punish them severely, +or--myself--die and relinquish the girl once more to her captors. +Neither of these things had I the slightest notion of doing, and so I +again stepped from behind the tree, and, with all the care and +deliberation of target practice, I commenced picking off the foremost +of my assailants. + +One by one the wild men dropped, yet on came the others, fierce and +vengeful, until, only a few remaining, these seemed to realize the +futility of combating my modern weapon with their primitive spears, +and, still howling wrathfully, withdrew toward the west. + +Now, for the first time, I had an opportunity to turn my attention +toward the girl, who had stood, silent and motionless, behind me as I +pumped death into my enemies and hers from my automatic rifle. + +She was of medium height, well formed, and with fine, clear-cut +features. Her forehead was high, and her eyes both intelligent and +beautiful. Exposure to the sun had browned a smooth and velvety skin +to a shade which seemed to enhance rather than mar an altogether lovely +picture of youthful femininity. + +A trace of apprehension marked her expression--I cannot call it fear +since I have learned to know her--and astonishment was still apparent +in her eyes. She stood quite erect, her hands still bound behind her, +and met my gaze with level, proud return. + +"What language do you speak?" I asked. "Do you understand mine?" + +"Yes," she replied. "It is similar to my own. I am Grabritin. What +are you?" + +"I am a Pan-American," I answered. She shook her head. "What is that?" + +I pointed toward the west. "Far away, across the ocean." + +Her expression altered a trifle. A slight frown contracted her brow. +The expression of apprehension deepened. + +"Take off your cap," she said, and when, to humor her strange request, +I did as she bid, she appeared relieved. Then she edged to one side +and leaned over seemingly to peer behind me. I turned quickly to see +what she discovered, but finding nothing, wheeled about to see that her +expression was once more altered. + +"You are not from there?" and she pointed toward the east. It was a +half question. "You are not from across the water there?" + +"No," I assured her. "I am from Pan-America, far away to the west. +Have you ever heard of Pan-America?" + +She shook her head in negation. "I do not care where you are from," +she explained, "if you are not from there, and I am sure you are not, +for the men from there have horns and tails." + +It was with difficulty that I restrained a smile. + +"Who are the men from there?" I asked. + +"They are bad men," she replied. "Some of my people do not believe +that there are such creatures. But we have a legend--a very old, old +legend, that once the men from there came across to Grabritin. They +came upon the water, and under the water, and even in the air. They +came in great numbers, so that they rolled across the land like a great +gray fog. They brought with them thunder and lightning and smoke that +killed, and they fell upon us and slew our people by the thousands and +the hundreds of thousands. But at last we drove them back to the +water's edge, back into the sea, where many were drowned. Some +escaped, and these our people followed--men, women, and even children, +we followed them back. That is all. The legend says our people never +returned. Maybe they were all killed. Maybe they are still there. +But this, also, is in the legend, that as we drove the men back across +the water they swore that they would return, and that when they left +our shores they would leave no human being alive behind them. I was +afraid that you were from there." + +"By what name were these men called?" I asked. + +"We call them only the 'men from there,'" she replied, pointing toward +the east. "I have never heard that they had another name." + +In the light of what I knew of ancient history, it was not difficult +for me to guess the nationality of those she described simply as "the +men from over there." But what utter and appalling devastation the +Great War must have wrought to have erased not only every sign of +civilization from the face of this great land, but even the name of the +enemy from the knowledge and language of the people. + +I could only account for it on the hypothesis that the country had been +entirely depopulated except for a few scattered and forgotten children, +who, in some marvelous manner, had been preserved by Providence to +re-populate the land. These children had, doubtless, been too young to +retain in their memories to transmit to their children any but the +vaguest suggestion of the cataclysm which had overwhelmed their parents. + +Professor Cortoran, since my return to Pan-America, has suggested +another theory which is not entirely without claim to serious +consideration. He points out that it is quite beyond the pale of human +instinct to desert little children as my theory suggests the ancient +English must have done. He is more inclined to believe that the +expulsion of the foe from England was synchronous with widespread +victories by the allies upon the continent, and that the people of +England merely emigrated from their ruined cities and their devastated, +blood-drenched fields to the mainland, in the hope of finding, in the +domain of the conquered enemy, cities and farms which would replace +those they had lost. + +The learned professor assumes that while a long-continued war had +strengthened rather than weakened the instinct of paternal devotion, it +had also dulled other humanitarian instincts, and raised to the first +magnitude the law of the survival of the fittest, with the result that +when the exodus took place the strong, the intelligent, and the +cunning, together with their offspring, crossed the waters of the +Channel or the North Sea to the continent, leaving in unhappy England +only the helpless inmates of asylums for the feebleminded and insane. + +My objections to this, that the present inhabitants of England are +mentally fit, and could therefore not have descended from an ancestry +of undiluted lunacy he brushes aside with the assertion that insanity +is not necessarily hereditary; and that even though it was, in many +cases a return to natural conditions from the state of high +civilization, which is thought to have induced mental disease in the +ancient world, would, after several generations, have thoroughly +expunged every trace of the affliction from the brains and nerves of +the descendants of the original maniacs. + +Personally, I do not place much stock in Professor Cortoran's theory, +though I admit that I am prejudiced. Naturally one does not care to +believe that the object of his greatest affection is descended from a +gibbering idiot and a raving maniac. + +But I am forgetting the continuity of my narrative--a continuity which +I desire to maintain, though I fear that I shall often be led astray, +so numerous and varied are the bypaths of speculation which lead from +the present day story of the Grabritins into the mysterious past of +their forbears. + +As I stood talking with the girl I presently recollected that she still +was bound, and with a word of apology, I drew my knife and cut the +rawhide thongs which confined her wrists at her back. + +She thanked me, and with such a sweet smile that I should have been +amply repaid by it for a much more arduous service. + +"And now," I said, "let me accompany you to your home and see you +safely again under the protection of your friends." + +"No," she said, with a hint of alarm in her voice; "you must not come +with me--Buckingham will kill you." + +Buckingham. The name was famous in ancient English history. Its +survival, with many other illustrious names, is one of the strongest +arguments in refutal of Professor Cortoran's theory; yet it opens no +new doors to the past, and, on the whole, rather adds to than +dissipates the mystery. + +"And who is Buckingham," I asked, "and why should he wish to kill me?" + +"He would think that you had stolen me," she replied, "and as he wishes +me for himself, he will kill any other whom he thinks desires me. He +killed Wettin a few days ago. My mother told me once that Wettin was +my father. He was king. Now Buckingham is king." + +Here, evidently, were a people slightly superior to those of the Isle +of Wight. These must have at least the rudiments of civilized +government since they recognized one among them as ruler, with the +title, king. Also, they retained the word father. The girl's +pronunciation, while far from identical with ours, was much closer than +the tortured dialect of the Eastenders of the Isle of Wight. The +longer I talked with her the more hopeful I became of finding here, +among her people, some records, or traditions, which might assist in +clearing up the historic enigma of the past two centuries. I asked her +if we were far from the city of London, but she did not know what I +meant. When I tried to explain, describing mighty buildings of stone +and brick, broad avenues, parks, palaces, and countless people, she but +shook her head sadly. + +"There is no such place near by," she said. "Only the Camp of the +Lions has places of stone where the beasts lair, but there are no +people in the Camp of the Lions. Who would dare go there!" And she +shuddered. + +"The Camp of the Lions," I repeated. "And where is that, and what?" + +"It is there," she said, pointing up the river toward the west. "I +have seen it from a great distance, but I have never been there. We +are much afraid of the lions, for this is their country, and they are +angry that man has come to live here. + +"Far away there," and she pointed toward the south-west, "is the land +of tigers, which is even worse than this, the land of the lions, for +the tigers are more numerous than the lions and hungrier for human +flesh. There were tigers here long ago, but both the lions and the men +set upon them and drove them off." + +"Where did these savage beasts come from?" I asked. + +"Oh," she replied, "they have been here always. It is their country." + +"Do they not kill and eat your people?" I asked. + +"Often, when we meet them by accident, and we are too few to slay them, +or when one goes too close to their camp. But seldom do they hunt us, +for they find what food they need among the deer and wild cattle, and, +too, we make them gifts, for are we not intruders in their country? +Really we live upon good terms with them, though I should not care to +meet one were there not many spears in my party." + +"I should like to visit this Camp of the Lions," I said. + +"Oh, no, you must not!" cried the girl. "That would be terrible. They +would eat you." For a moment, then, she seemed lost in thought, but +presently she turned upon me with: "You must go now, for any minute +Buckingham may come in search of me. Long since should they have +learned that I am gone from the camp--they watch over me very +closely--and they will set out after me. Go! I shall wait here until +they come in search of me." + +"No," I told her. "I'll not leave you alone in a land infested by +lions and other wild beasts. If you won't let me go as far as your +camp with you, then I'll wait here until they come in search of you." + +"Please go!" she begged. "You have saved me, and I would save you, but +nothing will save you if Buckingham gets his hands on you. He is a bad +man. He wishes to have me for his woman so that he may be king. He +would kill anyone who befriended me, for fear that I might become +another's." + +"Didn't you say that Buckingham is already the king?" I asked. + +"He is. He took my mother for his woman after he had killed Wettin. +But my mother will die soon--she is very old--and then the man to whom +I belong will become king." + +Finally, after much questioning, I got the thing through my head. It +appears that the line of descent is through the women. A man is merely +head of his wife's family--that is all. If she chances to be the +oldest female member of the "royal" house, he is king. Very naively +the girl explained that there was seldom any doubt as to whom a child's +mother was. + +This accounted for the girl's importance in the community and for +Buckingham's anxiety to claim her, though she told me that she did not +wish to become his woman, for he was a bad man and would make a bad +king. But he was powerful, and there was no other man who dared +dispute his wishes. + +"Why not come with me," I suggested, "if you do not wish to become +Buckingham's?" + +"Where would you take me?" she asked. + +Where, indeed! I had not thought of that. But before I could reply to +her question she shook her head and said, "No, I cannot leave my +people. I must stay and do my best, even if Buckingham gets me, but +you must go at once. Do not wait until it is too late. The lions have +had no offering for a long time, and Buckingham would seize upon the +first stranger as a gift to them." + +I did not perfectly understand what she meant, and was about to ask her +when a heavy body leaped upon me from behind, and great arms encircled +my neck. I struggled to free myself and turn upon my antagonist, but +in another instant I was overwhelmed by a half dozen powerful, +half-naked men, while a score of others surrounded me, a couple of whom +seized the girl. + +I fought as best I could for my liberty and for hers, but the weight of +numbers was too great, though I had the satisfaction at least of giving +them a good fight. + +When they had overpowered me, and I stood, my hands bound behind me, at +the girl's side, she gazed commiseratingly at me. + +"It is too bad that you did not do as I bid you," she said, "for now it +has happened just as I feared--Buckingham has you." + +"Which is Buckingham?" I asked. + +"I am Buckingham," growled a burly, unwashed brute, swaggering +truculently before me. "And who are you who would have stolen my +woman?" + +The girl spoke up then and tried to explain that I had not stolen her; +but on the contrary I had saved her from the men from the "Elephant +Country" who were carrying her away. + +Buckingham only sneered at her explanation, and a moment later gave the +command that started us all off toward the west. We marched for a +matter of an hour or so, coming at last to a collection of rude huts, +fashioned from branches of trees covered with skins and grasses and +sometimes plastered with mud. All about the camp they had erected a +wall of saplings pointed at the tops and fire hardened. + +This palisade was a protection against both man and beasts, and within +it dwelt upward of two thousand persons, the shelters being built very +close together, and sometimes partially underground, like deep +trenches, with the poles and hides above merely as protection from the +sun and rain. + +The older part of the camp consisted almost wholly of trenches, as +though this had been the original form of dwellings which was slowly +giving way to the drier and airier surface domiciles. In these trench +habitations I saw a survival of the military trenches which formed so +famous a part of the operation of the warring nations during the +twentieth century. + +The women wore a single light deerskin about their hips, for it was +summer, and quite warm. The men, too, were clothed in a single +garment, usually the pelt of some beast of prey. The hair of both men +and women was confined by a rawhide thong passing about the forehead +and tied behind. In this leathern band were stuck feathers, flowers, +or the tails of small mammals. All wore necklaces of the teeth or +claws of wild beasts, and there were numerous metal wristlets and +anklets among them. + +They wore, in fact, every indication of a most primitive people--a race +which had not yet risen to the heights of agriculture or even the +possession of domestic animals. They were hunters--the lowest plane in +the evolution of the human race of which science takes cognizance. + +And yet as I looked at their well shaped heads, their handsome +features, and their intelligent eyes, it was difficult to believe that +I was not among my own. It was only when I took into consideration +their mode of living, their scant apparel, the lack of every least +luxury among them, that I was forced to admit that they were, in truth, +but ignorant savages. + +Buckingham had relieved me of my weapons, though he had not the +slightest idea of their purpose or uses, and when we reached the camp +he exhibited both me and my arms with every indication of pride in this +great capture. + +The inhabitants flocked around me, examining my clothing, and +exclaiming in wonderment at each new discovery of button, buckle, +pocket, and flap. It seemed incredible that such a thing could be, +almost within a stone's throw of the spot where but a brief two +centuries before had stood the greatest city of the world. + +They bound me to a small tree that grew in the middle of one of their +crooked streets, but the girl they released as soon as we had entered +the enclosure. The people greeted her with every mark of respect as +she hastened to a large hut near the center of the camp. + +Presently she returned with a fine looking, white-haired woman, who +proved to be her mother. The older woman carried herself with a regal +dignity that seemed quite remarkable in a place of such primitive +squalor. + +The people fell aside as she approached, making a wide way for her and +her daughter. When they had come near and stopped before me the older +woman addressed me. + +"My daughter has told me," she said, "of the manner in which you +rescued her from the men of the elephant country. If Wettin lived you +would be well treated, but Buckingham has taken me now, and is king. +You can hope for nothing from such a beast as Buckingham." + +The fact that Buckingham stood within a pace of us and was an +interested listener appeared not to temper her expressions in the +slightest. + +"Buckingham is a pig," she continued. "He is a coward. He came upon +Wettin from behind and ran his spear through him. He will not be king +for long. Some one will make a face at him, and he will run away and +jump into the river." + +The people began to titter and clap their hands. Buckingham became red +in the face. It was evident that he was far from popular. + +"If he dared," went on the old lady, "he would kill me now, but he does +not dare. He is too great a coward. If I could help you I should +gladly do so. But I am only queen--the vehicle that has helped carry +down, unsullied, the royal blood from the days when Grabritin was a +mighty country." + +The old queen's words had a noticeable effect upon the mob of curious +savages which surrounded me. The moment they discovered that the old +queen was friendly to me and that I had rescued her daughter they +commenced to accord me a more friendly interest, and I heard many words +spoken in my behalf, and demands were made that I not be harmed. + +But now Buckingham interfered. He had no intention of being robbed of +his prey. Blustering and storming, he ordered the people back to their +huts, at the same time directing two of his warriors to confine me in a +dugout in one of the trenches close to his own shelter. + +Here they threw me upon the ground, binding my ankles together and +trussing them up to my wrists behind. There they left me, lying upon +my stomach--a most uncomfortable and strained position, to which was +added the pain where the cords cut into my flesh. + +Just a few days ago my mind had been filled with the anticipation of +the friendly welcome I should find among the cultured Englishmen of +London. Today I should be sitting in the place of honor at the banquet +board of one of London's most exclusive clubs, feted and lionized. + +The actuality! Here I lay, bound hand and foot, doubtless almost upon +the very site of a part of ancient London, yet all about me was a +primeval wilderness, and I was a captive of half-naked wild men. + +I wondered what had become of Delcarte and Taylor and Snider. Would +they search for me? They could never find me, I feared, yet if they +did, what could they accomplish against this horde of savage warriors? + +Would that I could warn them. I thought of the girl--doubtless she +could get word to them, but how was I to communicate with her? Would +she come to see me before I was killed? It seemed incredible that she +should not make some slight attempt to befriend me; yet, as I recalled, +she had made no effort to speak with me after we had reached the +village. She had hastened to her mother the moment she had been +liberated. Though she had returned with the old queen, she had not +spoken to me, even then. I began to have my doubts. + +Finally, I came to the conclusion that I was absolutely friendless +except for the old queen. For some unaccountable reason my rage +against the girl for her ingratitude rose to colossal proportions. + +For a long time I waited for some one to come to my prison whom I might +ask to bear word to the queen, but I seemed to have been forgotten. +The strained position in which I lay became unbearable. I wriggled and +twisted until I managed to turn myself partially upon my side, where I +lay half facing the entrance to the dugout. + +Presently my attention was attracted by the shadow of something moving +in the trench without, and a moment later the figure of a child +appeared, creeping upon all fours, as, wide-eyed, and prompted by +childish curiosity, a little girl crawled to the entrance of my hut and +peered cautiously and fearfully in. + +I did not speak at first for fear of frightening the little one away. +But when I was satisfied that her eyes had become sufficiently +accustomed to the subdued light of the interior, I smiled. + +Instantly the expression of fear faded from her eyes to be replaced +with an answering smile. + +"Who are you, little girl?" I asked. + +"My name is Mary," she replied. "I am Victory's sister." + +"And who is Victory?" + +"You do not know who Victory is?" she asked, in astonishment. + +I shook my head in negation. + +"You saved her from the elephant country people, and yet you say you do +not know her!" she exclaimed. + +"Oh, so she is Victory, and you are her sister! I have not heard her +name before. That is why I did not know whom you meant," I explained. +Here was just the messenger for me. Fate was becoming more kind. + +"Will you do something for me, Mary?" I asked. + +"If I can." + +"Go to your mother, the queen, and ask her to come to me," I said. "I +have a favor to ask." + +She said that she would, and with a parting smile she left me. + +For what seemed many hours I awaited her return, chafing with +impatience. The afternoon wore on and night came, and yet no one came +near me. My captors brought me neither food nor water. I was +suffering considerable pain where the rawhide thongs cut into my +swollen flesh. I thought that they had either forgotten me, or that it +was their intention to leave me here to die of starvation. + +Once I heard a great uproar in the village. Men were shouting--women +were screaming and moaning. After a time this subsided, and again +there was a long interval of silence. + +Half the night must have been spent when I heard a sound in the trench +near the hut. It resembled muffled sobs. Presently a figure appeared, +silhouetted against the lesser darkness beyond the doorway. It crept +inside the hut. + +"Are you here?" whispered a childlike voice. + +It was Mary! She had returned. The thongs no longer hurt me. The +pangs of hunger and thirst disappeared. I realized that it had been +loneliness from which I suffered most. + +"Mary!" I exclaimed. "You are a good girl. You have come back, after +all. I had commenced to think that you would not. Did you give my +message to the queen? Will she come? Where is she?" + +The child's sobs increased, and she flung herself upon the dirt floor +of the hut, apparently overcome by grief. + +"What is it?" I asked. "Why do you cry?" + +"The queen, my mother, will not come to you," she said, between sobs. +"She is dead. Buckingham has killed her. Now he will take Victory, +for Victory is queen. He kept us fastened up in our shelter, for fear +that Victory would escape him, but I dug a hole beneath the back wall +and got out. I came to you, because you saved Victory once before, and +I thought that you might save her again, and me, also. Tell me that +you will." + +"I am bound and helpless, Mary," I replied. "Otherwise I would do what +I could to save you and your sister." + +"I will set you free!" cried the girl, creeping up to my side. "I will +set you free, and then you may come and slay Buckingham." + +"Gladly!" I assented. + +"We must hurry," she went on, as she fumbled with the hard knots in the +stiffened rawhide, "for Buckingham will be after you soon. He must +make an offering to the lions at dawn before he can take Victory. The +taking of a queen requires a human offering!" + +"And I am to be the offering?" I asked. + +"Yes," she said, tugging at a knot. "Buckingham has been wanting a +sacrifice ever since he killed Wettin, that he might slay my mother and +take Victory." + +The thought was horrible, not solely because of the hideous fate to +which I was condemned, but from the contemplation it engendered of the +sad decadence of a once enlightened race. To these depths of +ignorance, brutality, and superstition had the vaunted civilization of +twentieth century England been plunged, and by what? War! I felt the +structure of our time-honored militaristic arguments crumbling about me. + +Mary labored with the thongs that confined me. They proved +refractory--defying her tender, childish fingers. She assured me, +however, that she would release me, if "they" did not come too soon. + +But, alas, they came. We heard them coming down the trench, and I bade +Mary hide in a corner, lest she be discovered and punished. There was +naught else she could do, and so she crawled away into the Stygian +blackness behind me. + +Presently two warriors entered. The leader exhibited a unique method +of discovering my whereabouts in the darkness. He advanced slowly, +kicking out viciously before him. Finally he kicked me in the face. +Then he knew where I was. + +A moment later I had been jerked roughly to my feet. One of the +fellows stopped and severed the bonds that held my ankles. I could +scarcely stand alone. The two pulled and hauled me through the low +doorway and along the trench. A party of forty or fifty warriors were +awaiting us at the brink of the excavation some hundred yards from the +hut. + +Hands were lowered to us, and we were dragged to the surface. Then +commenced a long march. We stumbled through the underbrush wet with +dew, our way lighted by a score of torchbearers who surrounded us. But +the torches were not to light the way--that was but incidental. They +were carried to keep off the huge Carnivora that moaned and coughed and +roared about us. + +The noises were hideous. The whole country seemed alive with lions. +Yellow-green eyes blazed wickedly at us from out the surrounding +darkness. My escort carried long, heavy spears. These they kept ever +pointed toward the beast of prey, and I learned from snatches of the +conversation I overheard that occasionally there might be a lion who +would brave even the terrors of fire to leap in upon human prey. It +was for such that the spears were always couched. + +But nothing of the sort occurred during this hideous death march, and +with the first pale heralding of dawn we reached our goal--an open +place in the midst of a tangled wildwood. Here rose in crumbling +grandeur the first evidences I had seen of the ancient civilization +which once had graced fair Albion--a single, time-worn arch of masonry. + +"The entrance to the Camp of the Lions!" murmured one of the party in a +voice husky with awe. + +Here the party knelt, while Buckingham recited a weird, prayer-like +chant. It was rather long, and I recall only a portion of it, which +ran, if my memory serves me, somewhat as follows: + + Lord of Grabritin, we + Fall on our knees to thee, + This gift to bring. + Greatest of kings are thou! + To thee we humbly bow! + Peace to our camp allow. + God save thee, king! + + +Then the party rose, and dragging me to the crumbling arch, made me +fast to a huge, corroded, copper ring which was dangling from an +eyebolt imbedded in the masonry. + +None of them, not even Buckingham, seemed to feel any personal +animosity toward me. They were naturally rough and brutal, as +primitive men are supposed to have been since the dawn of humanity, but +they did not go out of their way to maltreat me. + +With the coming of dawn the number of lions about us seemed to have +greatly diminished--at least they made less noise--and as Buckingham +and his party disappeared into the woods, leaving me alone to my +terrible fate, I could hear the grumblings and growlings of the beasts +diminishing with the sound of the chant, which the party still +continued. It appeared that the lions had failed to note that I had +been left for their breakfast, and had followed off after their +worshippers instead. + +But I knew the reprieve would be but for a short time, and though I had +no wish to die, I must confess that I rather wished the ordeal over and +the peace of oblivion upon me. + +The voices of the men and the lions receded in the distance, until +finally quiet reigned about me, broken only by the sweet voices of +birds and the sighing of the summer wind in the trees. + +It seemed impossible to believe that in this peaceful woodland setting +the frightful thing was to occur which must come with the passing of +the next lion who chanced within sight or smell of the crumbling arch. + +I strove to tear myself loose from my bonds, but succeeded only in +tightening them about my arms. Then I remained passive for a long +time, letting the scenes of my lifetime pass in review before my mind's +eye. + +I tried to imagine the astonishment, incredulity, and horror with which +my family and friends would be overwhelmed if, for an instant, space +could be annihilated and they could see me at the gates of London. + +The gates of London! Where was the multitude hurrying to the marts of +trade after a night of pleasure or rest? Where was the clang of +tramcar gongs, the screech of motor horns, the vast murmur of a dense +throng? + +Where were they? And as I asked the question a lone, gaunt lion strode +from the tangled jungle upon the far side of the clearing. +Majestically and noiselessly upon his padded feet the king of beasts +moved slowly toward the gates of London and toward me. + +Was I afraid? I fear that I was almost afraid. I know that I thought +that fear was coming to me, and so I straightened up and squared my +shoulders and looked the lion straight in the eyes--and waited. + +It is not a nice way to die--alone, with one's hands fast bound, +beneath the fangs and talons of a beast of prey. No, it is not a nice +way to die, not a pretty way. + +The lion was halfway across the clearing when I heard a slight sound +behind me. The great cat stopped in his tracks. He lashed his tail +against his sides now, instead of simply twitching its tip, and his low +moan became a thunderous roar. + +As I craned my neck to catch a glimpse of the thing that had aroused +the fury of the beast before me, it sprang through the arched gateway +and was at my side--with parted lips and heaving bosom and disheveled +hair--a bronzed and lovely vision to eyes that had never harbored hope +of rescue. + +It was Victory, and in her arms she clutched my rifle and revolver. A +long knife was in the doeskin belt that supported the doeskin skirt +tightly about her lithe limbs. She dropped my weapons at my feet, and, +snatching the knife from its resting place, severed the bonds that held +me. I was free, and the lion was preparing to charge. + +"Run!" I cried to the girl, as I bent and seized my rifle. But she +only stood there at my side, her bared blade ready in her hand. + +The lion was bounding toward us now in prodigious leaps. I raised the +rifle and fired. It was a lucky shot, for I had no time to aim +carefully, and when the beast crumpled and rolled, lifeless, to the +ground, I went upon my knees and gave thanks to the God of my ancestors. + +And, still upon my knees, I turned, and taking the girl's hand in mine, +I kissed it. She smiled at that, and laid her other hand upon my head. + +"You have strange customs in your country," she said. + +I could not but smile at that when I thought how strange it would seem +to my countrymen could they but see me kneeling there on the site of +London, kissing the hand of England's queen. + +"And now," I said, as I rose, "you must return to the safety of your +camp. I will go with you until you are near enough to continue alone +in safety. Then I shall try to return to my comrades." + +"I will not return to the camp," she replied. + +"But what shall you do?" I asked. + +"I do not know. Only I shall never go back while Buckingham lives. I +should rather die than go back to him. Mary came to me, after they had +taken you from the camp, and told me. I found your strange weapons and +followed with them. It took me a little longer, for often I had to +hide in the trees that the lions might not get me, but I came in time, +and now you are free to go back to your friends." + +"And leave you here?" I exclaimed. + +She nodded, but I could see through all her brave front that she was +frightened at the thought. I could not leave her, of course, but what +in the world I was to do, cumbered with the care of a young woman, and +a queen at that, I was at a loss to know. I pointed out that phase of +it to her, but she only shrugged her shapely shoulders and pointed to +her knife. + +It was evident that she felt entirely competent to protect herself. + +As we stood there we heard the sound of voices. They were coming from +the forest through which we had passed when we had come from camp. + +"They are searching for me," said the girl. "Where shall we hide?" + +I didn't relish hiding. But when I thought of the innumerable dangers +which surrounded us and the comparatively small amount of ammunition +that I had with me, I hesitated to provoke a battle with Buckingham and +his warriors when, by flight, I could avoid them and preserve my +cartridges against emergencies which could not be escaped. + +"Would they follow us there?" I asked, pointing through the archway +into the Camp of the Lions. + +"Never," she replied, "for, in the first place, they would know that we +would not dare go there, and in the second they themselves would not +dare." + +"Then we shall take refuge in the Camp of the Lions," I said. + +She shuddered and drew closer to me. + +"You dare?" she asked. + +"Why not?" I returned. "We shall be safe from Buckingham, and you have +seen, for the second time in two days, that lions are harmless before +my weapons. Then, too, I can find my friends easiest in this +direction, for the River Thames runs through this place you call the +Camp of the Lions, and it is farther down the Thames that my friends +are awaiting me. Do you not dare come with me?" + +"I dare follow wherever you lead," she answered simply. + +And so I turned and passed beneath the great arch into the city of +London. + + + +5 + + +As we entered deeper into what had once been the city, the evidences of +man's past occupancy became more frequent. For a mile from the arch +there was only a riot of weeds and undergrowth and trees covering small +mounds and little hillocks that, I was sure, were formed of the ruins +of stately buildings of the dead past. + +But presently we came upon a district where shattered walls still +raised their crumbling tops in sad silence above the grass-grown +sepulchers of their fallen fellows. Softened and mellowed by ancient +ivy stood these sentinels of sorrow, their scarred faces still +revealing the rents and gashes of shrapnel and of bomb. + +Contrary to our expectations, we found little indication that lions in +any great numbers laired in this part of ancient London. Well-worn +pathways, molded by padded paws, led through the cavernous windows or +doorways of a few of the ruins we passed, and once we saw the savage +face of a great, black-maned lion scowling down upon us from a +shattered stone balcony. + +We followed down the bank of the Thames after we came upon it. I was +anxious to look with my own eyes upon the famous bridge, and I guessed, +too, that the river would lead me into the part of London where stood +Westminster Abbey and the Tower. + +Realizing that the section through which we had been passing was +doubtless outlying, and therefore not so built up with large structures +as the more centrally located part of the old town, I felt sure that +farther down the river I should find the ruins larger. The bridge +would be there in part, at least, and so would remain the walls of many +of the great edifices of the past. There would be no such complete +ruin of large structures as I had seen among the smaller buildings. + +But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged to have +contained the relics I sought I found havoc that had been wrought there +even greater than elsewhere. + +At one point upon the bosom of the Thames there rises a few feet above +the water a single, disintegrating mound of masonry. Opposite it, upon +either bank of the river, are tumbled piles of ruins overgrown with +vegetation. + +These, I am forced to believe, are all that remain of London Bridge, +for nowhere else along the river is there any other slightest sign of +pier or abutment. + +Rounding the base of a large pile of grass-covered debris, we came +suddenly upon the best preserved ruin we had yet discovered. The +entire lower story and part of the second story of what must once have +been a splendid public building rose from a great knoll of shrubbery +and trees, while ivy, thick and luxuriant, clambered upward to the +summit of the broken walls. + +In many places the gray stone was still exposed, its smoothly chiseled +face pitted with the scars of battle. The massive portal yawned, +somber and sorrowful, before us, giving a glimpse of marble halls +within. + +The temptation to enter was too great. I wished to explore the +interior of this one remaining monument of civilization now dead beyond +recall. Through this same portal, within these very marble halls, had +Gray and Chamberlin and Kitchener and Shaw, perhaps, come and gone with +the other great ones of the past. + +I took Victory's hand in mine. + +"Come!" I said. "I do not know the name by which this great pile was +known, nor the purposes it fulfilled. It may have been the palace of +your sires, Victory. From some great throne within, your forebears may +have directed the destinies of half the world. Come!" + +I must confess to a feeling of awe as we entered the rotunda of the +great building. Pieces of massive furniture of another day still stood +where man had placed them centuries ago. They were littered with dust +and broken stone and plaster, but, otherwise, so perfect was their +preservation I could hardly believe that two centuries had rolled by +since human eyes were last set upon them. + +Through one great room after another we wandered, hand in hand, while +Victory asked many questions and for the first time I began to realize +something of the magnificence and power of the race from whose loins +she had sprung. + +Splendid tapestries, now mildewed and rotting, hung upon the walls. +There were mural paintings, too, depicting great historic events of the +past. For the first time Victory saw the likeness of a horse, and she +was much affected by a huge oil which depicted some ancient cavalry +charge against a battery of field guns. + +In other pictures there were steamships, battleships, submarines, and +quaint looking railway trains--all small and antiquated in appearance +to me, but wonderful to Victory. She told me that she would like to +remain for the rest of her life where she could look at those pictures +daily. + +From room to room we passed until presently we emerged into a mighty +chamber, dark and gloomy, for its high and narrow windows were choked +and clogged by ivy. Along one paneled wall we groped, our eyes slowly +becoming accustomed to the darkness. A rank and pungent odor pervaded +the atmosphere. + +We had made our way about half the distance across one end of the great +apartment when a low growl from the far end brought us to a startled +halt. + +Straining my eyes through the gloom, I made out a raised dais at the +extreme opposite end of the hall. Upon the dais stood two great +chairs, highbacked and with great arms. + +The throne of England! But what were those strange forms about it? + +Victory gave my hand a quick, excited little squeeze. + +"The lions!" she whispered. + +Yes, lions indeed! Sprawled about the dais were a dozen huge forms, +while upon the seat of one of the thrones a small cub lay curled in +slumber. + +As we stood there for a moment, spellbound by the sight of those +fearsome creatures occupying the very thrones of the sovereigns of +England, the low growl was repeated, and a great male rose slowly to +his feet. + +His devilish eyes bored straight through the semi-darkness toward us. +He had discovered the interloper. What right had man within this +palace of the beasts? Again he opened his giant jaws, and this time +there rumbled forth a warning roar. + +Instantly eight or ten of the other beasts leaped to their feet. +Already the great fellow who had spied us was advancing slowly in our +direction. I held my rifle ready, but how futile it appeared in the +face of this savage horde. + +The foremost beast broke into a slow trot, and at his heels came the +others. All were roaring now, and the din of their great voices +reverberating through the halls and corridors of the palace formed the +most frightful chorus of thunderous savagery imaginable to the mind of +man. + +And then the leader charged, and upon the hideous pandemonium broke the +sharp crack of my rifle, once, twice, thrice. Three lions rolled, +struggling and biting, to the floor. Victory seized my arm, with a +quick, "This way! Here is a door," and a moment later we were in a +tiny antechamber at the foot of a narrow stone staircase. + +Up this we backed, Victory just behind me, as the first of the +remaining lions leaped from the throne room and sprang for the stairs. +Again I fired, but others of the ferocious beasts leaped over their +fallen fellows and pursued us. + +The stairs were very narrow--that was all that saved us--for as I +backed slowly upward, but a single lion could attack me at a time, and +the carcasses of those I slew impeded the rushes of the others. + +At last we reached the top. There was a long corridor from which +opened many doorways. One, directly behind us, was tight closed. If +we could open it and pass into the chamber behind we might find a +respite from attack. + +The remaining lions were roaring horribly. I saw one sneaking very +slowly up the stairs toward us. + +"Try that door," I called to Victory. "See if it will open." + +She ran up to it and pushed. + +"Turn the knob!" I cried, seeing that she did not know how to open a +door, but neither did she know what I meant by knob. + +I put a bullet in the spine of the approaching lion and leaped to +Victory's side. The door resisted my first efforts to swing it inward. +Rusted hinges and swollen wood held it tightly closed. But at last it +gave, and just as another lion mounted to the top of the stairway it +swung in, and I pushed Victory across the threshold. + +Then I turned to meet the renewed attack of the savage foe. One lion +fell in his tracks, another stumbled to my very feet, and then I leaped +within and slammed the portal to. + +A quick glance showed me that this was the only door to the small +apartment in which we had found sanctuary, and, with a sigh of relief, +I leaned for a moment against the panels of the stout barrier that +separated us from the ramping demons without. + +Across the room, between two windows, stood a flat-topped desk. A +little pile of white and brown lay upon it close to the opposite edge. +After a moment of rest I crossed the room to investigate. The white +was the bleached human bones--the skull, collar bones, arms, and a few +of the upper ribs of a man. The brown was the dust of a decayed +military cap and blouse. In a chair before the desk were other bones, +while more still strewed the floor beneath the desk and about the +chair. A man had died sitting there with his face buried in his +arms--two hundred years ago. + +Beneath the desk were a pair of spurred military boots, green and +rotten with decay. In them were the leg bones of a man. Among the +tiny bones of the hands was an ancient fountain pen, as good, +apparently, as the day it was made, and a metal covered memoranda book, +closed over the bones of an index finger. + +It was a gruesome sight--a pitiful sight--this lone inhabitant of +mighty London. + +I picked up the metal covered memoranda book. Its pages were rotten +and stuck together. Only here and there was a sentence or a part of a +sentence legible. The first that I could read was near the middle of +the little volume: + +"His majesty left for Tunbridge Wells today, he ... jesty was +stricken ... terday. God give she does not die ... am military +governor of Lon ..." + +And farther on: + +"It is awful ... hundred deaths today ... worse than the bombardm ..." + +Nearer the end I picked out the following: + +"I promised his maj ... e will find me here when he ret ... alone." + +The most legible passage was on the next page: + +"Thank God we drove them out. There is not a single ... man on +British soil today; but at what awful cost. I tried to persuade Sir +Phillip to urge the people to remain. But they are mad with fear of +the Death, and rage at our enemies. He tells me that the coast cities +are packed ... waiting to be taken across. What will become of +England, with none left to rebuild her shattered cities!" + +And the last entry: + +"... alone. Only the wild beasts ... A lion is roaring now +beneath the palace windows. I think the people feared the beasts even +more than they did the Death. But they are gone, all gone, and to +what? How much better conditions will they find on the continent? All +gone--only I remain. I promised his majesty, and when he returns he +will find that I was true to my trust, for I shall be awaiting him. +God save the King!" + +That was all. This brave and forever nameless officer died nobly at +his post--true to his country and his king. It was the Death, no +doubt, that took him. + +Some of the entries had been dated. From the few legible letters and +figures which remained I judge the end came some time in August, 1937, +but of that I am not at all certain. + +The diary has cleared up at least one mystery that had puzzled me not a +little, and now I am surprised that I had not guessed its solution +myself--the presence of African and Asiatic beasts in England. + +Acclimated by years of confinement in the zoological gardens, they were +fitted to resume in England the wild existence for which nature had +intended them, and once free, had evidently bred prolifically, in +marked contrast to the captive exotics of twentieth century +Pan-America, which had gradually become fewer until extinction occurred +some time during the twenty-first century. + +The palace, if such it was, lay not far from the banks of the Thames. +The room in which we were imprisoned overlooked the river, and I +determined to attempt to escape in this direction. + +To descend through the palace was out of the question, but outside we +could discover no lions. The stems of the ivy which clambered upward +past the window of the room were as large around as my arm. I knew +that they would support our weight, and as we could gain nothing by +remaining longer in the palace, I decided to descend by way of the ivy +and follow along down the river in the direction of the launch. + +Naturally I was much handicapped by the presence of the girl. But I +could not abandon her, though I had no idea what I should do with her +after rejoining my companions. That she would prove a burden and an +embarrassment I was certain, but she had made it equally plain to me +that she would never return to her people to mate with Buckingham. + +I owed my life to her, and, all other considerations aside, that was +sufficient demand upon my gratitude and my honor to necessitate my +suffering every inconvenience in her service. Too, she was queen of +England. But, by far the most potent argument in her favor, she was a +woman in distress--and a young and very beautiful one. + +And so, though I wished a thousand times that she was back in her camp, +I never let her guess it, but did all that lay within my power to serve +and protect her. I thank God now that I did so. + +With the lions still padding back and forth beyond the closed door, +Victory and I crossed the room to one of the windows. I had outlined +my plan to her, and she had assured me that she could descend the ivy +without assistance. In fact, she smiled a trifle at my question. + +Swinging myself outward, I began the descent, and had come to within a +few feet of the ground, being just opposite a narrow window, when I was +startled by a savage growl almost in my ear, and then a great taloned +paw darted from the aperture to seize me, and I saw the snarling face +of a lion within the embrasure. + +Releasing my hold upon the ivy, I dropped the remaining distance to the +ground, saved from laceration only because the lion's paw struck the +thick stem of ivy. + +The creature was making a frightful racket now, leaping back and forth +from the floor at the broad window ledge, tearing at the masonry with +his claws in vain attempts to reach me. But the opening was too +narrow, and the masonry too solid. + +Victory had commenced the descent, but I called to her to stop just +above the window, and, as the lion reappeared, growling and snarling, I +put a .33 bullet in his face, and at the same moment Victory slipped +quickly past him, dropping into my upraised arms that were awaiting her. + +The roaring of the beasts that had discovered us, together with the +report of my rifle, had set the balance of the fierce inmates of the +palace into the most frightful uproar I have ever heard. + +I feared that it would not be long before intelligence or instinct +would draw them from the interiors and set them upon our trail, the +river. Nor had we much more than reached it when a lion bounded around +the corner of the edifice we had just quitted and stood looking about +as though in search of us. + +Following, came others, while Victory and I crouched in hiding behind a +clump of bushes close to the bank of the river. The beasts sniffed +about the ground for a while, but they did not chance to go near the +spot where we had stood beneath the window that had given us escape. + +Presently a black-maned male raised his head, and, with cocked ears and +glaring eyes, gazed straight at the bush behind which we lay. I could +have sworn that he had discovered us, and when he took a few short and +stately steps in our direction I raised my rifle and covered him. But, +after a long, tense moment he looked away, and turned to glare in +another direction. + +I breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Victory. I could feel her body +quiver as she lay pressed close to me, our cheeks almost touching as we +both peered through the same small opening in the foliage. + +I turned to give her a reassuring smile as the lion indicated that he +had not seen us, and as I did so she, too, turned her face toward mine, +for the same purpose, doubtless. Anyway, as our heads turned +simultaneously, our lips brushed together. A startled expression came +into Victory's eyes as she drew back in evident confusion. + +As for me, the strangest sensation that I have ever experienced claimed +me for an instant. A peculiar, tingling thrill ran through my veins, +and my head swam. I could not account for it. + +Naturally, being a naval officer and consequently in the best society +of the federation, I have seen much of women. With others, I have +laughed at the assertions of the savants that modern man is a cold and +passionless creation in comparison with the males of former ages--in a +word, that love, as the one grand passion, had ceased to exist. + +I do not know, now, but that they were more nearly right than we have +guessed, at least in so far as modern civilized woman is concerned. I +have kissed many women--young and beautiful and middle aged and old, +and many that I had no business kissing--but never before had I +experienced that remarkable and altogether delightful thrill that +followed the accidental brushing of my lips against the lips of Victory. + +The occurrence interested me, and I was tempted to experiment further. +But when I would have essayed it another new and entirely unaccountable +force restrained me. For the first time in my life I felt +embarrassment in the presence of a woman. + +What further might have developed I cannot say, for at that moment a +perfect she-devil of a lioness, with keener eyes than her lord and +master, discovered us. She came trotting toward our place of +concealment, growling and baring her yellow fangs. + +I waited for an instant, hoping that I might be mistaken, and that she +would turn off in some other direction. But no--she increased her trot +to a gallop, and then I fired at her, but the bullet, though it struck +her full in the breast, didn't stop her. + +Screaming with pain and rage, the creature fairly flew toward us. +Behind her came other lions. Our case looked hopeless. We were upon +the brink of the river. There seemed no avenue of escape, and I knew +that even my modern automatic rifle was inadequate in the face of so +many of these fierce beasts. + +To remain where we were would have been suicidal. We were both +standing now, Victory keeping her place bravely at my side, when I +reached the only decision open to me. + +Seizing the girl's hand, I turned, just as the lioness crashed into the +opposite side of the bushes, and, dragging Victory after me, leaped +over the edge of the bank into the river. + +I did not know that lions are not fond of water, nor did I know if +Victory could swim, but death, immediate and terrible, stared us in the +face if we remained, and so I took the chance. + +At this point the current ran close to the shore, so that we were +immediately in deep water, and, to my intense satisfaction, Victory +struck out with a strong, overhand stroke and set all my fears on her +account at rest. + +But my relief was short-lived. That lioness, as I have said before, +was a veritable devil. She stood for a moment glaring at us, then like +a shot she sprang into the river and swam swiftly after us. + +Victory was a length ahead of me. + +"Swim for the other shore!" I called to her. + +I was much impeded by my rifle, having to swim with one hand while I +clung to my precious weapon with the other. The girl had seen the +lioness take to the water, and she had also seen that I was swimming +much more slowly than she, and what did she do? She started to drop +back to my side. + +"Go on!" I cried. "Make for the other shore, and then follow down +until you find my friends. Tell them that I sent you, and with orders +that they are to protect you. Go on! Go on!" + +But she only waited until we were again swimming side by side, and I +saw that she had drawn her long knife, and was holding it between her +teeth. + +"Do as I tell you!" I said to her sharply, but she shook her head. + +The lioness was overhauling us rapidly. She was swimming silently, her +chin just touching the water, but blood was streaming from between her +lips. It was evident that her lungs were pierced. + +She was almost upon me. I saw that in a moment she would take me under +her forepaws, or seize me in those great jaws. I felt that my time had +come, but I meant to die fighting. And so I turned, and, treading +water, raised my rifle above my head and awaited her. + +Victory, animated by a bravery no less ferocious than that of the dumb +beast assailing us, swam straight for me. It all happened so swiftly +that I cannot recall the details of the kaleidoscopic action which +ensued. I knew that I rose high out of the water, and, with clubbed +rifle, dealt the animal a terrific blow upon the skull, that I saw +Victory, her long blade flashing in her hand, close, striking, upon the +beast, that a great paw fell upon her shoulder, and that I was swept +beneath the surface of the water like a straw before the prow of a +freighter. + +Still clinging to my rifle, I rose again, to see the lioness struggling +in her death throes but an arm's length from me. Scarcely had I risen +than the beast turned upon her side, struggled frantically for an +instant, and then sank. + + + +6 + + +Victory was nowhere in sight. Alone, I floated upon the bosom of the +Thames. In that brief instant I believe that I suffered more mental +anguish than I have crowded into all the balance of my life before or +since. A few hours before, I had been wishing that I might be rid of +her, and now that she was gone I would have given my life to have her +back again. + +Wearily I turned to swim about the spot where she had disappeared, +hoping that she might rise once at least, and I would be given the +opportunity to save her, and, as I turned, the water boiled before my +face and her head shot up before me. I was on the point of striking +out to seize her, when a happy smile illumined her features. + +"You are not dead!" she cried. "I have been searching the bottom for +you. I was sure that the blow she gave you must have disabled you," +and she glanced about for the lioness. + +"She has gone?" she asked. + +"Dead," I replied. + +"The blow you struck her with the thing you call rifle stunned her," +she explained, "and then I swam in close enough to get my knife into +her heart." + +Ah, such a girl! I could not but wonder what one of our own +Pan-American women would have done under like circumstances. But then, +of course, they have not been trained by stern necessity to cope with +the emergencies and dangers of savage primeval life. + +Along the bank we had just quitted, a score of lions paced to and fro, +growling menacingly. We could not return, and we struck out for the +opposite shore. I am a strong swimmer, and had no doubt as to my +ability to cross the river, but I was not so sure about Victory, so I +swam close behind her, to be ready to give her assistance should she +need it. + +She did not, however, reaching the opposite bank as fresh, apparently, +as when she entered the water. Victory is a wonder. Each day that we +were together brought new proofs of it. Nor was it her courage or +vitality only which amazed me. She had a head on those shapely +shoulders of hers, and dignity! My, but she could be regal when she +chose! + +She told me that the lions were fewer upon this side of the river, but +that there were many wolves, running in great packs later in the year. +Now they were north somewhere, and we should have little to fear from +them, though we might meet with a few. + +My first concern was to take my weapons apart and dry them, which was +rather difficult in the face of the fact that every rag about me was +drenched. But finally, thanks to the sun and much rubbing, I +succeeded, though I had no oil to lubricate them. + +We ate some wild berries and roots that Victory found, and then we set +off again down the river, keeping an eye open for game on one side and +the launch on the other, for I thought that Delcarte, who would be the +natural leader during my absence, might run up the Thames in search of +me. + +The balance of that day we sought in vain for game or for the launch, +and when night came we lay down, our stomachs empty, to sleep beneath +the stars. We were entirely unprotected from attack from wild beasts, +and for this reason I remained awake most of the night, on guard. But +nothing approached us, though I could hear the lions roaring across the +river, and once I thought I heard the howl of a beast north of us--it +might have been a wolf. + +Altogether, it was a most unpleasant night, and I determined then that +if we were forced to sleep out again that I should provide some sort of +shelter which would protect us from attack while we slept. + +Toward morning I dozed, and the sun was well up when Victory aroused me +by gently shaking my shoulder. + +"Antelope!" she whispered in my ear, and, as I raised my head, she +pointed up-river. Crawling to my knees, I looked in the direction she +indicated, to see a buck standing upon a little knoll some two hundred +yards from us. There was good cover between the animal and me, and so, +though I might have hit him at two hundred yards, I preferred to crawl +closer to him and make sure of the meat we both so craved. + +I had covered about fifty yards of the distance, and the beast was +still feeding peacefully, so I thought that I would make even surer of +a hit by going ahead another fifty yards, when the animal suddenly +raised his head and looked away, up-river. His whole attitude +proclaimed that he was startled by something beyond him that I could +not see. + +Realizing that he might break and run and that I should then probably +miss him entirely, I raised my rifle to my shoulder. But even as I did +so the animal leaped into the air, and simultaneously there was a sound +of a shot from beyond the knoll. + +For an instant I was dumbfounded. Had the report come from down-river, +I should have instantly thought that one of my own men had fired. But +coming from up-river it puzzled me considerably. Who could there be +with firearms in primitive England other than we of the Coldwater? + +Victory was directly behind me, and I motioned for her to lie down, as +I did, behind the bush from which I had been upon the point of firing +at the antelope. We could see that the buck was quite dead, and from +our hiding place we waited to discover the identity of his slayer when +the latter should approach and claim his kill. + +We had not long to wait, and when I saw the head and shoulders of a man +appear above the crest of the knoll, I sprang to my feet, with a +heartfelt cry of joy, for it was Delcarte. + +At the sound of my voice, Delcarte half raised his rifle in readiness +for the attack of an enemy, but a moment later he recognized me, and +was coming rapidly to meet us. Behind him was Snider. They both were +astounded to see me upon the north bank of the river, and much more so +at the sight of my companion. + +Then I introduced them to Victory, and told them that she was queen of +England. They thought, at first, that I was joking. But when I had +recounted my adventures and they realized that I was in earnest, they +believed me. + +They told me that they had followed me inshore when I had not returned +from the hunt, that they had met the men of the elephant country, and +had had a short and one-sided battle with the fellows. And that +afterward they had returned to the launch with a prisoner, from whom +they had learned that I had probably been captured by the men of the +lion country. + +With the prisoner as a guide they had set off up-river in search of me, +but had been much delayed by motor trouble, and had finally camped +after dark a half mile above the spot where Victory and I had spent the +night. They must have passed us in the dark, and why I did not hear +the sound of the propeller I do not know, unless it passed me at a time +when the lions were making an unusually earsplitting din upon the +opposite side. + +Taking the antelope with us, we all returned to the launch, where we +found Taylor as delighted to see me alive again as Delcarte had been. +I cannot say truthfully that Snider evinced much enthusiasm at my +rescue. + +Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel, and the distilling +of them had, with the motor trouble, accounted for their delay in +setting out after me. + +The prisoner that Delcarte and Snider had taken was a powerful young +fellow from the elephant country. Notwithstanding the fact that they +had all assured him to the contrary, he still could not believe that we +would not kill him. + +He assured us that his name was Thirty-six, and, as he could not count +above ten, I am sure that he had no conception of the correct meaning +of the word, and that it may have been handed down to him either from +the military number of an ancestor who had served in the English ranks +during the Great War, or that originally it was the number of some +famous regiment with which a forbear fought. + +Now that we were reunited, we held a council to determine what course +we should pursue in the immediate future. Snider was still for setting +out to sea and returning to Pan-America, but the better judgment of +Delcarte and Taylor ridiculed the suggestion--we should not have lived +a fortnight. + +To remain in England, constantly menaced by wild beasts and men equally +as wild, seemed about as bad. I suggested that we cross the Channel +and ascertain if we could not discover a more enlightened and civilized +people upon the continent. I was sure that some trace of the ancient +culture and greatness of Europe must remain. Germany, probably, would +be much as it was during the twentieth century, for, in common with +most Pan-Americans, I was positive that Germany had been victorious in +the Great War. + +Snider demurred at the suggestion. He said that it was bad enough to +have come this far. He did not want to make it worse by going to the +continent. The outcome of it was that I finally lost my patience, and +told him that from then on he would do what I thought best--that I +proposed to assume command of the party, and that they might all +consider themselves under my orders, as much so as though we were still +aboard the Coldwater and in Pan-American waters. + +Delcarte and Taylor immediately assured me that they had not for an +instant assumed anything different, and that they were as ready to +follow and obey me here as they would be upon the other side of thirty. + +Snider said nothing, but he wore a sullen scowl. And I wished then, as +I had before, and as I did to a much greater extent later, that fate +had not decreed that he should have chanced to be a member of the +launch's party upon that memorable day when last we quitted the +Coldwater. + +Victory, who was given a voice in our councils, was all for going to +the continent, or anywhere else, in fact, where she might see new +sights and experience new adventures. + +"Afterward we can come back to Grabritin," she said, "and if Buckingham +is not dead and we can catch him away from his men and kill him, then I +can return to my people, and we can all live in peace and happiness." + +She spoke of killing Buckingham with no greater concern than one might +evince in the contemplated destruction of a sheep; yet she was neither +cruel nor vindictive. In fact, Victory is a very sweet and womanly +woman. But human life is of small account beyond thirty--a legacy from +the bloody days when thousands of men perished in the trenches between +the rising and the setting of a sun, when they laid them lengthwise in +these same trenches and sprinkled dirt over them, when the Germans +corded their corpses like wood and set fire to them, when women and +children and old men were butchered, and great passenger ships were +torpedoed without warning. + +Thirty-six, finally assured that we did not intend slaying him, was as +keen to accompany us as was Victory. + +The crossing to the continent was uneventful, its monotony being +relieved, however, by the childish delight of Victory and Thirty-six in +the novel experience of riding safely upon the bosom of the water, and +of being so far from land. + +With the possible exception of Snider, the little party appeared in the +best of spirits, laughing and joking, or interestedly discussing the +possibilities which the future held for us: what we should find upon +the continent, and whether the inhabitants would be civilized or +barbarian peoples. + +Victory asked me to explain the difference between the two, and when I +had tried to do so as clearly as possible, she broke into a gay little +laugh. + +"Oh," she cried, "then I am a barbarian!" + +I could not but laugh, too, as I admitted that she was, indeed, a +barbarian. She was not offended, taking the matter as a huge joke. +But some time thereafter she sat in silence, apparently deep in +thought. Finally she looked up at me, her strong white teeth gleaming +behind her smiling lips. + +"Should you take that thing you call 'razor,'" she said, "and cut the +hair from the face of Thirty-six, and exchange garments with him, you +would be the barbarian and Thirty-six the civilized man. There is no +other difference between you, except your weapons. Clothe you in a +wolfskin, give you a knife and a spear, and set you down in the woods +of Grabritin--of what service would your civilization be to you?" + +Delcarte and Taylor smiled at her reply, but Thirty-six and Snider +laughed uproariously. I was not surprised at Thirty-six, but I thought +that Snider laughed louder than the occasion warranted. As a matter of +fact, Snider, it seemed to me, was taking advantage of every +opportunity, however slight, to show insubordination, and I determined +then that at the first real breach of discipline I should take action +that would remind Snider, ever after, that I was still his commanding +officer. + +I could not help but notice that his eyes were much upon Victory, and I +did not like it, for I knew the type of man he was. But as it would +not be necessary ever to leave the girl alone with him I felt no +apprehension for her safety. + +After the incident of the discussion of barbarians I thought that +Victory's manner toward me changed perceptibly. She held aloof from +me, and when Snider took his turn at the wheel, sat beside him, upon +the pretext that she wished to learn how to steer the launch. I +wondered if she had guessed the man's antipathy for me, and was seeking +his company solely for the purpose of piquing me. + +Snider was, too, taking full advantage of his opportunity. Often he +leaned toward the girl to whisper in her ear, and he laughed much, +which was unusual with Snider. + +Of course, it was nothing at all to me; yet, for some unaccountable +reason, the sight of the two of them sitting there so close to one +another and seeming to be enjoying each other's society to such a +degree irritated me tremendously, and put me in such a bad humor that I +took no pleasure whatsoever in the last few hours of the crossing. + +We aimed to land near the site of ancient Ostend. But when we neared +the coast we discovered no indication of any human habitations +whatever, let alone a city. After we had landed, we found the same +howling wilderness about us that we had discovered on the British Isle. +There was no slightest indication that civilized man had ever set a +foot upon that portion of the continent of Europe. + +Although I had feared as much, since our experience in England, I could +not but own to a feeling of marked disappointment, and to the gravest +fears of the future, which induced a mental depression that was in no +way dissipated by the continued familiarity between Victory and Snider. + +I was angry with myself that I permitted that matter to affect me as it +had. I did not wish to admit to myself that I was angry with this +uncultured little savage, that it made the slightest difference to me +what she did or what she did not do, or that I could so lower myself as +to feel personal enmity towards a common sailor. And yet, to be +honest, I was doing both. + +Finding nothing to detain us about the spot where Ostend once had +stood, we set out up the coast in search of the mouth of the River +Rhine, which I purposed ascending in search of civilized man. It was +my intention to explore the Rhine as far up as the launch would take +us. If we found no civilization there we would return to the North +Sea, continue up the coast to the Elbe, and follow that river and the +canals of Berlin. Here, at least, I was sure that we should find what +we sought--and, if not, then all Europe had reverted to barbarism. + +The weather remained fine, and we made excellent progress, but +everywhere along the Rhine we met with the same disappointment--no sign +of civilized man, in fact, no sign of man at all. + +I was not enjoying the exploration of modern Europe as I had +anticipated--I was unhappy. Victory seemed changed, too. I had +enjoyed her company at first, but since the trip across the Channel I +had held aloof from her. + +Her chin was in the air most of the time, and yet I rather think that +she regretted her friendliness with Snider, for I noticed that she +avoided him entirely. He, on the contrary, emboldened by her former +friendliness, sought every opportunity to be near her. I should have +liked nothing better than a reasonably good excuse to punch his head; +yet, paradoxically, I was ashamed of myself for harboring him any ill +will. I realized that there was something the matter with me, but I +did not know what it was. + +Matters remained thus for several days, and we continued our journey up +the Rhine. At Cologne, I had hoped to find some reassuring +indications, but there was no Cologne. And as there had been no other +cities along the river up to that point, the devastation was infinitely +greater than time alone could have wrought. Great guns, bombs, and +mines must have leveled every building that man had raised, and then +nature, unhindered, had covered the ghastly evidence of human depravity +with her beauteous mantle of verdure. Splendid trees reared their +stately tops where splendid cathedrals once had reared their domes, and +sweet wild flowers blossomed in simple serenity in soil that once was +drenched with human blood. + +Nature had reclaimed what man had once stolen from her and defiled. A +herd of zebras grazed where once the German kaiser may have reviewed +his troops. An antelope rested peacefully in a bed of daisies where, +perhaps, two hundred years ago a big gun belched its terror-laden +messages of death, of hate, of destruction against the works of man and +God alike. + +We were in need of fresh meat, yet I hesitated to shatter the quiet and +peaceful serenity of the view with the crack of a rifle and the death +of one of those beautiful creatures before us. But it had to be +done--we must eat. I left the work to Delcarte, however, and in a +moment we had two antelope and the landscape to ourselves. + +After eating, we boarded the launch and continued up the river. For +two days we passed through a primeval wilderness. In the afternoon of +the second day we landed upon the west bank of the river, and, leaving +Snider and Thirty-six to guard Victory and the launch, Delcarte, +Taylor, and I set out after game. + +We tramped away from the river for upwards of an hour before +discovering anything, and then only a small red deer, which Taylor +brought down with a neat shot of two hundred yards. It was getting too +late to proceed farther, so we rigged a sling, and the two men carried +the deer back toward the launch while I walked a hundred yards ahead, +in the hope of bagging something further for our larder. + +We had covered about half the distance to the river, when I suddenly +came face to face with a man. He was as primitive and uncouth in +appearance as the Grabritins--a shaggy, unkempt savage, clothed in a +shirt of skin cured with the head on, the latter surmounting his own +head to form a bonnet, and giving to him a most fearful and ferocious +aspect. + +The fellow was armed with a long spear and a club, the latter dangling +down his back from a leathern thong about his neck. His feet were +incased in hide sandals. + +At sight of me, he halted for an instant, then turned and dove into the +forest, and, though I called reassuringly to him in English he did not +return nor did I again see him. + +The sight of the wild man raised my hopes once more that elsewhere we +might find men in a higher state of civilization--it was the society of +civilized man that I craved--and so, with a lighter heart, I continued +on toward the river and the launch. + +I was still some distance ahead of Delcarte and Taylor, when I came in +sight of the Rhine again. But I came to the water's edge before I +noticed that anything was amiss with the party we had left there a few +hours before. + +My first intimation of disaster was the absence of the launch from its +former moorings. And then, a moment later--I discovered the body of a +man lying upon the bank. Running toward it, I saw that it was +Thirty-six, and as I stopped and raised the Grabritin's head in my +arms, I heard a faint moan break from his lips. He was not dead, but +that he was badly injured was all too evident. + +Delcarte and Taylor came up a moment later, and the three of us worked +over the fellow, hoping to revive him that he might tell us what had +happened, and what had become of the others. My first thought was +prompted by the sight I had recently had of the savage native. The +little party had evidently been surprised, and in the attack Thirty-six +had been wounded and the others taken prisoners. The thought was +almost like a physical blow in the face--it stunned me. Victory in the +hands of these abysmal brutes! It was frightful. I almost shook poor +Thirty-six in my efforts to revive him. + +I explained my theory to the others, and then Delcarte shattered it by +a single movement of the hand. He drew aside the lion's skin that +covered half of the Grabritin's breast, revealing a neat, round hole in +Thirty-six's chest--a hole that could have been made by no other weapon +than a rifle. + +"Snider!" I exclaimed. Delcarte nodded. At about the same time the +eyelids of the wounded man fluttered, and raised. He looked up at us, +and very slowly the light of consciousness returned to his eyes. + +"What happened, Thirty-six?" I asked him. + +He tried to reply, but the effort caused him to cough, bringing about a +hemorrhage of the lungs and again he fell back exhausted. For several +long minutes he lay as one dead, then in an almost inaudible whisper he +spoke. + +"Snider--" He paused, tried to speak again, raised a hand, and pointed +down-river. "They--went--back," and then he shuddered convulsively and +died. + +None of us voiced his belief. But I think they were all alike: Victory +and Snider had stolen the launch, and deserted us. + + + +7 + + +We stood there, grouped about the body of the dead Grabritin, looking +futilely down the river to where it made an abrupt curve to the west, a +quarter of a mile below us, and was lost to sight, as though we +expected to see the truant returning to us with our precious +launch--the thing that meant life or death to us in this unfriendly, +savage world. + +I felt, rather than saw, Taylor turn his eyes slowly toward my profile, +and, as mine swung to meet them, the expression upon his face recalled +me to my duty and responsibility as an officer. + +The utter hopelessness that was reflected in his face must have been +the counterpart of what I myself felt, but in that brief instant I +determined to hide my own misgivings that I might bolster up the +courage of the others. + +"We are lost!" was written as plainly upon Taylor's face as though his +features were the printed words upon an open book. He was thinking of +the launch, and of the launch alone. Was I? I tried to think that I +was. But a greater grief than the loss of the launch could have +engendered in me, filled my heart--a sullen, gnawing misery which I +tried to deny--which I refused to admit--but which persisted in +obsessing me until my heart rose and filled my throat, and I could not +speak when I would have uttered words of reassurance to my companions. + +And then rage came to my relief--rage against the vile traitor who had +deserted three of his fellow countrymen in so frightful a position. I +tried to feel an equal rage against the woman, but somehow I could not, +and kept searching for excuses for her--her youth, her inexperience, +her savagery. + +My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness. I smiled, and +told Taylor not to look so glum. + +"We will follow them," I said, "and the chances are that we shall +overtake them. They will not travel as rapidly as Snider probably +hopes. He will be forced to halt for fuel and for food, and the launch +must follow the windings of the river; we can take short cuts while +they are traversing the detour. I have my map--thank God! I always +carry it upon my person--and with that and the compass we will have an +advantage over them." + +My words seemed to cheer them both, and they were for starting off at +once in pursuit. There was no reason why we should delay, and we set +forth down the river. As we tramped along, we discussed a question +that was uppermost in the mind of each--what we should do with Snider +when we had captured him, for with the action of pursuit had come the +optimistic conviction that we should succeed. As a matter of fact, we +had to succeed. The very thought of remaining in this utter wilderness +for the rest of our lives was impossible. + +We arrived at nothing very definite in the matter of Snider's +punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him, Delcarte insisting that +he should be hanged, while I, although fully conscious of the gravity +of his offense, could not bring myself to give the death penalty. + +I fell to wondering what charm Victory had found in such a man as +Snider, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for her and trying to +defend her indefensible act. She was nothing to me. Aside from the +natural gratitude I felt for her since she had saved my life, I owed +her nothing. She was a half-naked little savage--I, a gentleman, and +an officer in the world's greatest navy. There could be no close bonds +of interest between us. + +This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing as the +former, but, though I tried to turn my mind to other things, it +persisted in returning to the vision of an oval face, sun-tanned; of +smiling lips, revealing white and even teeth; of brave eyes that +harbored no shadow of guile; and of a tumbling mass of wavy hair that +crowned the loveliest picture on which my eyes had ever rested. + +Every time this vision presented itself I felt myself turn cold with +rage and hate against Snider. I could forgive the launch, but if he +had wronged her he should die--he should die at my own hands; in this I +was determined. + +For two days we followed the river northward, cutting off where we +could, but confined for the most part to the game trails that +paralleled the stream. One afternoon, we cut across a narrow neck of +land that saved us many miles, where the river wound to the west and +back again. + +Here we decided to halt, for we had had a hard day of it, and, if the +truth were known, I think that we had all given up hope of overtaking +the launch other than by the merest accident. + +We had shot a deer just before our halt, and, as Taylor and Delcarte +were preparing it, I walked down to the water to fill our canteens. I +had just finished, and was straightening up, when something floating +around a bend above me caught my eye. For a moment I could not believe +the testimony of my own senses. It was a boat. + +I shouted to Delcarte and Taylor, who came running to my side. + +"The launch!" cried Delcarte; and, indeed, it was the launch, floating +down-river from above us. Where had it been? How had we passed it? +And how were we to reach it now, should Snider and the girl discover us? + +"It's drifting," said Taylor. "I see no one in it." + +I was stripping off my clothes, and Delcarte soon followed my example. +I told Taylor to remain on shore with the clothing and rifles. He +might also serve us better there, since it would give him an +opportunity to take a shot at Snider should the man discover us and +show himself. + +With powerful strokes we swam out in the path of the oncoming launch. +Being a stronger swimmer than Delcarte, I soon was far in the lead, +reaching the center of the channel just as the launch bore down upon +me. It was drifting broadside on. I seized the gunwale and raised +myself quickly, so that my chin topped the side. I expected a blow the +moment that I came within the view of the occupants, but no blow fell. + +Snider lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat alone. Even before +I had clambered in and stooped above him I knew that he was dead. +Without examining him further, I ran forward to the control board and +pressed the starting button. To my relief, the mechanism +responded--the launch was uninjured. Coming about, I picked up +Delcarte. He was astounded at the sight that met his eyes, and +immediately fell to examining Snider's body for signs of life or an +explanation of the manner in which he met his death. + +The fellow had been dead for hours--he was cold and still. But +Delcarte's search was not without results, for above Snider's heart was +a wound, a slit about an inch in length--such a slit as a sharp knife +would make, and in the dead fingers of one hand was clutched a strand +of long brown hair--Victory's hair was brown. + +They say that dead men tell no tales, but Snider told the story of his +end as clearly as though the dead lips had parted and poured forth the +truth. The beast had attacked the girl, and she had defended her honor. + +We buried Snider beside the Rhine, and no stone marks his last resting +place. Beasts do not require headstones. + +Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose upstream. When I had +told Delcarte and Taylor that I intended searching for the girl, +neither had demurred. + +"We had her wrong in our thoughts," said Delcarte, "and the least that +we can do in expiation is to find and rescue her." + +We called her name aloud every few minutes as we motored up the river, +but, though we returned all the way to our former camping place, we did +not find her. I then decided to retrace our journey, letting Taylor +handle the launch, while Delcarte and I, upon opposite sides of the +river, searched for some sign of the spot where Victory had landed. + +We found nothing until we had reached a point a few miles above the +spot where I had first seen the launch drifting down toward us, and +there I discovered the remnants of a recent camp fire. + +That Victory carried flint and steel I was aware, and that it was she +who built the fire I was positive. But which way had she gone since +she stopped here? + +Would she go on down the river, that she might thus bring herself +nearer her own Grabritin, or would she have sought to search for us +upstream, where she had seen us last? + +I had hailed Taylor, and sent him across the river to take in Delcarte, +that the two might join me and discuss my discovery and our future +plans. + +While waiting for them, I stood looking out over the river, my back +toward the woods that stretched away to the east behind me. Delcarte +was just stepping into the launch upon the opposite side of the stream, +when, without the least warning, I was violently seized by both arms +and about the waist--three or four men were upon me at once; my rifle +was snatched from my hands and my revolver from my belt. + +I struggled for an instant, but finding my efforts of no avail, I +ceased them, and turned my head to have a look at my assailants. At +the same time several others of them walked around in front of me, and, +to my astonishment, I found myself looking upon uniformed soldiery, +armed with rifles, revolvers, and sabers, but with faces as black as +coal. + + + +8 + + +Delcarte and Taylor were now in mid-stream, coming toward us, and I +called to them to keep aloof until I knew whether the intentions of my +captors were friendly or otherwise. My good men wanted to come on and +annihilate the blacks. But there were upward of a hundred of the +latter, all well armed, and so I commanded Delcarte to keep out of +harm's way, and stay where he was till I needed him. + +A young officer called and beckoned to them. But they refused to come, +and so he gave orders that resulted in my hands being secured at my +back, after which the company marched away, straight toward the east. + +I noticed that the men wore spurs, which seemed strange to me. But +when, late in the afternoon, we arrived at their encampment, I +discovered that my captors were cavalrymen. + +In the center of a plain stood a log fort, with a blockhouse at each of +its four corners. As we approached, I saw a herd of cavalry horses +grazing under guard outside the walls of the post. They were small, +stocky horses, but the telltale saddle galls proclaimed their calling. +The flag flying from a tall staff inside the palisade was one which I +had never before seen nor heard of. + +We marched directly into the compound, where the company was dismissed, +with the exception of a guard of four privates, who escorted me in the +wake of the young officer. The latter led us across a small parade +ground, where a battery of light field guns was parked, and toward a +log building, in front of which rose the flagstaff. + +I was escorted within the building into the presence of an old negro, a +fine looking man, with a dignified and military bearing. He was a +colonel, I was to learn later, and to him I owe the very humane +treatment that was accorded me while I remained his prisoner. + +He listened to the report of his junior, and then turned to question +me, but with no better results than the former had accomplished. Then +he summoned an orderly, and gave some instructions. The soldier +saluted, and left the room, returning in about five minutes with a +hairy old white man--just such a savage, primeval-looking fellow as I +had discovered in the woods the day that Snider had disappeared with +the launch. + +The colonel evidently expected to use the fellow as interpreter, but +when the savage addressed me it was in a language as foreign to me as +was that of the blacks. At last the old officer gave it up, and, +shaking his head, gave instructions for my removal. + +From his office I was led to a guardhouse, in which I found about fifty +half-naked whites, clad in the skins of wild beasts. I tried to +converse with them, but not one of them could understand Pan-American, +nor could I make head or tail of their jargon. + +For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from morning +until night at odd jobs about the headquarters building of the +commanding officer. The other prisoners worked harder than I did, and +I owe my better treatment solely to the kindliness and discrimination +of the old colonel. + +What had become of Victory, of Delcarte, of Taylor I could not know; +nor did it seem likely that I should ever learn. I was most depressed. +But I whiled away my time in performing the duties given me to the best +of my ability and attempting to learn the language of my captors. + +Who they were or where they came from was a mystery to me. That they +were the outpost of some powerful black nation seemed likely, yet where +the seat of that nation lay I could not guess. + +They looked upon the whites as their inferiors, and treated us +accordingly. They had a literature of their own, and many of the men, +even the common soldiers, were omnivorous readers. Every two weeks a +dust-covered trooper would trot his jaded mount into the post and +deliver a bulging sack of mail at headquarters. The next day he would +be away again upon a fresh horse toward the south, carrying the +soldiers' letters to friends in the far off land of mystery from whence +they all had come. + +Troops, sometimes mounted and sometimes afoot, left the post daily for +what I assumed to be patrol duty. I judged the little force of a +thousand men were detailed here to maintain the authority of a distant +government in a conquered country. Later, I learned that my surmise +was correct, and this was but one of a great chain of similar posts +that dotted the new frontier of the black nation into whose hands I had +fallen. + +Slowly I learned their tongue, so that I could understand what was said +before me, and make myself understood. I had seen from the first that +I was being treated as a slave--that all whites that fell into the +hands of the blacks were thus treated. + +Almost daily new prisoners were brought in, and about three weeks after +I was brought in to the post a troop of cavalry came from the south to +relieve one of the troops stationed there. There was great jubilation +in the encampment after the arrival of the newcomers, old friendships +were renewed and new ones made. But the happiest men were those of the +troop that was to be relieved. + +The next morning they started away, and as they were forced upon the +parade ground we prisoners were marched from our quarters and lined up +before them. A couple of long chains were brought, with rings in the +links every few feet. At first I could not guess the purpose of these +chains. But I was soon to learn. + +A couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck of a +powerful white slave, and one by one the rest of us were herded to our +places, and the work of shackling us neck to neck commenced. + +The colonel stood watching the procedure. Presently his eyes fell upon +me, and he spoke to a young officer at his side. The latter stepped +toward me and motioned me to follow him. I did so, and was led back to +the colonel. + +By this time I could understand a few words of their strange language, +and when the colonel asked me if I would prefer to remain at the post +as his body servant, I signified my willingness as emphatically as +possible, for I had seen enough of the brutality of the common soldiers +toward their white slaves to have no desire to start out upon a march +of unknown length, chained by the neck, and driven on by the great +whips that a score of the soldiers carried to accelerate the speed of +their charges. + +About three hundred prisoners who had been housed in six prisons at the +post marched out of the gates that morning, toward what fate and what +future I could not guess. Neither had the poor devils themselves more +than the most vague conception of what lay in store for them, except +that they were going elsewhere to continue in the slavery that they had +known since their capture by their black conquerors--a slavery that was +to continue until death released them. + +My position was altered at the post. From working about the +headquarters office, I was transferred to the colonel's living +quarters. I had greater freedom, and no longer slept in one of the +prisons, but had a little room to myself off the kitchen of the +colonel's log house. + +My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly learned the +language of my captors, and much concerning them that had been a +mystery to me before. His name was Abu Belik. He was a colonel in the +cavalry of Abyssinia, a country of which I do not remember ever +hearing, but which Colonel Belik assured me is the oldest civilized +country in the world. + +Colonel Belik was born in Adis Abeba, the capital of the empire, and +until recently had been in command of the emperor's palace guard. +Jealousy and the ambition and intrigue of another officer had lost him +the favor of his emperor, and he had been detailed to this frontier +post as a mark of his sovereign's displeasure. + +Some fifty years before, the young emperor, Menelek XIV, was ambitious. +He knew that a great world lay across the waters far to the north of +his capital. Once he had crossed the desert and looked out upon the +blue sea that was the northern boundary of his dominions. + +There lay another world to conquer. Menelek busied himself with the +building of a great fleet, though his people were not a maritime race. +His army crossed into Europe. It met with little resistance, and for +fifty years his soldiers had been pushing his boundaries farther and +farther toward the north. + +"The yellow men from the east and north are contesting our rights here +now," said the colonel, "but we shall win--we shall conquer the world, +carrying Christianity to all the benighted heathen of Europe, and Asia +as well." + +"You are a Christian people?" I asked. + +He looked at me in surprise, nodding his head affirmatively. + +"I am a Christian," I said. "My people are the most powerful on earth." + +He smiled, and shook his head indulgently, as a father to a child who +sets up his childish judgment against that of his elders. + +Then I set out to prove my point. I told him of our cities, of our +army, of our great navy. He came right back at me asking for figures, +and when he was done I had to admit that only in our navy were we +numerically superior. + +Menelek XIV is the undisputed ruler of all the continent of Africa, of +all of ancient Europe except the British Isles, Scandinavia, and +eastern Russia, and has large possessions and prosperous colonies in +what once were Arabia and Turkey in Asia. + +He has a standing army of ten million men, and his people possess +slaves--white slaves--to the number of ten or fifteen million. + +Colonel Belik was much surprised, however, upon his part to learn of +the great nation which lay across the ocean, and when he found that I +was a naval officer, he was inclined to accord me even greater +consideration than formerly. It was difficult for him to believe my +assertion that there were but few blacks in my country, and that these +occupied a lower social plane than the whites. + +Just the reverse is true in Colonel Belik's land. He considered whites +inferior beings, creatures of a lower order, and assuring me that even +the few white freemen of Abyssinia were never accorded anything +approximating a position of social equality with the blacks. They live +in the poorer districts of the cities, in little white colonies, and a +black who marries a white is socially ostracized. + +The arms and ammunition of the Abyssinians are greatly inferior to +ours, yet they are tremendously effective against the ill-armed +barbarians of Europe. Their rifles are of a type similar to the +magazine rifles of twentieth century Pan-America, but carrying only +five cartridges in the magazine, in addition to the one in the chamber. +They are of extraordinary length, even those of the cavalry, and are of +extreme accuracy. + +The Abyssinians themselves are a fine looking race of black men--tall, +muscular, with fine teeth, and regular features, which incline +distinctly toward Semitic mold--I refer to the full-blooded natives of +Abyssinia. They are the patricians--the aristocracy. The army is +officered almost exclusively by them. Among the soldiery a lower type +of negro predominates, with thicker lips and broader, flatter noses. +These men are recruited, so the colonel told me, from among the +conquered tribes of Africa. They are good soldiers--brave and loyal. +They can read and write, and they are endowed with a self-confidence +and pride which, from my readings of the words of ancient African +explorers, must have been wanting in their earliest progenitors. On +the whole, it is apparent that the black race has thrived far better in +the past two centuries under men of its own color than it had under the +domination of whites during all previous history. + +I had been a prisoner at the little frontier post for over a month, +when orders came to Colonel Belik to hasten to the eastern frontier +with the major portion of his command, leaving only one troop to +garrison the fort. As his body servant, I accompanied him mounted upon +a fiery little Abyssinian pony. + +We marched rapidly for ten days through the heart of the ancient German +empire, halting when night found us in proximity to water. Often we +passed small posts similar to that at which the colonel's regiment had +been quartered, finding in each instance that only a single company or +troop remained for defence, the balance having been withdrawn toward +the northeast, in the same direction in which we were moving. + +Naturally, the colonel had not confided to me the nature of his orders. +But the rapidity of our march and the fact that all available troops +were being hastened toward the northeast assured me that a matter of +vital importance to the dominion of Menelek XIV in that part of Europe +was threatening or had already broken. + +I could not believe that a simple rising of the savage tribes of whites +would necessitate the mobilizing of such a force as we presently met +with converging from the south into our trail. There were large bodies +of cavalry and infantry, endless streams of artillery wagons and guns, +and countless horse-drawn covered vehicles laden with camp equipage, +munitions, and provisions. + +Here, for the first time, I saw camels, great caravans of them, bearing +all sorts of heavy burdens, and miles upon miles of elephants doing +similar service. It was a scene of wondrous and barbaric splendor, for +the men and beasts from the south were gaily caparisoned in rich +colors, in marked contrast to the gray uniformed forces of the +frontier, with which I had been familiar. + +The rumor reached us that Menelek himself was coming, and the pitch of +excitement to which this announcement raised the troops was little +short of miraculous--at least, to one of my race and nationality whose +rulers for centuries had been but ordinary men, holding office at the +will of the people for a few brief years. + +As I witnessed it, I could not but speculate upon the moral effect upon +his troops of a sovereign's presence in the midst of battle. All else +being equal in war between the troops of a republic and an empire, +could not this exhilarated mental state, amounting almost to hysteria +on the part of the imperial troops, weigh heavily against the soldiers +of a president? I wonder. + +But if the emperor chanced to be absent? What then? Again I wonder. + +On the eleventh day we reached our destination--a walled frontier city +of about twenty thousand. We passed some lakes, and crossed some old +canals before entering the gates. Within, beside the frame buildings, +were many built of ancient brick and well-cut stone. These, I was +told, were of material taken from the ruins of the ancient city which, +once, had stood upon the site of the present town. + +The name of the town, translated from the Abyssinian, is New Gondar. +It stands, I am convinced, upon the ruins of ancient Berlin, the one +time capital of the old German empire, but except for the old building +material used in the new town there is no sign of the former city. + +The day after we arrived, the town was gaily decorated with flags, +streamers, gorgeous rugs, and banners, for the rumor had proved +true--the emperor was coming. + +Colonel Belik had accorded me the greatest liberty, permitting me to go +where I pleased, after my few duties had been performed. As a result +of his kindness, I spent much time wandering about New Gondar, talking +with the inhabitants, and exploring the city of black men. + +As I had been given a semi-military uniform which bore insignia +indicating that I was an officer's body servant, even the blacks +treated me with a species of respect, though I could see by their +manner that I was really as the dirt beneath their feet. They answered +my questions civilly enough, but they would not enter into conversation +with me. It was from other slaves that I learned the gossip of the +city. + +Troops were pouring in from the west and south, and pouring out toward +the east. I asked an old slave who was sweeping the dirt into little +piles in the gutters of the street where the soldiers were going. He +looked at me in surprise. + +"Why, to fight the yellow men, of course," he said. "They have crossed +the border, and are marching toward New Gondar." + +"Who will win?" I asked. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows?" he said. "I hope it will be +the yellow men, but Menelek is powerful--it will take many yellow men +to defeat him." + +Crowds were gathering along the sidewalks to view the emperor's entry +into the city. I took my place among them, although I hate crowds, and +I am glad that I did, for I witnessed such a spectacle of barbaric +splendor as no other Pan-American has ever looked upon. + +Down the broad main thoroughfare, which may once have been the historic +Unter den Linden, came a brilliant cortege. At the head rode a +regiment of red-coated hussars--enormous men, black as night. There +were troops of riflemen mounted on camels. The emperor rode in a +golden howdah upon the back of a huge elephant so covered with rich +hangings and embellished with scintillating gems that scarce more than +the beast's eyes and feet were visible. + +Menelek was a rather gross-looking man, well past middle age, but he +carried himself with an air of dignity befitting one descended in +unbroken line from the Prophet--as was his claim. + +His eyes were bright but crafty, and his features denoted both +sensuality and cruelness. In his youth he may have been a rather fine +looking black, but when I saw him his appearance was revolting--to me, +at least. + +Following the emperor came regiment after regiment from the various +branches of the service, among them batteries of field guns mounted on +elephants. + +In the center of the troops following the imperial elephant marched a +great caravan of slaves. The old street sweeper at my elbow told me +that these were the gifts brought in from the far outlying districts by +the commanding officers of the frontier posts. The majority of them +were women, destined, I was told, for the harems of the emperor and his +favorites. It made my old companion clench his fists to see those poor +white women marching past to their horrid fates, and, though I shared +his sentiments, I was as powerless to alter their destinies as he. + +For a week the troops kept pouring in and out of New Gondar--in, +always, from the south and west, but always toward the east. Each new +contingent brought its gifts to the emperor. From the south they +brought rugs and ornaments and jewels; from the west, slaves; for the +commanding officers of the western frontier posts had naught else to +bring. + +From the number of women they brought, I judged that they knew the +weakness of their imperial master. + +And then soldiers commenced coming in from the east, but not with the +gay assurance of those who came from the south and west--no, these +others came in covered wagons, blood-soaked and suffering. They came +at first in little parties of eight or ten, and then they came in +fifties, in hundreds, and one day a thousand maimed and dying men were +carted into New Gondar. + +It was then that Menelek XIV became uneasy. For fifty years his armies +had conquered wherever they had marched. At first he had led them in +person, lately his presence within a hundred miles of the battle line +had been sufficient for large engagements--for minor ones only the +knowledge that they were fighting for the glory of their sovereign was +necessary to win victories. + +One morning, New Gondar was awakened by the booming of cannon. It was +the first intimation that the townspeople had received that the enemy +was forcing the imperial troops back upon the city. Dust covered +couriers galloped in from the front. Fresh troops hastened from the +city, and about noon Menelek rode out surrounded by his staff. + +For three days thereafter we could hear the cannonading and the +spitting of the small arms, for the battle line was scarce two leagues +from New Gondar. The city was filled with wounded. Just outside, +soldiers were engaged in throwing up earthworks. It was evident to the +least enlightened that Menelek expected further reverses. + +And then the imperial troops fell back upon these new defenses, or, +rather, they were forced back by the enemy. Shells commenced to fall +within the city. Menelek returned and took up his headquarters in the +stone building that was called the palace. That night came a lull in +the hostilities--a truce had been arranged. + +Colonel Belik summoned me about seven o'clock to dress him for a +function at the palace. In the midst of death and defeat the emperor +was about to give a great banquet to his officers. I was to accompany +my master and wait upon him--I, Jefferson Turck, lieutenant in the +Pan-American navy! + +In the privacy of the colonel's quarters I had become accustomed to my +menial duties, lightened as they were by the natural kindliness of my +master, but the thought of appearing in public as a common slave +revolted every fine instinct within me. Yet there was nothing for it +but to obey. + +I cannot, even now, bring myself to a narration of the humiliation +which I experienced that night as I stood behind my black master in +silent servility, now pouring his wine, now cutting up his meats for +him, now fanning him with a large, plumed fan of feathers. + +As fond as I had grown of him, I could have thrust a knife into him, so +keenly did I feel the affront that had been put upon me. But at last +the long banquet was concluded. The tables were removed. The emperor +ascended a dais at one end of the room and seated himself upon a +throne, and the entertainment commenced. It was only what ancient +history might have led me to expect--musicians, dancing girls, +jugglers, and the like. + +Near midnight, the master of ceremonies announced that the slave women +who had been presented to the emperor since his arrival in New Gondar +would be exhibited, that the royal host would select such as he wished, +after which he would present the balance of them to his guests. Ah, +what royal generosity! + +A small door at one side of the room opened, and the poor creatures +filed in and were ranged in a long line before the throne. Their backs +were toward me. I saw only an occasional profile as now and then a +bolder spirit among them turned to survey the apartment and the +gorgeous assemblage of officers in their brilliant dress uniforms. +They were profiles of young girls, and pretty, but horror was indelibly +stamped upon them all. I shuddered as I contemplated their sad fate, +and turned my eyes away. + +I heard the master of ceremonies command them to prostrate themselves +before the emperor, and the sounds as they went upon their knees before +him, touching their foreheads to the floor. Then came the official's +voice again, in sharp and peremptory command. + +"Down, slave!" he cried. "Make obeisance to your sovereign!" + +I looked up, attracted by the tone of the man's voice, to see a single, +straight, slim figure standing erect in the center of the line of +prostrate girls, her arms folded across her breast and little chin in +the air. Her back was toward me--I could not see her face, though I +should like to see the countenance of this savage young lioness, +standing there defiant among that herd of terrified sheep. + +"Down! Down!" shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a step toward +her and half drawing his sword. + +My blood boiled. To stand there, inactive, while a negro struck down +that brave girl of my own race! Instinctively I took a forward step to +place myself in the man's path. But at the same instant Menelek raised +his hand in a gesture that halted the officer. The emperor seemed +interested, but in no way angered at the girl's attitude. + +"Let us inquire," he said in a smooth, pleasant voice, "why this young +woman refuses to do homage to her sovereign," and he put the question +himself directly to her. + +She answered him in Abyssinian, but brokenly and with an accent that +betrayed how recently she had acquired her slight knowledge of the +tongue. + +"I go on my knees to no one," she said. "I have no sovereign. I +myself am sovereign in my own country." + +Menelek, at her words, leaned back in his throne and laughed +uproariously. Following his example, which seemed always the correct +procedure, the assembled guests vied with one another in an effort to +laugh more noisily than the emperor. + +The girl but tilted her chin a bit higher in the air--even her back +proclaimed her utter contempt for her captors. Finally Menelek +restored quiet by the simple expedient of a frown, whereupon each loyal +guest exchanged his mirthful mien for an emulative scowl. + +"And who," asked Menelek, "are you, and by what name is your country +called?" + +"I am Victory, Queen of Grabritin," replied the girl so quickly and so +unexpectedly that I gasped in astonishment. + + + +9 + + +Victory! She was here, a slave to these black conquerors. Once more I +started toward her, but better judgment held me back--I could do +nothing to help her other than by stealth. Could I even accomplish +aught by this means? I did not know. It seemed beyond the pale of +possibility, and yet I should try. + +"And you will not bend the knee to me?" continued Menelek, after she +had spoken. Victory shook her head in a most decided negation. + +"You shall be my first choice, then," said the emperor. "I like your +spirit, for the breaking of it will add to my pleasure in you, and +never fear but that it shall be broken--this very night. Take her to +my apartments," and he motioned to an officer at his side. + +I was surprised to see Victory follow the man off in apparent quiet +submission. I tried to follow, that I might be near her against some +opportunity to speak with her or assist in her escape. But, after I +had followed them from the throne room, through several other +apartments, and down a long corridor, I found my further progress +barred by a soldier who stood guard before a doorway through which the +officer conducted Victory. + +Almost immediately the officer reappeared and started back in the +direction of the throne room. I had been hiding in a doorway after the +guard had turned me back, having taken refuge there while his back was +turned, and, as the officer approached me, I withdrew into the room +beyond, which was in darkness. There I remained for a long time, +watching the sentry before the door of the room in which Victory was a +prisoner, and awaiting some favorable circumstance which would give me +entry to her. + +I have not attempted to fully describe my sensations at the moment I +recognized Victory, because, I can assure you, they were entirely +indescribable. I should never have imagined that the sight of any +human being could affect me as had this unexpected discovery of Victory +in the same room in which I was, while I had thought of her for weeks +either as dead, or at best hundreds of miles to the west, and as +irretrievably lost to me as though she were, in truth, dead. + +I was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her. It was not +enough merely to assist her, or protect her--I desired to touch her--to +take her in my arms. I was astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled +me--it was my incomprehensible feeling of elation since I had again +seen her. With a fate worse than death staring her in the face, and +with the knowledge that I should probably die defending her within the +hour, I was still happier than I had been for weeks--and all because I +had seen again for a few brief minutes the figure of a little heathen +maiden. I couldn't account for it, and it angered me; I had never +before felt any such sensations in the presence of a woman, and I had +made love to some very beautiful ones in my time. + +It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of that doorway, in the +ill-lit corridor of the palace of Menelek XIV. A sickly gas jet cast a +sad pallor upon the black face of the sentry. The fellow seemed rooted +to the spot. Evidently he would never leave, or turn his back again. + +I had been in hiding but a short time when I heard the sound of distant +cannon. The truce had ended, and the battle had been resumed. Very +shortly thereafter the earth shook to the explosion of a shell within +the city, and from time to time thereafter other shells burst at no +great distance from the palace. The yellow men were bombarding New +Gondar again. + +Presently officers and slaves commenced to traverse the corridor on +matters pertaining to their duties, and then came the emperor, scowling +and wrathful. He was followed by a few personal attendants, whom he +dismissed at the doorway to his apartments--the same doorway through +which Victory had been taken. I chafed to follow him, but the corridor +was filled with people. At last they betook themselves to their own +apartments, which lay upon either side of the corridor. + +An officer and a slave entered the very room in which I hid, forcing me +to flatten myself to one side in the darkness until they had passed. +Then the slave made a light, and I knew that I must find another hiding +place. + +Stepping boldly into the corridor, I saw that it was now empty save for +the single sentry before the emperor's door. He glanced up as I +emerged from the room, the occupants of which had not seen me. I +walked straight toward the soldier, my mind made up in an instant. I +tried to simulate an expression of cringing servility, and I must have +succeeded, for I entirely threw the man off his guard, so that he +permitted me to approach within reach of his rifle before stopping me. +Then it was too late--for him. + +Without a word or a warning, I snatched the piece from his grasp, and, +at the same time struck him a terrific blow between the eyes with my +clenched fist. He staggered back in surprise, too dumbfounded even to +cry out, and then I clubbed his rifle and felled him with a single +mighty blow. + +A moment later, I had burst into the room beyond. It was empty! + +I gazed about, mad with disappointment. Two doors opened from this to +other rooms. I ran to the nearer and listened. Yes, voices were +coming from beyond and one was a woman's, level and cold and filled +with scorn. There was no terror in it. It was Victory's. + +I turned the knob and pushed the door inward just in time to see +Menelek seize the girl and drag her toward the far end of the +apartment. At the same instant there was a deafening roar just outside +the palace--a shell had struck much nearer than any of its +predecessors. The noise of it drowned my rapid rush across the room. + +But in her struggles, Victory turned Menelek about so that he saw me. +She was striking him in the face with her clenched fist, and now he was +choking her. + +At sight of me, he gave voice to a roar of anger. + +"What means this, slave?" he cried. "Out of here! Out of here! Quick, +before I kill you!" + +But for answer I rushed upon him, striking him with the butt of the +rifle. He staggered back, dropping Victory to the floor, and then he +cried aloud for the guard, and came at me. Again and again I struck +him; but his thick skull might have been armor plate, for all the +damage I did it. + +He tried to close with me, seizing the rifle, but I was stronger than +he, and, wrenching the weapon from his grasp, tossed it aside and made +for his throat with my bare hands. I had not dared fire the weapon for +fear that its report would bring the larger guard stationed at the +farther end of the corridor. + +We struggled about the room, striking one another, knocking over +furniture, and rolling upon the floor. Menelek was a powerful man, and +he was fighting for his life. Continually he kept calling for the +guard, until I succeeded in getting a grip upon his throat; but it was +too late. His cries had been heard, and suddenly the door burst open, +and a score of armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment. + +Victory seized the rifle from the floor and leaped between me and them. +I had the black emperor upon his back, and both my hands were at his +throat, choking the life from him. + +The rest happened in the fraction of a second. There was a rending +crash above us, then a deafening explosion within the chamber. Smoke +and powder fumes filled the room. Half stunned, I rose from the +lifeless body of my antagonist just in time to see Victory stagger to +her feet and turn toward me. Slowly the smoke cleared to reveal the +shattered remnants of the guard. A shell had fallen through the palace +roof and exploded just in the rear of the detachment of guardsmen who +were coming to the rescue of their emperor. Why neither Victory nor I +were struck is a miracle. The room was a wreck. A great, jagged hole +was torn in the ceiling, and the wall toward the corridor had been +blown entirely out. + +As I rose, Victory had risen, too, and started toward me. But when she +saw that I was uninjured she stopped, and stood there in the center of +the demolished apartment looking at me. Her expression was +inscrutable--I could not guess whether she was glad to see me, or not. + +"Victory!" I cried. "Thank God that you are safe!" And I approached +her, a greater gladness in my heart than I had felt since the moment +that I knew the Coldwater must be swept beyond thirty. + +There was no answering gladness in her eyes. Instead, she stamped her +little foot in anger. + +"Why did it have to be you who saved me!" she exclaimed. "I hate you!" + +"Hate me?" I asked. "Why should you hate me, Victory? I do not hate +you. I--I--" What was I about to say? I was very close to her as a +great light broke over me. Why had I never realized it before? The +truth accounted for a great many hitherto inexplicable moods that had +claimed me from time to time since first I had seen Victory. + +"Why should I hate you?" she repeated. "Because Snider told me--he +told me that you had promised me to him, but he did not get me. I +killed him, as I should like to kill you!" + +"Snider lied!" I cried. And then I seized her and held her in my arms, +and made her listen to me, though she struggled and fought like a young +lioness. "I love you, Victory. You must know that I love you--that I +have always loved you, and that I never could have made so base a +promise." + +She ceased her struggles, just a trifle, but still tried to push me +from her. "You called me a barbarian!" she said. + +Ah, so that was it! That still rankled. I crushed her to me. + +"You could not love a barbarian," she went on, but she had ceased to +struggle. + +"But I do love a barbarian, Victory!" I cried, "the dearest barbarian +in the world." + +She raised her eyes to mine, and then her smooth, brown arms encircled +my neck and drew my lips down to hers. + +"I love you--I have loved you always!" she said, and then she buried +her face upon my shoulder and sobbed. "I have been so unhappy," she +said, "but I could not die while I thought that you might live." + +As we stood there, momentarily forgetful of all else than our new found +happiness, the ferocity of the bombardment increased until scarce +thirty seconds elapsed between the shells that rained about the palace. + +To remain long would be to invite certain death. We could not escape +the way that we had entered the apartment, for not only was the +corridor now choked with debris, but beyond the corridor there were +doubtless many members of the emperor's household who would stop us. + +Upon the opposite side of the room was another door, and toward this I +led the way. It opened into a third apartment with windows overlooking +an inner court. From one of these windows I surveyed the courtyard. +Apparently it was empty, and the rooms upon the opposite side were +unlighted. + +Assisting Victory to the open, I followed, and together we crossed the +court, discovering upon the opposite side a number of wide, wooden +doors set in the wall of the palace, with small windows between. As we +stood close behind one of the doors, listening, a horse within neighed. + +"The stables!" I whispered, and, a moment later, had pushed back a door +and entered. From the city about us we could hear the din of great +commotion, and quite close the sounds of battle--the crack of thousands +of rifles, the yells of the soldiers, the hoarse commands of officers, +and the blare of bugles. + +The bombardment had ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. I judged +that the enemy was storming the city, for the sounds we heard were the +sounds of hand-to-hand combat. + +Within the stables I groped about until I had found saddles and bridles +for two horses. But afterward, in the darkness, I could find but a +single mount. The doors of the opposite side, leading to the street, +were open, and we could see great multitudes of men, women, and +children fleeing toward the west. Soldiers, afoot and mounted, were +joining the mad exodus. Now and then a camel or an elephant would pass +bearing some officer or dignitary to safety. It was evident that the +city would fall at any moment--a fact which was amply proclaimed by the +terror-stricken haste of the fear-mad mob. + +Horse, camel, and elephant trod helpless women and children beneath +their feet. A common soldier dragged a general from his mount, and, +leaping to the animal's back, fled down the packed street toward the +west. A woman seized a gun and brained a court dignitary, whose horse +had trampled her child to death. Shrieks, curses, commands, +supplications filled the air. It was a frightful scene--one that will +be burned upon my memory forever. + +I had saddled and bridled the single horse which had evidently been +overlooked by the royal household in its flight, and, standing a little +back in the shadow of the stable's interior, Victory and I watched the +surging throng without. + +To have entered it would have been to have courted greater danger than +we were already in. We decided to wait until the stress of blacks +thinned, and for more than an hour we stood there while the sounds of +battle raged upon the eastern side of the city and the population flew +toward the west. More and more numerous became the uniformed soldiers +among the fleeing throng, until, toward the last, the street was packed +with them. It was no orderly retreat, but a rout, complete and +terrible. + +The fighting was steadily approaching us now, until the crack of rifles +sounded in the very street upon which we were looking. And then came a +handful of brave men--a little rear guard backing slowly toward the +west, working their smoking rifles in feverish haste as they fired +volley after volley at the foe we could not see. + +But these were pressed back and back until the first line of the enemy +came opposite our shelter. They were men of medium height, with olive +complexions and almond eyes. In them I recognized the descendants of +the ancient Chinese race. + +They were well uniformed and superbly armed, and they fought bravely +and under perfect discipline. So rapt was I in the exciting events +transpiring in the street that I did not hear the approach of a body of +men from behind. It was a party of the conquerors who had entered the +palace and were searching it. + +They came upon us so unexpectedly that we were prisoners before we +realized what had happened. That night we were held under a strong +guard just outside the eastern wall of the city, and the next morning +were started upon a long march toward the east. + +Our captors were not unkind to us, and treated the women prisoners with +respect. We marched for many days--so many that I lost count of +them--and at last we came to another city--a Chinese city this +time--which stands upon the site of ancient Moscow. + +It is only a small frontier city, but it is well built and well kept. +Here a large military force is maintained, and here also, is a terminus +of the railroad that crosses modern China to the Pacific. + +There was every evidence of a high civilization in all that we saw +within the city, which, in connection with the humane treatment that +had been accorded all prisoners upon the long and tiresome march, +encouraged me to hope that I might appeal to some high officer here for +the treatment which my rank and birth merited. + +We could converse with our captors only through the medium of +interpreters who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian. But there were +many of these, and shortly after we reached the city I persuaded one of +them to carry a verbal message to the officer who had commanded the +troops during the return from New Gondar, asking that I might be given +a hearing by some high official. + +The reply to my request was a summons to appear before the officer to +whom I had addressed my appeal. A sergeant came for me along with the +interpreter, and I managed to obtain his permission to let Victory +accompany me--I had never left her alone with the prisoners since we +had been captured. + +To my delight I found that the officer into whose presence we were +conducted spoke Abyssinian fluently. He was astounded when I told him +that I was a Pan-American. Unlike all others whom I had spoken with +since my arrival in Europe, he was well acquainted with ancient +history--was familiar with twentieth century conditions in Pan-America, +and after putting a half dozen questions to me was satisfied that I +spoke the truth. + +When I told him that Victory was Queen of England he showed little +surprise, telling me that in their recent explorations in ancient +Russia they had found many descendants of the old nobility and royalty. + +He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, furnished us with +servants and with money, and in other ways showed us every attention +and kindness. + +He told me that he would telegraph his emperor at once, and the result +was that we were presently commanded to repair to Peking and present +ourselves before the ruler. + +We made the journey in a comfortable railway carriage, through a +country which, as we traveled farther toward the east, showed +increasing evidence of prosperity and wealth. + +At the imperial court we were received with great kindness, the emperor +being most inquisitive about the state of modern Pan-America. He told +me that while he personally deplored the existence of the strict +regulations which had raised a barrier between the east and the west, +he had felt, as had his predecessors, that recognition of the wishes of +the great Pan-American federation would be most conducive to the +continued peace of the world. + +His empire includes all of Asia, and the islands of the Pacific as far +east as 175dW. The empire of Japan no longer exists, having been +conquered and absorbed by China over a hundred years ago. The +Philippines are well administered, and constitute one of the most +progressive colonies of the Chinese empire. + +The emperor told me that the building of this great empire and the +spreading of enlightenment among its diversified and savage peoples had +required all the best efforts of nearly two hundred years. Upon his +accession to the throne he had found the labor well nigh perfected and +had turned his attention to the reclamation of Europe. + +His ambition is to wrest it from the hands of the blacks, and then to +attempt the work of elevating its fallen peoples to the high estate +from which the Great War precipitated them. + +I asked him who was victorious in that war, and he shook his head sadly +as he replied: + +"Pan-America, perhaps, and China, with the blacks of Abyssinia," he +said. "Those who did not fight were the only ones to reap any of the +rewards that are supposed to belong to victory. The combatants reaped +naught but annihilation. You have seen--better than any man you must +realize that there was no victory for any nation embroiled in that +frightful war." + +"When did it end?" I asked him. + +Again he shook his head. "It has not ended yet. There has never been +a formal peace declared in Europe. After a while there were none left +to make peace, and the rude tribes which sprang from the survivors +continued to fight among themselves because they knew no better +condition of society. War razed the works of man--war and pestilence +razed man. God give that there shall never be such another war!" + +You all know how Porfirio Johnson returned to Pan-America with John +Alvarez in chains; how Alvarez's trial raised a popular demonstration +that the government could not ignore. His eloquent appeal--not for +himself, but for me--is historic, as are its results. You know how a +fleet was sent across the Atlantic to search for me, how the +restrictions against crossing thirty to one hundred seventy-five were +removed forever, and how the officers were brought to Peking, arriving +upon the very day that Victory and I were married at the imperial court. + +My return to Pan-America was very different from anything I could +possibly have imagined a year before. Instead of being received as a +traitor to my country, I was acclaimed a hero. It was good to get back +again, good to witness the kindly treatment that was accorded my dear +Victory, and when I learned that Delcarte and Taylor had been found at +the mouth of the Rhine and were already back in Pan-America my joy was +unalloyed. + +And now we are going back, Victory and I, with the men and the +munitions and power to reclaim England for her queen. Again I shall +cross thirty, but under what altered conditions! + +A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated, with enlightened China on the +east and enlightened Pan-America on the west--the two great peace +powers whom God has preserved to regenerate chastened and forgiven +Europe. I have been through much--I have suffered much, but I have won +two great laurel wreaths beyond thirty. One is the opportunity to +rescue Europe from barbarism, the other is a little barbarian, and the +greater of these is--Victory. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lost Continent, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST CONTINENT *** + +***** This file should be named 149.txt or 149.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/149/ + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + +The Lost Continent was originally published under +the title Beyond Thirty + + +THE LOST CONTINENT + +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + +1 + + +Since earliest childhood I have been strangely fascinated by +the mystery surrounding the history of the last days of +twentieth century Europe. My interest is keenest, perhaps, +not so much in relation to known facts as to speculation +upon the unknowable of the two centuries that have rolled by +since human intercourse between the Western and Eastern +Hemispheres ceased--the mystery of Europe's state following +the termination of the Great War--provided, of course, that +the war had been terminated. + +From out of the meagerness of our censored histories we +learned that for fifteen years after the cessation of +diplomatic relations between the United States of North +America and the belligerent nations of the Old World, news +of more or less doubtful authenticity filtered, from time to +time, into the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern. + +Then came the fruition of that historic propaganda which is +best described by its own slogan: "The East for the East-- +the West for the West," and all further intercourse was +stopped by statute. + +Even prior to this, transoceanic commerce had practically +ceased, owing to the perils and hazards of the mine-strewn +waters of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Just when +submarine activities ended we do not know but the last +vessel of this type sighted by a Pan-American merchantman +was the huge Q 138, which discharged twenty-nine torpedoes +at a Brazilian tank steamer off the Bermudas in the fall of +1972. A heavy sea and the excellent seamanship of the +master of the Brazilian permitted the Pan-American to escape +and report this last of a long series of outrages upon our +commerce. God alone knows how many hundreds of our ancient +ships fell prey to the roving steel sharks of blood-frenzied +Europe. Countless were the vessels and men that passed over +our eastern and western horizons never to return; but +whether they met their fates before the belching tubes of +submarines or among the aimlessly drifting mine fields, no +man lived to tell. + +And then came the great Pan-American Federation which linked +the Western Hemisphere from pole to pole under a single +flag, which joined the navies of the New World into the +mightiest fighting force that ever sailed the seven seas-- +the greatest argument for peace the world had ever known. + +Since that day peace had reigned from the western shores of +the Azores to the western shores of the Hawaiian Islands, +nor has any man of either hemisphere dared cross 30dW. or +175dW. From 30d to 175d is ours--from 30d to 175d is +peace, prosperity and happiness. + +Beyond was the great unknown. Even the geographies of my +boyhood showed nothing beyond. We were taught of nothing +beyond. Speculation was discouraged. For two hundred years +the Eastern Hemisphere had been wiped from the maps and +histories of Pan-America. Its mention in fiction, even, was +forbidden. + +Our ships of peace patrol thirty and one hundred seventy- +five. What ships from beyond they have warned only the +secret archives of government show; but, a naval officer +myself, I have gathered from the traditions of the service +that it has been fully two hundred years since smoke or sail +has been sighted east of 30d or west of 175d. The fate of +the relinquished provinces which lay beyond the dead lines +we could only speculate upon. That they were taken by the +military power, which rose so suddenly in China after the +fall of the republic, and which wrested Manchuria and Korea +from Russia and Japan, and also absorbed the Philippines, is +quite within the range of possibility. + +It was the commander of a Chinese man-of-war who received a +copy of the edict of 1972 from the hand of my illustrious +ancestor, Admiral Turck, on one hundred seventy-five, two +hundred and six years ago, and from the yellowed pages of +the admiral's diary I learned that the fate of the +Philippines was even then presaged by these Chinese naval +officers. + +Yes, for over two hundred years no man crossed 30d to 175d +and lived to tell his story--not until chance drew me across +and back again, and public opinion, revolting at last +against the drastic regulations of our long-dead forbears, +demanded that my story be given to the world, and that the +narrow interdict which commanded peace, prosperity, and +happiness to halt at 30d and 175d be removed forever. + +I am glad that it was given to me to be an instrument in the +hands of Providence for the uplifting of benighted Europe, +and the amelioration of the suffering, degradation, and +abysmal ignorance in which I found her. + +I shall not live to see the complete regeneration of the +savage hordes of the Eastern Hemisphere--that is a work +which will require many generations, perhaps ages, so +complete has been their reversion to savagery; but I know +that the work has been started, and I am proud of the share +in it which my generous countrymen have placed in my hands. + +The government already possesses a complete official report +of my adventures beyond thirty. In the narrative I purpose +telling my story in a less formal, and I hope, a more +entertaining, style; though, being only a naval officer and +without claim to the slightest literary ability, I shall +most certainly fall far short of the possibilities which are +inherent in my subject. That I have passed through the most +wondrous adventures that have befallen a civilized man +during the past two centuries encourages me in the belief +that, however ill the telling, the facts themselves will +command your interest to the final page. + +Beyond thirty! Romance, adventure, strange peoples, +fearsome beasts--all the excitement and scurry of the lives +of the twentieth century ancients that have been denied us +in these dull days of peace and prosaic prosperity--all, all +lay beyond thirty, the invisible barrier between the stupid, +commercial present and the carefree, barbarous past. + +What boy has not sighed for the good old days of wars, +revolutions, and riots; how I used to pore over the +chronicles of those old days, those dear old days, when +workmen went armed to their labors; when they fell upon one +another with gun and bomb and dagger, and the streets ran +red with blood! Ah, but those were the times when life was +worth the living; when a man who went out by night knew not +at which dark corner a "footpad" might leap upon and slay +him; when wild beasts roamed the forest and the jungles, and +there were savage men, and countries yet unexplored. + +Now, in all the Western Hemisphere dwells no man who may not +find a school house within walking distance of his home, or +at least within flying distance. + +The wildest beast that roams our waste places lairs in the +frozen north or the frozen south within a government +reserve, where the curious may view him and feed him bread +crusts from the hand with perfect impunity. + +But beyond thirty! And I have gone there, and come back; +and now you may go there, for no longer is it high treason, +punishable by disgrace or death, to cross 30d or 175d. + +My name is Jefferson Turck. I am a lieutenant in the navy-- +in the great Pan-American navy, the only navy which now +exists in all the world. + +I was born in Arizona, in the United States of North +America, in the year of our Lord 2116. Therefore, I am +twenty-one years old. + +In early boyhood I tired of the teeming cities and +overcrowded rural districts of Arizona. Every generation of +Turcks for over two centuries has been represented in the +navy. The navy called to me, as did the free, wide, +unpeopled spaces of the mighty oceans. And so I joined the +navy, coming up from the ranks, as we all must, learning our +craft as we advance. My promotion was rapid, for my family +seems to inherit naval lore. We are born officers, and I +reserve to myself no special credit for an early advancement +in the service. + +At twenty I found myself a lieutenant in command of the +aero-submarine Coldwater, of the SS-96 class. The Coldwater +was one of the first of the air and underwater craft which +have been so greatly improved since its launching, and was +possessed of innumerable weaknesses which, fortunately, have +been eliminated in more recent vessels of similar type. + +Even when I took command, she was fit only for the junk +pile; but the world-old parsimony of government retained her +in active service, and sent two hundred men to sea in her, +with myself, a mere boy, in command of her, to patrol thirty +from Iceland to the Azores. + +Much of my service had been spent aboard the great +merchantmen-of-war. These are the utility naval vessels +that have transformed the navies of old, which burdened the +peoples with taxes for their support, into the present day +fleets of self-supporting ships that find ample time for +target practice and gun drill while they bear freight and +the mails from the continents to the far-scattered island of +Pan-America. + +This change in service was most welcome to me, especially as +it brought with it coveted responsibilities of sole command, +and I was prone to overlook the deficiencies of the +Coldwater in the natural pride I felt in my first ship. + +The Coldwater was fully equipped for two months' patrolling-- +the ordinary length of assignment to this service--and a +month had already passed, its monotony entirely unrelieved +by sight of another craft, when the first of our misfortunes +befell. + +We had been riding out a storm at an altitude of about three +thousand feet. All night we had hovered above the tossing +billows of the moonlight clouds. The detonation of the +thunder and the glare of lightning through an occasional +rift in the vaporous wall proclaimed the continued fury of +the tempest upon the surface of the sea; but we, far above +it all, rode in comparative ease upon the upper gale. With +the coming of dawn the clouds beneath us became a glorious +sea of gold and silver, soft and beautiful; but they could +not deceive us as to the blackness and the terrors of the +storm-lashed ocean which they hid. + +I was at breakfast when my chief engineer entered and +saluted. His face was grave, and I thought he was even a +trifle paler than usual. + +"Well?" I asked. + +He drew the back of his forefinger nervously across his brow +in a gesture that was habitual with him in moments of mental +stress. + +"The gravitation-screen generators, sir," he said. "Number +one went to the bad about an hour and a half ago. We have +been working upon it steadily since; but I have to report, +sir, that it is beyond repair." + +"Number two will keep us supplied," I answered. "In the +meantime we will send a wireless for relief." + +"But that is the trouble, sir," he went on. "Number two has +stopped. I knew it would come, sir. I made a report on +these generators three years ago. I advised then that they +both be scrapped. Their principle is entirely wrong. +They're done for." And, with a grim smile, "I shall at +least have the satisfaction of knowing my report was +accurate." + +"Have we sufficient reserve screen to permit us to make +land, or, at least, meet our relief halfway?" I asked. + +"No, sir," he replied gravely; "we are sinking now." + +"Have you anything further to report?" I asked. + +"No, sir," he said. + +"Very good," I replied; and, as I dismissed him, I rang for +my wireless operator. When he appeared, I gave him a +message to the secretary of the navy, to whom all vessels in +service on thirty and one hundred seventy-five report +direct. I explained our predicament, and stated that with +what screening force remained I should continue in the air, +making as rapid headway toward St. Johns as possible, and +that when we were forced to take to the water I should +continue in the same direction. + +The accident occurred directly over 30d and about 52d N. +The surface wind was blowing a tempest from the west. To +attempt to ride out such a storm upon the surface seemed +suicidal, for the Coldwater was not designed for surface +navigation except under fair weather conditions. Submerged, +or in the air, she was tractable enough in any sort of +weather when under control; but without her screen +generators she was almost helpless, since she could not fly, +and, if submerged, could not rise to the surface. + +All these defects have been remedied in later models; but +the knowledge did not help us any that day aboard the slowly +settling Coldwater, with an angry sea roaring beneath, a +tempest raging out of the west, and 30d only a few knots +astern. + +To cross thirty or one hundred seventy-five has been, as you +know, the direst calamity that could befall a naval +commander. Court-martial and degradation follow swiftly, +unless as is often the case, the unfortunate man takes his +own life before this unjust and heartless regulation can +hold him up to public scorn. + +There has been in the past no excuse, no circumstance, that +could palliate the offense. + +"He was in command, and he took his ship across thirty!" +That was sufficient. It might not have been in any way his +fault, as, in the case of the Coldwater, it could not +possibly have been justly charged to my account that the +gravitation-screen generators were worthless; but well I +knew that should chance have it that we were blown across +thirty today--as we might easily be before the terrific west +wind that we could hear howling below us, the responsibility +would fall upon my shoulders. + +In a way, the regulation was a good one, for it certainly +accomplished that for which it was intended. We all fought +shy of 30d on the east and 175d on the west, and, though we +had to skirt them pretty close, nothing but an act of God +ever drew one of us across. You all are familiar with the +naval tradition that a good officer could sense proximity to +either line, and for my part, I am firmly convinced of the +truth of this as I am that the compass finds the north +without recourse to tedious processes of reasoning. + +Old Admiral Sanchez was wont to maintain that he could smell +thirty, and the men of the first ship in which I sailed +claimed that Coburn, the navigating officer, knew by name +every wave along thirty from 60dN. to 60dS. However, I'd +hate to vouch for this. + +Well, to get back to my narrative; we kept on dropping +slowly toward the surface the while we bucked the west wind, +clawing away from thirty as fast as we could. I was on the +bridge, and as we dropped from the brilliant sunlight into +the dense vapor of clouds and on down through them to the +wild, dark storm strata beneath, it seemed that my spirits +dropped with the falling ship, and the buoyancy of hope ran +low in sympathy. + +The waves were running to tremendous heights, and the +Coldwater was not designed to meet such waves head on. Her +elements were the blue ether, far above the raging storm, or +the greater depths of ocean, which no storm could ruffle. + +As I stood speculating upon our chances once we settled into +the frightful Maelstrom beneath us and at the same time +mentally computing the hours which must elapse before aid +could reach us, the wireless operator clambered up the +ladder to the bridge, and, disheveled and breathless, stood +before me at salute. It needed but a glance at him to +assure me that something was amiss. + +"What now?" I asked. + +"The wireless, sir!" he cried. "My God, sir, I cannot +send." + +"But the emergency outfit?" I asked. + +"I have tried everything, sir. I have exhausted every +resource. We cannot send," and he drew himself up and +saluted again. + +I dismissed him with a few kind words, for I knew that it +was through no fault of his that the mechanism was +antiquated and worthless, in common with the balance of the +Coldwater's equipment. There was no finer operator in Pan- +America than he. + +The failure of the wireless did not appear as momentous to +me as to him, which is not unnatural, since it is but human +to feel that when our own little cog slips, the entire +universe must necessarily be put out of gear. I knew that +if this storm were destined to blow us across thirty, or +send us to the bottom of the ocean, no help could reach us +in time to prevent it. I had ordered the message sent +solely because regulations required it, and not with any +particular hope that we could benefit by it in our present +extremity. + +I had little time to dwell upon the coincidence of the +simultaneous failure of the wireless and the buoyancy +generators, since very shortly after the Coldwater had +dropped so low over the waters that all my attention was +necessarily centered upon the delicate business of settling +upon the waves without breaking my ship's back. With our +buoyancy generators in commission it would have been a +simple thing to enter the water, since then it would have +been but a trifling matter of a forty-five degree dive into +the base of a huge wave. We should have cut into the water +like a hot knife through butter, and have been totally +submerged with scarce a jar--I have done it a thousand +times--but I did not dare submerge the Coldwater for fear +that it would remain submerged to the end of time--a +condition far from conducive to the longevity of commander +or crew. + +Most of my officers were older men than I. John Alvarez, my +first officer, is twenty years my senior. He stood at my +side on the bridge as the ship glided closer and closer to +those stupendous waves. He watched my every move, but he +was by far too fine an officer and gentleman to embarrass me +by either comment or suggestion. + +When I saw that we soon would touch, I ordered the ship +brought around broadside to the wind, and there we hovered a +moment until a huge wave reached up and seized us upon its +crest, and then I gave the order that suddenly reversed the +screening force, and let us into the ocean. Down into the +trough we went, wallowing like the carcass of a dead whale, +and then began the fight, with rudder and propellers, to +force the Coldwater back into the teeth of the gale and +drive her on and on, farther and farther from relentless +thirty. + +I think that we should have succeeded, even though the ship +was wracked from stem to stern by the terrific buffetings +she received, and though she were half submerged the greater +part of the time, had no further accident befallen us. + +We were making headway, though slowly, and it began to look +as though we were going to pull through. Alvarez never left +my side, though I all but ordered him below for much-needed +rest. My second officer, Porfirio Johnson, was also often +on the bridge. He was a good officer, but a man for whom I +had conceived a rather unreasoning aversion almost at the +first moment of meeting him, an aversion which was not +lessened by the knowledge which I subsequently gained that +he looked upon my rapid promotion with jealousy. He was ten +years my senior both in years and service, and I rather +think he could never forget the fact that he had been an +officer when I was a green apprentice. + +As it became more and more apparent that the Coldwater, +under my seamanship, was weathering the tempest and giving +promise of pulling through safely, I could have sworn that I +perceived a shade of annoyance and disappointment growing +upon his dark countenance. He left the bridge finally and +went below. I do not know that he is directly responsible +for what followed so shortly after; but I have always had my +suspicions, and Alvarez is even more prone to place the +blame upon him than I. + +It was about six bells of the forenoon watch that Johnson +returned to the bridge after an absence of some thirty +minutes. He seemed nervous and ill at ease--a fact which +made little impression on me at the time, but which both +Alvarez and I recalled subsequently. + +Not three minutes after his reappearance at my side the +Coldwater suddenly commenced to lose headway. I seized the +telephone at my elbow, pressing upon the button which would +call the chief engineer to the instrument in the bowels of +the ship, only to find him already at the receiver +attempting to reach me. + +"Numbers one, two, and five engines have broken down, sir," +he called. "Shall we force the remaining three?" + +"We can do nothing else," I bellowed into the transmitter. + +"They won't stand the gaff, sir," he returned. + +"Can you suggest a better plan?" I asked. + +"No, sir," he replied. + +"Then give them the gaff, lieutenant," I shouted back, and +hung up the receiver. + +For twenty minutes the Coldwater bucked the great seas with +her three engines. I doubt if she advanced a foot; but it +was enough to keep her nose in the wind, and, at least, we +were not drifting toward thirty. + +Johnson and Alvarez were at my side when, without warning, +the bow swung swiftly around and the ship fell into the +trough of the sea. + +"The other three have gone," I said, and I happened to be +looking at Johnson as I spoke. Was it the shadow of a +satisfied smile that crossed his thin lips? I do not know; +but at least he did not weep. + +"You always have been curious, sir, about the great unknown +beyond thirty," he said. "You are in a good way to have +your curiosity satisfied." And then I could not mistake the +slight sneer that curved his upper lip. There must have +been a trace of disrespect in his tone or manner which +escaped me, for Alvarez turned upon him like a flash. + +"When Lieutenant Turck crosses thirty," he said, "we shall +all cross with him, and God help the officer or the man who +reproaches him!" + +"I shall not be a party to high treason," snapped Johnson. +"The regulations are explicit, and if the Coldwater crosses +thirty it devolves upon you to place Lieutenant Turck under +arrest and immediately exert every endeavor to bring the +ship back into Pan-American waters." + +"I shall not know," replied Alvarez, "that the Coldwater +passes thirty; nor shall any other man aboard know it," and, +with his words, he drew a revolver from his pocket, and +before either I or Johnson could prevent it had put a bullet +into every instrument upon the bridge, ruining them beyond +repair. + +And then he saluted me, and strode from the bridge, a martyr +to loyalty and friendship, for, though no man might know +that Lieutenant Jefferson Turck had taken his ship across +thirty, every man aboard would know that the first officer +had committed a crime that was punishable by both +degradation and death. Johnson turned and eyed me narrowly. + +"Shall I place him under arrest?" he asked. + +"You shall not," I replied. "Nor shall anyone else." + +"You become a party to his crime!" he cried angrily. + +"You may go below, Mr. Johnson," I said, "and attend to the +work of unpacking the extra instruments and having them +properly set upon the bridge." + +He saluted, and left me, and for some time I stood, gazing +out upon the angry waters, my mind filled with unhappy +reflections upon the unjust fate that had overtaken me, and +the sorrow and disgrace that I had unwittingly brought down +upon my house. + +I rejoiced that I should leave neither wife nor child to +bear the burden of my shame throughout their lives. + +As I thought upon my misfortune, I considered more clearly +than ever before the unrighteousness of the regulation which +was to prove my doom, and in the natural revolt against its +injustice my anger rose, and there mounted within me a +feeling which I imagine must have paralleled that spirit +that once was prevalent among the ancients called anarchy. + +For the first time in my life I found my sentiments arraying +themselves against custom, tradition, and even government. +The wave of rebellion swept over me in an instant, beginning +with an heretical doubt as to the sanctity of the +established order of things--that fetish which has ruled +Pan-Americans for two centuries, and which is based upon a +blind faith in the infallibility of the prescience of the +long-dead framers of the articles of Pan-American +federation--and ending in an adamantine determination to +defend my honor and my life to the last ditch against the +blind and senseless regulation which assumed the synonymity +of misfortune and treason. + +I would replace the destroyed instruments upon the bridge; +every officer and man should know when we crossed thirty. +But then I should assert the spirit which dominated me, I +should resist arrest, and insist upon bringing my ship back +across the dead line, remaining at my post until we had +reached New York. Then I should make a full report, and +with it a demand upon public opinion that the dead lines be +wiped forever from the seas. + +I knew that I was right. I knew that no more loyal officer +wore the uniform of the navy. I knew that I was a good +officer and sailor, and I didn't propose submitting to +degradation and discharge because a lot of old, preglacial +fossils had declared over two hundred years before that no +man should cross thirty. + +Even while these thoughts were passing through my mind I was +busy with the details of my duties. I had seen to it that a +sea anchor was rigged, and even now the men had completed +their task, and the Coldwater was swinging around rapidly, +her nose pointing once more into the wind, and the frightful +rolling consequent upon her wallowing in the trough was +happily diminishing. + +It was then that Johnson came hurrying to the bridge. One +of his eyes was swollen and already darkening, and his lip +was cut and bleeding. Without even the formality of a +salute, he burst upon me, white with fury. + +"Lieutenant Alvarez attacked me!" he cried. "I demand that +he be placed under arrest. I found him in the act of +destroying the reserve instruments, and when I would have +interfered to protect them he fell upon me and beat me. I +demand that you arrest him!" + +"You forget yourself, Mr. Johnson," I said. "You are not in +command of the ship. I deplore the action of Lieutenant +Alvarez, but I cannot expunge from my mind the loyalty and +self-sacrificing friendship which has prompted him to his +acts. Were I you, sir, I should profit by the example he +has set. Further, Mr. Johnson, I intend retaining command +of the ship, even though she crosses thirty, and I shall +demand implicit obedience from every officer and man aboard +until I am properly relieved from duty by a superior officer +in the port of New York." + +"You mean to say that you will cross thirty without +submitting to arrest?" he almost shouted. + +"I do, sir," I replied. "And now you may go below, and, +when again you find it necessary to address me, you will +please be so good as to bear in mind the fact that I am your +commanding officer, and as such entitled to a salute." + +He flushed, hesitated a moment, and then, saluting, turned +upon his heel and left the bridge. Shortly after, Alvarez +appeared. He was pale, and seemed to have aged ten years in +the few brief minutes since I last had seen him. Saluting, +he told me very simply what he had done, and asked that I +place him under arrest. + +I put my hand on his shoulder, and I guess that my voice +trembled a trifle as, while reproving him for his act, I +made it plain to him that my gratitude was no less potent a +force than his loyalty to me. Then it was that I outlined +to him my purpose to defy the regulation that had raised the +dead lines, and to take my ship back to New York myself. + +I did not ask him to share the responsibility with me. I +merely stated that I should refuse to submit to arrest, and +that I should demand of him and every other officer and man +implicit obedience to my every command until we docked at +home. + +His face brightened at my words, and he assured me that I +would find him as ready to acknowledge my command upon the +wrong side of thirty as upon the right, an assurance which I +hastened to tell him I did not need. + +The storm continued to rage for three days, and as far as +the wind scarce varied a point during all that time, I knew +that we must be far beyond thirty, drifting rapidly east by +south. All this time it had been impossible to work upon +the damaged engines or the gravity-screen generators; but we +had a full set of instruments upon the bridge, for Alvarez, +after discovering my intentions, had fetched the reserve +instruments from his own cabin, where he had hidden them. +Those which Johnson had seen him destroy had been a third +set which only Alvarez had known was aboard the Coldwater. + +We waited impatiently for the sun, that we might determine +our exact location, and upon the fourth day our vigil was +rewarded a few minutes before noon. + +Every officer and man aboard was tense with nervous +excitement as we awaited the result of the reading. The +crew had known almost as soon as I that we were doomed to +cross thirty, and I am inclined to believe that every man +jack of them was tickled to death, for the spirits of +adventure and romance still live in the hearts of men of the +twenty-second century, even though there be little for them +to feed upon between thirty and one hundred seventy-five. + +The men carried none of the burdens of responsibility. They +might cross thirty with impunity, and doubtless they would +return to be heroes at home; but how different the home- +coming of their commanding officer! + +The wind had dropped to a steady blow, still from west by +north, and the sea had gone down correspondingly. The crew, +with the exception of those whose duties kept them below, +were ranged on deck below the bridge. When our position was +definitely fixed I personally announced it to the eager, +waiting men. + +"Men," I said, stepping forward to the handrail and looking +down into their upturned, bronzed faces, "you are anxiously +awaiting information as to the ship's position. It has been +determined at latitude fifty degrees seven minutes north, +longitude twenty degrees sixteen minutes west." + +I paused and a buzz of animated comment ran through the +massed men beneath me. "Beyond thirty. But there will be +no change in commanding officers, in routine or in +discipline, until after we have docked again in New York." + +As I ceased speaking and stepped back from the rail there +was a roar of applause from the deck such as I never before +had heard aboard a ship of peace. It recalled to my mind +tales that I had read of the good old days when naval +vessels were built to fight, when ships of peace had been +man-of-war, and guns had flashed in other than futile target +practice, and decks had run red with blood. + +With the subsistence of the sea, we were able to go to work +upon the damaged engines to some effect, and I also set men +to examining the gravitation-screen generators with a view +to putting them in working order should it prove not beyond +our resources. + +For two weeks we labored at the engines, which indisputably +showed evidence of having been tampered with. I appointed a +board to investigate and report upon the disaster. But it +accomplished nothing other than to convince me that there +were several officers upon it who were in full sympathy with +Johnson, for, though no charges had been preferred against +him, the board went out of its way specifically to exonerate +him in its findings. + +All this time we were drifting almost due east. The work +upon the engines had progressed to such an extent that +within a few hours we might expect to be able to proceed +under our own power westward in the direction of Pan- +American waters. + +To relieve the monotony I had taken to fishing, and early +that morning I had departed from the Coldwater in one of the +boats on such an excursion. A gentle west wind was blowing. +The sea shimmered in the sunlight. A cloudless sky canopied +the west for our sport, as I had made it a point never +voluntarily to make an inch toward the east that I could +avoid. At least, they should not be able to charge me with +a willful violation of the dead lines regulation. + +I had with me only the boat's ordinary complement of men-- +three in all, and more than enough to handle any small power +boat. I had not asked any of my officers to accompany me, +as I wished to be alone, and very glad am I now that I had +not. My only regret is that, in view of what befell us, it +had been necessary to bring the three brave fellows who +manned the boat. + +Our fishing, which proved excellent, carried us so far to +the west that we no longer could see the Coldwater. The day +wore on, until at last, about mid-afternoon, I gave the +order to return to the ship. + +We had proceeded but a short distance toward the east when +one of the men gave an exclamation of excitement, at the +same time pointing eastward. We all looked on in the +direction he had indicated, and there, a short distance +above the horizon, we saw the outlines of the Coldwater +silhouetted against the sky. + +"They've repaired the engines and the generators both," +exclaimed one of the men. + +It seemed impossible, but yet it had evidently been done. +Only that morning, Lieutenant Johnson had told me that he +feared that it would be impossible to repair the generators. +I had put him in charge of this work, since he always had +been accounted one of the best gravitation-screen men in +the navy. He had invented several of the improvements that +are incorporated in the later models of these generators, +and I am convinced that he knows more concerning both the +theory and the practice of screening gravitation than any +living Pan-American. + +At the sight of the Coldwater once more under control, the +three men burst into a glad cheer. But, for some reason +which I could not then account, I was strangely overcome by +a premonition of personal misfortune. It was not that I now +anticipated an early return to Pan-America and a board of +inquiry, for I had rather looked forward to the fight that +must follow my return. No, there was something else, +something indefinable and vague that cast a strange gloom +upon me as I saw my ship rising farther above the water and +making straight in our direction. + +I was not long in ascertaining a possible explanation of my +depression, for, though we were plainly visible from the +bridge of the aero-submarine and to the hundreds of men who +swarmed her deck, the ship passed directly above us, not +five hundred feet from the water, and sped directly +westward. + +We all shouted, and I fired my pistol to attract their +attention, though I knew full well that all who cared to had +observed us, but the ship moved steadily away, growing +smaller and smaller to our view until at last she passed +completely out of sight. + + + +2 + + +What could it mean? I had left Alvarez in command. He was +my most loyal subordinate. It was absolutely beyond the +pale of possibility that Alvarez should desert me. No, +there was some other explanation. Something occurred to +place my second officer, Porfirio Johnson, in command. I +was sure of it but why speculate? The futility of +conjecture was only too palpable. The Coldwater had +abandoned us in midocean. Doubtless none of us would +survive to know why. + +The young man at the wheel of the power boat had turned her +nose about as it became evident that the ship intended +passing over us, and now he still held her in futile pursuit +of the Coldwater. + +"Bring her about, Snider," I directed, "and hold her due +east. We can't catch the Coldwater, and we can't cross the +Atlantic in this. Our only hope lies in making the nearest +land, which, unless I am mistaken, is the Scilly Islands, +off the southwest coast of England. Ever heard of England, +Snider?" + +"There's a part of the United States of North America that +used to be known to the ancients as New England," he +replied. "Is that where you mean, sir?" + +"No, Snider," I replied. "The England I refer to was an +island off the continent of Europe. It was the seat of a +very powerful kingdom that flourished over two hundred years +ago. A part of the United States of North America and all +of the Federated States of Canada once belonged to this +ancient England." + +"Europe," breathed one of the men, his voice tense with +excitement. "My grandfather used to tell me stories of the +world beyond thirty. He had been a great student, and he +had read much from forbidden books." + +"In which I resemble your grandfather," I said, "for I, too, +have read more even than naval officers are supposed to +read, and, as you men know, we are permitted a greater +latitude in the study of geography and history than men of +other professions. + +"Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turck, who +lived two hundred years ago, and from whom I am descended, +many volumes still exist, and are in my possession, which +deal with the history and geography of ancient Europe. +Usually I bring several of these books with me upon a +cruise, and this time, among others, I have maps of Europe +and her surrounding waters. I was studying them as we came +away from the Coldwater this morning, and luckily I have +them with me." + +"You are going to try to make Europe, sir?" asked Taylor, +the young man who had last spoken. + +"It is the nearest land," I replied. "I have always wanted +to explore the forgotten lands of the Eastern Hemisphere. +Here's our chance. To remain at sea is to perish. None of +us ever will see home again. Let us make the best of it, +and enjoy while we do live that which is forbidden the +balance of our race--the adventure and the mystery which lie +beyond thirty." + +Taylor and Delcarte seized the spirit of my mood but Snider, +I think, was a trifle sceptical. + +"It is treason, sir," I replied, "but there is no law which +compels us to visit punishment upon ourselves. Could we +return to Pan-America, I should be the first to insist that +we face it. But we know that's not possible. Even if this +craft would carry us so far, we haven't enough water or food +for more than three days. + +"We are doomed, Snider, to die far from home and without +ever again looking upon the face of another fellow +countryman than those who sit here now in this boat. Isn't +that punishment sufficient for even the most exacting +judge?" + +Even Snider had to admit that it was. + +"Very well, then, let us live while we live, and enjoy to +the fullest whatever of adventure or pleasure each new day +brings, since any day may be our last, and we shall be dead +for a considerable while." + +I could see that Snider was still fearful, but Taylor and +Delcarte responded with a hearty, "Aye, aye, sir!" + +They were of different mold. Both were sons of naval +officers. They represented the aristocracy of birth, and +they dared to think for themselves. + +Snider was in the minority, and so we continued toward the +east. Beyond thirty, and separated from my ship, my +authority ceased. I held leadership, if I was to hold it at +all, by virtue of personal qualifications only, but I did +not doubt my ability to remain the director of our destinies +in so far as they were amenable to human agencies. I have +always led. While my brain and brawn remain unimpaired I +shall continue always to lead. Following is an art which +Turcks do not easily learn. + +It was not until the third day that we raised land, dead +ahead, which I took, from my map, to be the isles of Scilly. +But such a gale was blowing that I did not dare attempt to +land, and so we passed to the north of them, skirted Land's +End, and entered the English Channel. + +I think that up to that moment I had never experienced such +a thrill as passed through me when I realized that I was +navigating these historic waters. The lifelong dreams that +I never had dared hope to see fulfilled were at last a +reality--but under what forlorn circumstances! + +Never could I return to my native land. To the end of my +days I must remain in exile. Yet even these thoughts failed +to dampen my ardor. + +My eyes scanned the waters. To the north I could see the +rockbound coast of Cornwall. Mine were the first American +eyes to rest upon it for more than two hundred years. In +vain, I searched for some sign of ancient commerce that, if +history is to be believed, must have dotted the bosom of the +Channel with white sails and blackened the heavens with the +smoke of countless funnels, but as far as eye could reach +the tossing waters of the Channel were empty and deserted. + +Toward midnight the wind and sea abated, so that shortly +after dawn I determined to make inshore in an attempt to +effect a landing, for we were sadly in need of fresh water +and food. + +According to my observations, we were just off Ram Head, and +it was my intention to enter Plymouth Bay and visit +Plymouth. From my map it appeared that this city lay back +from the coast a short distance, and there was another city +given as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the mouth of +the river Tamar. + +However, I knew that it would make little difference which +city we entered, as the English people were famed of old for +their hospitality toward visiting mariners. As we +approached the mouth of the bay I looked for the fishing +craft which I expected to see emerging thus early in the day +for their labors. But even after we rounded Ram Head and +were well within the waters of the bay I saw no vessel. +Neither was there buoy nor light nor any other mark to show +larger ships the channel, and I wondered much at this. + +The coast was densely overgrown, nor was any building or +sign of man apparent from the water. Up the bay and into +the River Tamar we motored through a solitude as unbroken as +that which rested upon the waters of the Channel. For all +we could see, there was no indication that man had ever set +his foot upon this silent coast. + +I was nonplused, and then, for the first time, there crept +over me an intuition of the truth. + +Here was no sign of war. As far as this portion of the +Devon coast was concerned, that seemed to have been over for +many years, but neither were there any people. Yet I could +not find it within myself to believe that I should find no +inhabitants in England. Reasoning thus, I discovered that +it was improbable that a state of war still existed, and +that the people all had been drawn from this portion of +England to some other, where they might better defend +themselves against an invader. + +But what of their ancient coast defenses? What was there +here in Plymouth Bay to prevent an enemy landing in force +and marching where they wished? Nothing. I could not +believe that any enlightened military nation, such as the +ancient English are reputed to have been, would have +voluntarily so deserted an exposed coast and an excellent +harbor to the mercies of an enemy. + +I found myself becoming more and more deeply involved in +quandary. The puzzle which confronted me I could not +unravel. We had landed, and I now stood upon the spot +where, according to my map, a large city should rear its +spires and chimneys. There was nothing but rough, broken +ground covered densely with weeds and brambles, and tall, +rank, grass. + +Had a city ever stood there, no sign of it remained. The +roughness and unevenness of the ground suggested something +of a great mass of debris hidden by the accumulation of +centuries of undergrowth. + +I drew the short cutlass with which both officers and men of +the navy are, as you know, armed out of courtesy to the +traditions and memories of the past, and with its point dug +into the loam about the roots of the vegetation growing at +my feet. + +The blade entered the soil for a matter of seven inches, +when it struck upon something stonelike. Digging about the +obstacle, I presently loosened it, and when I had withdrawn +it from its sepulcher I found the thing to be an ancient +brick of clay, baked in an oven. + +Delcarte we had left in charge of the boat; but Snider and +Taylor were with me, and following my example, each engaged +in the fascinating sport of prospecting for antiques. Each +of us uncovered a great number of these bricks, until we +commenced to weary of the monotony of it, when Snider +suddenly gave an exclamation of excitement, and, as I turned +to look, he held up a human skull for my inspection. + +I took it from him and examined it. Directly in the center +of the forehead was a small round hole. The gentleman had +evidently come to his end defending his country from an +invader. + +Snider again held aloft another trophy of the search--a +metal spike and some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments. +They had lain close beside the skull. + +With the point of his cutlass Snider scraped the dirt and +verdigris from the face of the larger ornament. + +"An inscription," he said, and handed the thing to me. + +They were the spike and ornaments of an ancient German +helmet. Before long we had uncovered many other indications +that a great battle had been fought upon the ground where we +stood. But I was then, and still am, at loss to account for +the presence of German soldiers upon the English coast so +far from London, which history suggests would have been the +natural goal of an invader. + +I can only account for it by assuming that either England +was temporarily conquered by the Teutons, or that an +invasion of so vast proportions was undertaken that German +troops were hurled upon the England coast in huge numbers +and that landings were necessarily effected at many places +simultaneously. Subsequent discoveries tend to strengthen +this view. + +We dug about for a short time with our cutlasses until I +became convinced that a city had stood upon the spot at some +time in the past, and that beneath our feet, crumbled and +dead, lay ancient Devonport. + +I could not repress a sigh at the thought of the havoc war +had wrought in this part of England, at least. Farther +east, nearer London, we should find things very different. +There would be the civilization that two centuries must have +wrought upon our English cousins as they had upon us. There +would be mighty cities, cultivated fields, happy people. +There we would be welcomed as long-lost brothers. There +would we find a great nation anxious to learn of the world +beyond their side of thirty, as I had been anxious to learn +of that which lay beyond our side of the dead line. + +I turned back toward the boat. + +"Come, men!" I said. "We will go up the river and fill our +casks with fresh water, search for food and fuel, and then +tomorrow be in readiness to push on toward the east. I am +going to London." + + + +3 + + +The report of a gun blasted the silence of a dead Devonport +with startling abruptness. + +It came from the direction of the launch, and in an instant +we three were running for the boat as fast as our legs would +carry us. As we came in sight of it we saw Delcarte a +hundred yards inland from the launch, leaning over something +which lay upon the ground. As we called to him he waved his +cap, and stooping, lifted a small deer for our inspection. + +I was about to congratulate him on his trophy when we were +startled by a horrid, half-human, half-bestial scream a +little ahead and to the right of us. It seemed to come from +a clump of rank and tangled bush not far from where Delcarte +stood. It was a horrid, fearsome sound, the like of which +never had fallen upon my ears before. + +We looked in the direction from which it came. The smile +had died from Delcarte's lips. Even at the distance we were +from him I saw his face go suddenly white, and he quickly +threw his rifle to his shoulder. At the same moment the +thing that had given tongue to the cry moved from the +concealing brushwood far enough for us, too, to see it. + +Both Taylor and Snider gave little gasps of astonishment and +dismay. + +"What is it, sir?" asked the latter. + +The creature stood about the height of a tall man's waist, +and was long and gaunt and sinuous, with a tawny coat +striped with black, and with white throat and belly. In +conformation it was similar to a cat--a huge cat, +exaggerated colossal cat, with fiendish eyes and the most +devilish cast of countenance, as it wrinkled its bristling +snout and bared its great yellow fangs. + +It was pacing, or rather, slinking, straight for Delcarte, +who had now leveled his rifle upon it. + +"What is it, sir?" mumbled Snider again, and then a half- +forgotten picture from an old natural history sprang to my +mind, and I recognized in the frightful beast the Felis +tigris of ancient Asia, specimens of which had, in former +centuries, been exhibited in the Western Hemisphere. + +Snider and Taylor were armed with rifles and revolvers, +while I carried only a revolver. Seizing Snider's rifle +from his trembling hands, I called to Taylor to follow me, +and together we ran forward, shouting, to attract the +beast's attention from Delcarte until we should all be quite +close enough to attack with the greatest assurance of +success. + +I cried to Delcarte not to fire until we reached his side, +for I was fearful lest our small caliber, steel-jacketed +bullets should, far from killing the beast, tend merely to +enrage it still further. But he misunderstood me, thinking +that I had ordered him to fire. + +With the report of his rifle the tiger stopped short in +apparent surprise, then turned and bit savagely at its +shoulder for an instant, after which it wheeled again toward +Delcarte, issuing the most terrific roars and screams, and +launched itself, with incredible speed, toward the brave +fellow, who now stood his ground pumping bullets from his +automatic rifle as rapidly as the weapon would fire. + +Taylor and I also opened up on the creature, and as it was +broadside to us it offered a splendid target, though for all +the impression we appeared to make upon the great cat we +might as well have been launching soap bubbles at it. + +Straight as a torpedo it rushed for Delcarte, and, as Taylor +and I stumbled on through the tall grass toward our +unfortunate comrade, we saw the tiger rear upon him and +crush him to the earth. + +Not a backward step had the noble Delcarte taken. Two +hundred years of peace had not sapped the red blood from his +courageous line. He went down beneath that avalanche of +bestial savagery still working his gun and with his face +toward his antagonist. Even in the instant that I thought +him dead I could not help but feel a thrill of pride that he +was one of my men, one of my class, a Pan-American gentleman +of birth. And that he had demonstrated one of the principal +contentions of the army-and-navy adherents--that military +training was necessary for the salvation of personal courage +in the Pan-American race which for generations had had to +face no dangers more grave than those incident to ordinary +life in a highly civilized community, safeguarded by every +means at the disposal of a perfectly organized and all- +powerful government utilizing the best that advanced science +could suggest. + +As we ran toward Delcarte, both Taylor and I were struck by +the fact that the beast upon him appeared not to be mauling +him, but lay quiet and motionless upon its prey, and when we +were quite close, and the muzzles of our guns were at the +animal's head, I saw the explanation of this sudden +cessation of hostilities--Felis tigris was dead. + +One of our bullets, or one of the last that Delcarte fired, +had penetrated the heart, and the beast had died even as it +sprawled forward crushing Delcarte to the ground. + +A moment later, with our assistance, the man had scrambled +from beneath the carcass of his would-be slayer, without a +scratch to indicate how close to death he had been. + +Delcarte's buoyance was entirely unruffled. He came from +under the tiger with a broad grin on his handsome face, nor +could I perceive that a muscle trembled or that his voice +showed the least indication of nervousness or excitement. + +With the termination of the adventure, we began to speculate +upon the explanation of the presence of this savage brute at +large so great a distance from its native habitat. My +readings had taught me that it was practically unknown +outside of Asia, and that, so late as the twentieth century, +at least, there had been no savage beasts outside captivity +in England. + +As we talked, Snider joined us, and I returned his rifle to +him. Taylor and Delcarte picked up the slain deer, and we +all started down toward the launch, walking slowly. +Delcarte wanted to fetch the tiger's skin, but I had to deny +him permission, since we had no means to properly cure it. + +Upon the beach, we skinned the deer and cut away as much +meat as we thought we could dispose of, and as we were again +embarking to continue up the river for fresh water and fuel, +we were startled by a series of screams from the bushes a +short distance away. + +"Another Felis tigris," said Taylor. + +"Or a dozen of them," supplemented Delcarte, and, even as he +spoke, there leaped into sight, one after another, eight of +the beasts, full grown--magnificent specimens. + +At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated +demons. I saw that three rifles would be no match for them, +and so I gave the word to put out from shore, hoping that +the "tiger," as the ancients called him, could not swim. + +Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and +forth, uttering fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the +most malevolent manner. + +As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar +animals far inland. They seemed to be answering the cries +of their fellows at the water's edge, and from the wide +distribution and great volume of the sound we came to the +conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts must roam +the adjacent country. + +"They have eaten up the inhabitants," murmured Snider, +shuddering. + +"I imagine you are right," I agreed, "for their extreme +boldness and fearlessness in the presence of man would +suggest either that man is entirely unknown to them, or that +they are extremely familiar with him as their natural and +most easily procured prey." + +"But where did they come from?" asked Delcarte. "Could they +have traveled here from Asia?" + +I shook my head. The thing was a puzzle to me. I knew that +it was practically beyond reason to imagine that tigers had +crossed the mountain ranges and rivers and all the great +continent of Europe to travel this far from their native +lairs, and entirely impossible that they should have crossed +the English Channel at all. Yet here they were, and in +great numbers. + +We continued up the Tamar several miles, filled our casks, +and then landed to cook some of our deer steak, and have the +first square meal that had fallen to our lot since the +Coldwater deserted us. But scarce had we built our fire and +prepared the meat for cooking than Snider, whose eyes had +been constantly roving about the landscape from the moment +that we left the launch, touched me on the arm and pointed +to a clump of bushes which grew a couple of hundred yards +away. + +Half concealed behind their screening foliage I saw the +yellow and black of a big tiger, and, as I looked, the beast +stalked majestically toward us. A moment later, he was +followed by another and another, and it is needless to state +that we beat a hasty retreat to the launch. + +The country was apparently infested by these huge Carnivora, +for after three other attempts to land and cook our food we +were forced to abandon the idea entirely, as each time we +were driven off by hunting tigers. + +It was also equally impossible to obtain the necessary +ingredients for our chemical fuel, and, as we had very +little left aboard, we determined to step our folding mast +and proceed under sail, hoarding our fuel supply for use in +emergencies. + +I may say that it was with no regret that we bid adieu to +Tigerland, as we rechristened the ancient Devon, and, +beating out into the Channel, turned the launch's nose +southeast, to round Bolt Head and continue up the coast +toward the Strait of Dover and the North Sea. + +I was determined to reach London as soon as possible, that +we might obtain fresh clothing, meet with cultured people, +and learn from the lips of Englishmen the secrets of the two +centuries since the East had been divorced from the West. + +Our first stopping place was the Isle of Wight. We entered +the Solent about ten o'clock one morning, and I must confess +that my heart sank as we came close to shore. No lighthouse +was visible, though one was plainly indicated upon my map. +Upon neither shore was sign of human habitation. We skirted +the northern shore of the island in fruitless search for +man, and then at last landed upon an eastern point, where +Newport should have stood, but where only weeds and great +trees and tangled wild wood rioted, and not a single manmade +thing was visible to the eye. + +Before landing, I had the men substitute soft bullets for +the steel-jacketed projectiles with which their belts and +magazines were filled. Thus equipped, we felt upon more +even terms with the tigers, but there was no sign of the +tigers, and I decided that they must be confined to the +mainland. + +After eating, we set out in search of fuel, leaving Taylor +to guard the launch. For some reason I could not trust +Snider alone. I knew that he looked with disapproval upon +my plan to visit England, and I did not know but what at his +first opportunity, he might desert us, taking the launch +with him, and attempt to return to Pan-America. + +That he would be fool enough to venture it, I did not doubt. + +We had gone inland for a mile or more, and were passing +through a park-like wood, when we came suddenly upon the +first human beings we had seen since we sighted the English +coast. + +There were a score of men in the party. Hairy, half-naked +men they were, resting in the shade of a great tree. At the +first sight of us they sprang to their feet with wild yells, +seizing long spears that had lain beside them as they +rested. + +For a matter of fifty yards they ran from us as rapidly as +they could, and then they turned and surveyed us for a +moment. Evidently emboldened by the scarcity of our +numbers, they commenced to advance upon us, brandishing +their spears and shouting horribly. + +They were short and muscular of build, with long hair and +beards tangled and matted with filth. Their heads, however, +were shapely, and their eyes, though fierce and warlike, +were intelligent. + +Appreciation of these physical attributes came later, of +course, when I had better opportunity to study the men at +close range and under circumstances less fraught with danger +and excitement. At the moment I saw, and with unmixed +wonder, only a score of wild savages charging down upon us, +where I had expected to find a community of civilized and +enlightened people. + +Each of us was armed with rifle, revolver, and cutlass, but +as we stood shoulder to shoulder facing the wild men I was +loath to give the command to fire upon them, inflicting +death or suffering upon strangers with whom we had no +quarrel, and so I attempted to restrain them for the moment +that we might parley with them. + +To this end I raised my left hand above my head with the +palm toward them as the most natural gesture indicative of +peaceful intentions which occurred to me. At the same time +I called aloud to them that we were friends, though, from +their appearance, there was nothing to indicate that they +might understand Pan-American, or ancient English, which are +of course practically identical. + +At my gesture and words they ceased their shouting and came +to a halt a few paces from us. Then, in deep tones, one who +was in advance of the others and whom I took to be the chief +or leader of the party replied in a tongue which while +intelligible to us, was so distorted from the English +language from which it evidently had sprung, that it was +with difficulty that we interpreted it. + +"Who are you," he asked, "and from what country?" + +I told him that we were from Pan-America, but he only shook +his head and asked where that was. He had never heard of +it, or of the Atlantic Ocean which I told him separated his +country from mine. + +"It has been two hundred years," I told him, "since a Pan- +American visited England." + +"England?" he asked. "What is England?" + +"Why this is a part of England!" I exclaimed. + +"This is Grubitten," he assured me. "I know nothing about +England, and I have lived here all my life." + +It was not until long after that the derivation of Grubitten +occurred to me. Unquestionably it is a corruption of Great +Britain, a name formerly given to the large island +comprising England, Scotland and Wales. Subsequently we +heard it pronounced Grabrittin and Grubritten. + +I then asked the fellow if he could direct us to Ryde or +Newport; but again he shook his head, and said that he never +had heard of such countries. And when I asked him if there +were any cities in this country he did not know what I +meant, never having heard the word cities. + +I explained my meaning as best I could by stating that by +city I referred to a place where many people lived together +in houses. + +"Oh," he exclaimed, "you mean a camp! Yes, there are two +great camps here, East Camp and West Camp. We are from East +Camp." + +The use of the word camp to describe a collection of +habitations naturally suggested war to me, and my next +question was as to whether the war was over, and who had +been victorious. + +"No," he replied to this question. "The war is not yet +over. But it soon will be, and it will end, as it always +does, with the Westenders running away. We, the Eastenders, +are always victorious." + +"No," I said, seeing that he referred to the petty tribal +wars of his little island, "I mean the Great War, the war +with Germany. Is it ended--and who was victorious?" + +He shook his head impatiently. + +"I never heard," he said, "of any of these strange countries +of which you speak." + +It seemed incredible, and yet it was true. These people +living at the very seat of the Great War knew nothing of it, +though but two centuries had passed since, to our knowledge, +it had been running in the height of its titanic +frightfulness all about them, and to us upon the far side of +the Atlantic still was a subject of keen interest. + +Here was a lifelong inhabitant of the Isle of Wight who +never had heard of either Germany or England! I turned to +him quite suddenly with a new question. + +"What people live upon the mainland?" I asked, and pointed +in the direction of the Hants coast. + +"No one lives there," he replied. + +"Long ago, it is said, my people dwelt across the waters +upon that other land; but the wild beasts devoured them in +such numbers that finally they were driven here, paddling +across upon logs and driftwood, nor has any dared return +since, because of the frightful creatures which dwell in +that horrid country." + +"Do no other peoples ever come to your country in ships?" I +asked. + +He never heard the word ship before, and did not know its +meaning. But he assured me that until we came he had +thought that there were no other peoples in the world other +than the Grubittens, who consist of the Eastenders and the +Westenders of the ancient Isle of Wight. + +Assured that we were inclined to friendliness, our new +acquaintances led us to their village, or, as they call it, +camp. There we found a thousand people, perhaps, dwelling +in rude shelters, and living upon the fruits of the chase +and such sea food as is obtainable close to shore, for they +had no boats, nor any knowledge of such things. + +Their weapons were most primitive, consisting of rude spears +tipped with pieces of metal pounded roughly into shape. +They had no literature, no religion, and recognized no law +other than the law of might. They produced fire by striking +a bit of flint and steel together, but for the most part +they ate their food raw. Marriage is unknown among them, +and while they have the word, mother, they did not know what +I meant by "father." The males fight for the favor of the +females. They practice infanticide, and kill the aged and +physically unfit. + +The family consists of the mother and the children, the men +dwelling sometimes in one hut and sometimes in another. +Owing to their bloody duels, they are always numerically +inferior to the women, so there is shelter for them all. + +We spent several hours in the village, where we were objects +of the greatest curiosity. The inhabitants examined our +clothing and all our belongings, and asked innumerable +questions concerning the strange country from which we had +come and the manner of our coming. + +I questioned many of them concerning past historical events, +but they knew nothing beyond the narrow limits of their +island and the savage, primitive life they led there. +London they had never heard of, and they assured me that I +would find no human beings upon the mainland. + +Much saddened by what I had seen, I took my departure from +them, and the three of us made our way back to the launch, +accompanied by about five hundred men, women, girls, and +boys. + +As we sailed away, after procuring the necessary ingredients +of our chemical fuel, the Grubittens lined the shore in +silent wonder at the strange sight of our dainty craft +dancing over the sparkling waters, and watched us until we +were lost to their sight. + + + +4 + + +It was during the morning of July 6, 2137, that we entered +the mouth of the Thames--to the best of my knowledge the +first Western keel to cut those historic waters for two +hundred and twenty-one years! + +But where were the tugs and the lighters and the barges, the +lightships and the buoys, and all those countless attributes +which went to make up the myriad life of the ancient Thames? + +Gone! All gone! Only silence and desolation reigned where +once the commerce of the world had centered. + +I could not help but compare this once great water-way with +the waters about our New York, or Rio, or San Diego, or +Valparaiso. They had become what they are today during the +two centuries of the profound peace which we of the navy +have been prone to deplore. And what, during this same +period, had shorn the waters of the Thames of their pristine +grandeur? + +Militarist that I am, I could find but a single word of +explanation--war! + +I bowed my head and turned my eyes downward from the lonely +and depressing sight, and in a silence which none of us +seemed willing to break, we proceeded up the deserted river. + +We had reached a point which, from my map, I imagined must +have been about the former site of Erith, when I discovered +a small band of antelope a short distance inland. As we +were now entirely out of meat once more, and as I had given +up all expectations of finding a city upon the site of +ancient London, I determined to land and bag a couple of the +animals. + +Assured that they would be timid and easily frightened, I +decided to stalk them alone, telling the men to wait at the +boat until I called to them to come and carry the carcasses +back to the shore. + +Crawling carefully through the vegetation, making use of +such trees and bushes as afforded shelter, I came at last +almost within easy range of my quarry, when the antlered +head of the buck went suddenly into the air, and then, as +though in accordance with a prearranged signal, the whole +band moved slowly off, farther inland. + +As their pace was leisurely, I determined to follow them +until I came again within range, as I was sure that they +would stop and feed in a short time. + +They must have led me a mile or more at least before they +again halted and commenced to browse upon the rank, +luxuriant grasses. All the time that I had followed them I +had kept both eyes and ears alert for sign or sound that +would indicate the presence of Felis tigris; but so far not +the slightest indication of the beast had been apparent. + +As I crept closer to the antelope, sure this time of a good +shot at a large buck, I suddenly saw something that caused +me to forget all about my prey in wonderment. + +It was the figure of an immense grey-black creature, rearing +its colossal shoulders twelve or fourteen feet above the +ground. Never in my life had I seen such a beast, nor did I +at first recognize it, so different in appearance is the +live reality from the stuffed, unnatural specimens preserved +to us in our museums. + +But presently I guessed the identity of the mighty creature +as Elephas africanus, or, as the ancients commonly described +it, African elephant. + +The antelope, although in plain view of the huge beast, paid +not the slightest attention to it, and I was so wrapped up +in watching the mighty pachyderm that I quite forgot to +shoot at the buck and presently, and in quite a startling +manner, it became impossible to do so. + +The elephant was browsing upon the young and tender shoots +of some low bushes, waving his great ears and switching his +short tail. The antelope, scarce twenty paces from him, +continued their feeding, when suddenly, from close beside +the latter, there came a most terrifying roar, and I saw a +great, tawny body shoot, from the concealing verdure beyond +the antelope, full upon the back of a small buck. + +Instantly the scene changed from one of quiet and peace to +indescribable chaos. The startled and terrified buck +uttered cries of agony. His fellows broke and leaped off in +all directions. The elephant raised his trunk, and, +trumpeting loudly, lumbered off through the wood, crushing +down small trees and trampling bushes in his mad flight. + +Growling horribly, a huge lion stood across the body of his +prey--such a creature as no Pan-American of the twenty- +second century had ever beheld until my eyes rested upon +this lordly specimen of "the king of beasts." But what a +different creature was this fierce-eyed demon, palpitating +with life and vigor, glossy of coat, alert, growling, +magnificent, from the dingy, moth-eaten replicas beneath +their glass cases in the stuffy halls of our public museums. + +I had never hoped or expected to see a living lion, tiger, +or elephant--using the common terms that were familiar to +the ancients, since they seem to me less unwieldy than those +now in general use among us--and so it was with sentiments +not unmixed with awe that I stood gazing at this regal beast +as, above the carcass of his kill, he roared out his +challenge to the world. + +So enthralled was I by the spectacle that I quite forgot +myself, and the better to view him, the great lion, I had +risen to my feet and stood, not fifty paces from him, in +full view. + +For a moment he did not see me, his attention being directed +toward the retreating elephant, and I had ample time to +feast my eyes upon his splendid proportions, his great head, +and his thick black mane. + +Ah, what thoughts passed through my mind in those brief +moments as I stood there in rapt fascination! I had come to +find a wondrous civilization, and instead I found a wild- +beast monarch of the realm where English kings had ruled. A +lion reigned, undisturbed, within a few miles of the seat of +one of the greatest governments the world has ever known, +his domain a howling wilderness, where yesterday fell the +shadows of the largest city in the world. + +It was appalling; but my reflections upon this depressing +subject were doomed to sudden extinction. The lion had +discovered me. + +For an instant he stood silent and motionless as one of the +mangy effigies at home, but only for an instant. Then, with +a most ferocious roar, and without the slightest hesitancy +or warning, he charged upon me. + +He forsook the prey already dead beneath him for the +pleasures of the delectable tidbit, man. From the +remorselessness with which the great Carnivora of modern +England hunted man, I am constrained to believe that, +whatever their appetites in times past, they have cultivated +a gruesome taste for human flesh. + +As I threw my rifle to my shoulder, I thanked God, the +ancient God of my ancestors, that I had replaced the hard- +jacketed bullets in my weapon with soft-nosed projectiles, +for though this was my first experience with Felis leo, I +knew the moment that I faced that charge that even my +wonderfully perfected firearm would be as futile as a +peashooter unless I chanced to place my first bullet in a +vital spot. + +Unless you had seen it you could not believe credible the +speed of a charging lion. Apparently the animal is not +built for speed, nor can he maintain it for long. But for a +matter of forty or fifty yards there is, I believe, no +animal on earth that can overtake him. + +Like a bolt he bore down upon me, but, fortunately for me, I +did not lose my head. I guessed that no bullet would kill +him instantly. I doubted that I could pierce his skull. +There was hope, though, in finding his heart through his +exposed chest, or, better yet, of breaking his shoulder or +foreleg, and bringing him up long enough to pump more +bullets into him and finish him. + +I covered his left shoulder and pulled the trigger as he was +almost upon me. It stopped him. With a terrific howl of +pain and rage, the brute rolled over and over upon the +ground almost to my feet. As he came I pumped two more +bullets into him, and as he struggled to rise, clawing +viciously at me, I put a bullet in his spine. + +That finished him, and I am free to admit that I was mighty +glad of it. There was a great tree close behind me, and, +stepping within its shade, I leaned against it, wiping the +perspiration from my face, for the day was hot, and the +exertion and excitement left me exhausted. + +I stood there, resting, for a moment, preparatory to turning +and retracing my steps to the launch, when, without warning, +something whizzed through space straight toward me. There +was a dull thud of impact as it struck the tree, and as I +dodged to one side and turned to look at the thing I saw a +heavy spear imbedded in the wood not three inches from where +my head had been. + +The thing had come from a little to one side of me, and, +without waiting to investigate at the instant, I leaped +behind the tree, and, circling it, peered around the other +side to get a sight of my would-be murderer. + +This time I was pitted against men--the spear told me that +all too plainly--but so long as they didn't take me unawares +or from behind I had little fear of them. + +Cautiously I edged about the far side of the trees until I +could obtain a view of the spot from which the spear must +have come, and when I did I saw the head of a man just +emerging from behind a bush. + +The fellow was quite similar in type to those I had seen +upon the Isle of Wight. He was hairy and unkempt, and as he +finally stepped into view I saw that he was garbed in the +same primitive fashion. + +He stood for a moment gazing about in search of me, and then +he advanced. As he did so a number of others, precisely +like him, stepped from the concealing verdure of nearby +bushes and followed in his wake. Keeping the trees between +them and me, I ran back a short distance until I found a +clump of underbrush that would effectually conceal me, for I +wished to discover the strength of the party and its +armament before attempting to parley with it. + +The useless destruction of any of these poor creatures was +the farthest idea from my mind. I should have liked to have +spoken with them, but I did not care to risk having to use +my high-powered rifle upon them other than in the last +extremity. + +Once in my new place of concealment, I watched them as they +approached the tree. There were about thirty men in the +party and one woman--a girl whose hands seemed to be bound +behind her and who was being pulled along by two of the men. + +They came forward warily, peering cautiously into every bush +and halting often. At the body of the lion, they paused, +and I could see from their gesticulations and the higher +pitch of their voices that they were much excited over my +kill. + +But presently they resumed their search for me, and as they +advanced I became suddenly aware of the unnecessary +brutality with which the girl's guards were treating her. +She stumbled once, not far from my place of concealment, and +after the balance of the party had passed me. As she did so +one of the men at her side jerked her roughly to her feet +and struck her across the mouth with his fist. + +Instantly my blood boiled, and forgetting every +consideration of caution, I leaped from my concealment, and, +springing to the man's side, felled him with a blow. + +So unexpected had been my act that it found him and his +fellow unprepared; but instantly the latter drew the knife +that protruded from his belt and lunged viciously at me, at +the same time giving voice to a wild cry of alarm. + +The girl shrank back at sight of me, her eyes wide in +astonishment, and then my antagonist was upon me. I parried +his first blow with my forearm, at the same time delivering +a powerful blow to his jaw that sent him reeling back; but +he was at me again in an instant, though in the brief +interim I had time to draw my revolver. + +I saw his companion crawling slowly to his feet, and the +others of the party racing down upon me. There was no time +to argue now, other than with the weapons we wore, and so, +as the fellow lunged at me again with the wicked-looking +knife, I covered his heart and pulled the trigger. + +Without a sound, he slipped to the earth, and then I turned +the weapon upon the other guard, who was now about to attack +me. He, too, collapsed, and I was alone with the astonished +girl. + +The balance of the party was some twenty paces from us, but +coming rapidly. I seized her arm and drew her after me +behind a nearby tree, for I had seen that with both their +comrades down the others were preparing to launch their +spears. + +With the girl safe behind the tree, I stepped out in sight +of the advancing foe, shouting to them that I was no enemy, +and that they should halt and listen to me. But for answer +they only yelled in derision and launched a couple of spears +at me, both of which missed. + +I saw then that I must fight, yet still I hated to slay +them, and it was only as a final resort that I dropped two +of them with my rifle, bringing the others to a temporary +halt. Again, I appealed to them to desist. But they only +mistook my solicitude for them for fear, and, with shouts of +rage and derision, leaped forward once again to overwhelm +me. + +It was now quite evident that I must punish them severely, +or--myself--die and relinquish the girl once more to her +captors. Neither of these things had I the slightest notion +of doing, and so I again stepped from behind the tree, and, +with all the care and deliberation of target practice, I +commenced picking off the foremost of my assailants. + +One by one the wild men dropped, yet on came the others, +fierce and vengeful, until, only a few remaining, these +seemed to realize the futility of combating my modern weapon +with their primitive spears, and, still howling wrathfully, +withdrew toward the west. + +Now, for the first time, I had an opportunity to turn my +attention toward the girl, who had stood, silent and +motionless, behind me as I pumped death into my enemies and +hers from my automatic rifle. + +She was of medium height, well formed, and with fine, clear- +cut features. Her forehead was high, and her eyes both +intelligent and beautiful. Exposure to the sun had browned +a smooth and velvety skin to a shade which seemed to enhance +rather than mar an altogether lovely picture of youthful +femininity. + +A trace of apprehension marked her expression--I cannot call +it fear since I have learned to know her--and astonishment +was still apparent in her eyes. She stood quite erect, her +hands still bound behind her, and met my gaze with level, +proud return. + +"What language do you speak?" I asked. "Do you understand +mine?" + +"Yes," she replied. "It is similar to my own. I am +Grabritin. What are you?" + +"I am a Pan-American," I answered. She shook her head. +"What is that?" + +I pointed toward the west. "Far away, across the ocean." + +Her expression altered a trifle. A slight frown contracted +her brow. The expression of apprehension deepened. + +"Take off your cap," she said, and when, to humor her +strange request, I did as she bid, she appeared relieved. +Then she edged to one side and leaned over seemingly to peer +behind me. I turned quickly to see what she discovered, but +finding nothing, wheeled about to see that her expression +was once more altered. + +"You are not from there?" and she pointed toward the east. +It was a half question. "You are not from across the water +there?" + +"No," I assured her. "I am from Pan-America, far away to +the west. Have you ever heard of Pan-America?" + +She shook her head in negation. "I do not care where you +are from," she explained, "if you are not from there, and I +am sure you are not, for the men from there have horns and +tails." + +It was with difficulty that I restrained a smile. + +"Who are the men from there?" I asked. + +"They are bad men," she replied. "Some of my people do not +believe that there are such creatures. But we have a +legend--a very old, old legend, that once the men from there +came across to Grabritin. They came upon the water, and +under the water, and even in the air. They came in great +numbers, so that they rolled across the land like a great +gray fog. They brought with them thunder and lightning and +smoke that killed, and they fell upon us and slew our people +by the thousands and the hundreds of thousands. But at last +we drove them back to the water's edge, back into the sea, +where many were drowned. Some escaped, and these our people +followed--men, women, and even children, we followed them +back. That is all. The legend says our people never +returned. Maybe they were all killed. Maybe they are still +there. But this, also, is in the legend, that as we drove +the men back across the water they swore that they would +return, and that when they left our shores they would leave +no human being alive behind them. I was afraid that you +were from there." + +"By what name were these men called?" I asked. + +"We call them only the 'men from there,'" she replied, +pointing toward the east. "I have never heard that they had +another name." + +In the light of what I knew of ancient history, it was not +difficult for me to guess the nationality of those she +described simply as "the men from over there." But what +utter and appalling devastation the Great War must have +wrought to have erased not only every sign of civilization +from the face of this great land, but even the name of the +enemy from the knowledge and language of the people. + +I could only account for it on the hypothesis that the +country had been entirely depopulated except for a few +scattered and forgotten children, who, in some marvelous +manner, had been preserved by Providence to re-populate the +land. These children had, doubtless, been too young to +retain in their memories to transmit to their children any +but the vaguest suggestion of the cataclysm which had +overwhelmed their parents. + +Professor Cortoran, since my return to Pan-America, has +suggested another theory which is not entirely without claim +to serious consideration. He points out that it is quite +beyond the pale of human instinct to desert little children +as my theory suggests the ancient English must have done. +He is more inclined to believe that the expulsion of the foe +from England was synchronous with widespread victories by +the allies upon the continent, and that the people of +England merely emigrated from their ruined cities and their +devastated, blood-drenched fields to the mainland, in the +hope of finding, in the domain of the conquered enemy, +cities and farms which would replace those they had lost. + +The learned professor assumes that while a long-continued +war had strengthened rather than weakened the instinct of +paternal devotion, it had also dulled other humanitarian +instincts, and raised to the first magnitude the law of the +survival of the fittest, with the result that when the +exodus took place the strong, the intelligent, and the +cunning, together with their offspring, crossed the waters +of the Channel or the North Sea to the continent, leaving in +unhappy England only the helpless inmates of asylums for the +feebleminded and insane. + +My objections to this, that the present inhabitants of +England are mentally fit, and could therefore not have +descended from an ancestry of undiluted lunacy he brushes +aside with the assertion that insanity is not necessarily +hereditary; and that even though it was, in many cases a +return to natural conditions from the state of high +civilization, which is thought to have induced mental +disease in the ancient world, would, after several +generations, have thoroughly expunged every trace of the +affliction from the brains and nerves of the descendants of +the original maniacs. + +Personally, I do not place much stock in Professor +Cortoran's theory, though I admit that I am prejudiced. +Naturally one does not care to believe that the object of +his greatest affection is descended from a gibbering idiot +and a raving maniac. + +But I am forgetting the continuity of my narrative--a +continuity which I desire to maintain, though I fear that I +shall often be led astray, so numerous and varied are the +bypaths of speculation which lead from the present day story +of the Grabritins into the mysterious past of their +forbears. + +As I stood talking with the girl I presently recollected +that she still was bound, and with a word of apology, I drew +my knife and cut the rawhide thongs which confined her +wrists at her back. + +She thanked me, and with such a sweet smile that I should +have been amply repaid by it for a much more arduous +service. + +"And now," I said, "let me accompany you to your home and +see you safely again under the protection of your friends." + +"No," she said, with a hint of alarm in her voice; "you must +not come with me--Buckingham will kill you." + +Buckingham. The name was famous in ancient English history. +Its survival, with many other illustrious names, is one of +the strongest arguments in refutal of Professor Cortoran's +theory; yet it opens no new doors to the past, and, on the +whole, rather adds to than dissipates the mystery. + +"And who is Buckingham," I asked, "and why should he wish to +kill me?" + +"He would think that you had stolen me," she replied, "and +as he wishes me for himself, he will kill any other whom he +thinks desires me. He killed Wettin a few days ago. My +mother told me once that Wettin was my father. He was king. +Now Buckingham is king." + +Here, evidently, were a people slightly superior to those of +the Isle of Wight. These must have at least the rudiments +of civilized government since they recognized one among them +as ruler, with the title, king. Also, they retained the +word father. The girl's pronunciation, while far from +identical with ours, was much closer than the tortured +dialect of the Eastenders of the Isle of Wight. The longer +I talked with her the more hopeful I became of finding here, +among her people, some records, or traditions, which might +assist in clearing up the historic enigma of the past two +centuries. I asked her if we were far from the city of +London, but she did not know what I meant. When I tried to +explain, describing mighty buildings of stone and brick, +broad avenues, parks, palaces, and countless people, she but +shook her head sadly. + +"There is no such place near by," she said. "Only the Camp +of the Lions has places of stone where the beasts lair, but +there are no people in the Camp of the Lions. Who would +dare go there!" And she shuddered. + +"The Camp of the Lions," I repeated. "And where is that, +and what?" + +"It is there," she said, pointing up the river toward the +west. "I have seen it from a great distance, but I have +never been there. We are much afraid of the lions, for this +is their country, and they are angry that man has come to +live here. + +"Far away there," and she pointed toward the south-west, "is +the land of tigers, which is even worse than this, the land +of the lions, for the tigers are more numerous than the +lions and hungrier for human flesh. There were tigers here +long ago, but both the lions and the men set upon them and +drove them off." + +"Where did these savage beasts come from?" I asked. + +"Oh," she replied, "they have been here always. It is their +country." + +"Do they not kill and eat your people?" I asked. + +"Often, when we meet them by accident, and we are too few to +slay them, or when one goes too close to their camp. But +seldom do they hunt us, for they find what food they need +among the deer and wild cattle, and, too, we make them +gifts, for are we not intruders in their country? Really we +live upon good terms with them, though I should not care to +meet one were there not many spears in my party." + +"I should like to visit this Camp of the Lions," I said. + +"Oh, no, you must not!" cried the girl. "That would be +terrible. They would eat you." For a moment, then, she +seemed lost in thought, but presently she turned upon me +with: "You must go now, for any minute Buckingham may come +in search of me. Long since should they have learned that I +am gone from the camp--they watch over me very closely--and +they will set out after me. Go! I shall wait here until +they come in search of me." + +"No," I told her. "I'll not leave you alone in a land +infested by lions and other wild beasts. If you won't let +me go as far as your camp with you, then I'll wait here +until they come in search of you." + +"Please go!" she begged. "You have saved me, and I would +save you, but nothing will save you if Buckingham gets his +hands on you. He is a bad man. He wishes to have me for +his woman so that he may be king. He would kill anyone who +befriended me, for fear that I might become another's." + +"Didn't you say that Buckingham is already the king?" I +asked. + +"He is. He took my mother for his woman after he had killed +Wettin. But my mother will die soon--she is very old--and +then the man to whom I belong will become king." + +Finally, after much questioning, I got the thing through my +head. It appears that the line of descent is through the +women. A man is merely head of his wife's family--that is +all. If she chances to be the oldest female member of the +"royal" house, he is king. Very naively the girl explained +that there was seldom any doubt as to whom a child's mother +was. + +This accounted for the girl's importance in the community +and for Buckingham's anxiety to claim her, though she told +me that she did not wish to become his woman, for he was a +bad man and would make a bad king. But he was powerful, and +there was no other man who dared dispute his wishes. + +"Why not come with me," I suggested, "if you do not wish to +become Buckingham's?" + +"Where would you take me?" she asked. + +Where, indeed! I had not thought of that. But before I +could reply to her question she shook her head and said, +"No, I cannot leave my people. I must stay and do my best, +even if Buckingham gets me, but you must go at once. Do not +wait until it is too late. The lions have had no offering +for a long time, and Buckingham would seize upon the first +stranger as a gift to them." + +I did not perfectly understand what she meant, and was about +to ask her when a heavy body leaped upon me from behind, and +great arms encircled my neck. I struggled to free myself +and turn upon my antagonist, but in another instant I was +overwhelmed by a half dozen powerful, half-naked men, while +a score of others surrounded me, a couple of whom seized the +girl. + +I fought as best I could for my liberty and for hers, but +the weight of numbers was too great, though I had the +satisfaction at least of giving them a good fight. + +When they had overpowered me, and I stood, my hands bound +behind me, at the girl's side, she gazed commiseratingly at +me. + +"It is too bad that you did not do as I bid you," she said, +"for now it has happened just as I feared--Buckingham has +you." + +"Which is Buckingham?" I asked. + +"I am Buckingham," growled a burly, unwashed brute, +swaggering truculently before me. "And who are you who +would have stolen my woman?" + +The girl spoke up then and tried to explain that I had not +stolen her; but on the contrary I had saved her from the men +from the "Elephant Country" who were carrying her away. + +Buckingham only sneered at her explanation, and a moment +later gave the command that started us all off toward the +west. We marched for a matter of an hour or so, coming at +last to a collection of rude huts, fashioned from branches +of trees covered with skins and grasses and sometimes +plastered with mud. All about the camp they had erected a +wall of saplings pointed at the tops and fire hardened. + +This palisade was a protection against both man and beasts, +and within it dwelt upward of two thousand persons, the +shelters being built very close together, and sometimes +partially underground, like deep trenches, with the poles +and hides above merely as protection from the sun and rain. + +The older part of the camp consisted almost wholly of +trenches, as though this had been the original form of +dwellings which was slowly giving way to the drier and +airier surface domiciles. In these trench habitations I saw +a survival of the military trenches which formed so famous a +part of the operation of the warring nations during the +twentieth century. + +The women wore a single light deerskin about their hips, for +it was summer, and quite warm. The men, too, were clothed +in a single garment, usually the pelt of some beast of prey. +The hair of both men and women was confined by a rawhide +thong passing about the forehead and tied behind. In this +leathern band were stuck feathers, flowers, or the tails of +small mammals. All wore necklaces of the teeth or claws of +wild beasts, and there were numerous metal wristlets and +anklets among them. + +They wore, in fact, every indication of a most primitive +people--a race which had not yet risen to the heights of +agriculture or even the possession of domestic animals. +They were hunters--the lowest plane in the evolution of the +human race of which science takes cognizance. + +And yet as I looked at their well shaped heads, their +handsome features, and their intelligent eyes, it was +difficult to believe that I was not among my own. It was +only when I took into consideration their mode of living, +their scant apparel, the lack of every least luxury among +them, that I was forced to admit that they were, in truth, +but ignorant savages. + +Buckingham had relieved me of my weapons, though he had not +the slightest idea of their purpose or uses, and when we +reached the camp he exhibited both me and my arms with every +indication of pride in this great capture. + +The inhabitants flocked around me, examining my clothing, +and exclaiming in wonderment at each new discovery of +button, buckle, pocket, and flap. It seemed incredible that +such a thing could be, almost within a stone's throw of the +spot where but a brief two centuries before had stood the +greatest city of the world. + +They bound me to a small tree that grew in the middle of one +of their crooked streets, but the girl they released as soon +as we had entered the enclosure. The people greeted her +with every mark of respect as she hastened to a large hut +near the center of the camp. + +Presently she returned with a fine looking, white-haired +woman, who proved to be her mother. The older woman carried +herself with a regal dignity that seemed quite remarkable in +a place of such primitive squalor. + +The people fell aside as she approached, making a wide way +for her and her daughter. When they had come near and +stopped before me the older woman addressed me. + +"My daughter has told me," she said, "of the manner in which +you rescued her from the men of the elephant country. If +Wettin lived you would be well treated, but Buckingham has +taken me now, and is king. You can hope for nothing from +such a beast as Buckingham." + +The fact that Buckingham stood within a pace of us and was +an interested listener appeared not to temper her +expressions in the slightest. + +"Buckingham is a pig," she continued. "He is a coward. He +came upon Wettin from behind and ran his spear through him. +He will not be king for long. Some one will make a face at +him, and he will run away and jump into the river." + +The people began to titter and clap their hands. Buckingham +became red in the face. It was evident that he was far from +popular. + +"If he dared," went on the old lady, "he would kill me now, +but he does not dare. He is too great a coward. If I could +help you I should gladly do so. But I am only queen--the +vehicle that has helped carry down, unsullied, the royal +blood from the days when Grabritin was a mighty country." + +The old queen's words had a noticeable effect upon the mob +of curious savages which surrounded me. The moment they +discovered that the old queen was friendly to me and that I +had rescued her daughter they commenced to accord me a more +friendly interest, and I heard many words spoken in my +behalf, and demands were made that I not be harmed. + +But now Buckingham interfered. He had no intention of being +robbed of his prey. Blustering and storming, he ordered the +people back to their huts, at the same time directing two of +his warriors to confine me in a dugout in one of the +trenches close to his own shelter. + +Here they threw me upon the ground, binding my ankles +together and trussing them up to my wrists behind. There +they left me, lying upon my stomach--a most uncomfortable +and strained position, to which was added the pain where the +cords cut into my flesh. + +Just a few days ago my mind had been filled with the +anticipation of the friendly welcome I should find among the +cultured Englishmen of London. Today I should be sitting in +the place of honor at the banquet board of one of London's +most exclusive clubs, feted and lionized. + +The actuality! Here I lay, bound hand and foot, doubtless +almost upon the very site of a part of ancient London, yet +all about me was a primeval wilderness, and I was a captive +of half-naked wild men. + +I wondered what had become of Delcarte and Taylor and +Snider. Would they search for me? They could never find +me, I feared, yet if they did, what could they accomplish +against this horde of savage warriors? + +Would that I could warn them. I thought of the girl-- +doubtless she could get word to them, but how was I to +communicate with her? Would she come to see me before I was +killed? It seemed incredible that she should not make some +slight attempt to befriend me; yet, as I recalled, she had +made no effort to speak with me after we had reached the +village. She had hastened to her mother the moment she had +been liberated. Though she had returned with the old queen, +she had not spoken to me, even then. I began to have my +doubts. + +Finally, I came to the conclusion that I was absolutely +friendless except for the old queen. For some unaccountable +reason my rage against the girl for her ingratitude rose to +colossal proportions. + +For a long time I waited for some one to come to my prison +whom I might ask to bear word to the queen, but I seemed to +have been forgotten. The strained position in which I lay +became unbearable. I wriggled and twisted until I managed +to turn myself partially upon my side, where I lay half +facing the entrance to the dugout. + +Presently my attention was attracted by the shadow of +something moving in the trench without, and a moment later +the figure of a child appeared, creeping upon all fours, as, +wide-eyed, and prompted by childish curiosity, a little girl +crawled to the entrance of my hut and peered cautiously and +fearfully in. + +I did not speak at first for fear of frightening the little +one away. But when I was satisfied that her eyes had become +sufficiently accustomed to the subdued light of the +interior, I smiled. + +Instantly the expression of fear faded from her eyes to be +replaced with an answering smile. + +"Who are you, little girl?" I asked. + +"My name is Mary," she replied. "I am Victory's sister." + +"And who is Victory?" + +"You do not know who Victory is?" she asked, in +astonishment. + +I shook my head in negation. + +"You saved her from the elephant country people, and yet you +say you do not know her!" she exclaimed. + +"Oh, so she is Victory, and you are her sister! I have not +heard her name before. That is why I did not know whom you +meant," I explained. Here was just the messenger for me. +Fate was becoming more kind. + +"Will you do something for me, Mary?" I asked. + +"If I can." + +"Go to your mother, the queen, and ask her to come to me," I +said. "I have a favor to ask." + +She said that she would, and with a parting smile she left +me. + +For what seemed many hours I awaited her return, chafing +with impatience. The afternoon wore on and night came, and +yet no one came near me. My captors brought me neither food +nor water. I was suffering considerable pain where the +rawhide thongs cut into my swollen flesh. I thought that +they had either forgotten me, or that it was their intention +to leave me here to die of starvation. + +Once I heard a great uproar in the village. Men were +shouting--women were screaming and moaning. After a time +this subsided, and again there was a long interval of +silence. + +Half the night must have been spent when I heard a sound in +the trench near the hut. It resembled muffled sobs. +Presently a figure appeared, silhouetted against the lesser +darkness beyond the doorway. It crept inside the hut. + +"Are you here?" whispered a childlike voice. + +It was Mary! She had returned. The thongs no longer hurt +me. The pangs of hunger and thirst disappeared. I realized +that it had been loneliness from which I suffered most. + +"Mary!" I exclaimed. "You are a good girl. You have come +back, after all. I had commenced to think that you would +not. Did you give my message to the queen? Will she come? +Where is she?" + +The child's sobs increased, and she flung herself upon the +dirt floor of the hut, apparently overcome by grief. + +"What is it?" I asked. "Why do you cry?" + +"The queen, my mother, will not come to you," she said, +between sobs. "She is dead. Buckingham has killed her. +Now he will take Victory, for Victory is queen. He kept us +fastened up in our shelter, for fear that Victory would +escape him, but I dug a hole beneath the back wall and got +out. I came to you, because you saved Victory once before, +and I thought that you might save her again, and me, also. +Tell me that you will." + +"I am bound and helpless, Mary," I replied. "Otherwise I +would do what I could to save you and your sister." + +"I will set you free!" cried the girl, creeping up to my +side. "I will set you free, and then you may come and slay +Buckingham." + +"Gladly!" I assented. + +"We must hurry," she went on, as she fumbled with the hard +knots in the stiffened rawhide, "for Buckingham will be +after you soon. He must make an offering to the lions at +dawn before he can take Victory. The taking of a queen +requires a human offering!" + +"And I am to be the offering?" I asked. + +"Yes," she said, tugging at a knot. "Buckingham has been +wanting a sacrifice ever since he killed Wettin, that he +might slay my mother and take Victory." + +The thought was horrible, not solely because of the hideous +fate to which I was condemned, but from the contemplation it +engendered of the sad decadence of a once enlightened race. +To these depths of ignorance, brutality, and superstition +had the vaunted civilization of twentieth century England +been plunged, and by what? War! I felt the structure of +our time-honored militaristic arguments crumbling about me. + +Mary labored with the thongs that confined me. They proved +refractory--defying her tender, childish fingers. She +assured me, however, that she would release me, if "they" +did not come too soon. + +But, alas, they came. We heard them coming down the trench, +and I bade Mary hide in a corner, lest she be discovered and +punished. There was naught else she could do, and so she +crawled away into the Stygian blackness behind me. + +Presently two warriors entered. The leader exhibited a +unique method of discovering my whereabouts in the darkness. +He advanced slowly, kicking out viciously before him. +Finally he kicked me in the face. Then he knew where I was. + +A moment later I had been jerked roughly to my feet. One of +the fellows stopped and severed the bonds that held my +ankles. I could scarcely stand alone. The two pulled and +hauled me through the low doorway and along the trench. A +party of forty or fifty warriors were awaiting us at the +brink of the excavation some hundred yards from the hut. + +Hands were lowered to us, and we were dragged to the +surface. Then commenced a long march. We stumbled through +the underbrush wet with dew, our way lighted by a score of +torchbearers who surrounded us. But the torches were not to +light the way--that was but incidental. They were carried +to keep off the huge Carnivora that moaned and coughed and +roared about us. + +The noises were hideous. The whole country seemed alive +with lions. Yellow-green eyes blazed wickedly at us from +out the surrounding darkness. My escort carried long, heavy +spears. These they kept ever pointed toward the beast of +prey, and I learned from snatches of the conversation I +overheard that occasionally there might be a lion who would +brave even the terrors of fire to leap in upon human prey. +It was for such that the spears were always couched. + +But nothing of the sort occurred during this hideous death +march, and with the first pale heralding of dawn we reached +our goal--an open place in the midst of a tangled wildwood. +Here rose in crumbling grandeur the first evidences I had +seen of the ancient civilization which once had graced fair +Albion--a single, time-worn arch of masonry. + +"The entrance to the Camp of the Lions!" murmured one of the +party in a voice husky with awe. + +Here the party knelt, while Buckingham recited a weird, +prayer-like chant. It was rather long, and I recall only a +portion of it, which ran, if my memory serves me, somewhat +as follows: + + + Lord of Grabritin, we Fall on our knees to +thee, This gift to bring. Greatest of kings +are thou! To thee we humbly bow! Peace to +our camp allow. God save thee, king! + + +Then the party rose, and dragging me to the crumbling arch, +made me fast to a huge, corroded, copper ring which was +dangling from an eyebolt imbedded in the masonry. + +None of them, not even Buckingham, seemed to feel any +personal animosity toward me. They were naturally rough and +brutal, as primitive men are supposed to have been since the +dawn of humanity, but they did not go out of their way to +maltreat me. + +With the coming of dawn the number of lions about us seemed +to have greatly diminished--at least they made less noise-- +and as Buckingham and his party disappeared into the woods, +leaving me alone to my terrible fate, I could hear the +grumblings and growlings of the beasts diminishing with the +sound of the chant, which the party still continued. It +appeared that the lions had failed to note that I had been +left for their breakfast, and had followed off after their +worshippers instead. + +But I knew the reprieve would be but for a short time, and +though I had no wish to die, I must confess that I rather +wished the ordeal over and the peace of oblivion upon me. + +The voices of the men and the lions receded in the distance, +until finally quiet reigned about me, broken only by the +sweet voices of birds and the sighing of the summer wind in +the trees. + +It seemed impossible to believe that in this peaceful +woodland setting the frightful thing was to occur which must +come with the passing of the next lion who chanced within +sight or smell of the crumbling arch. + +I strove to tear myself loose from my bonds, but succeeded +only in tightening them about my arms. Then I remained +passive for a long time, letting the scenes of my lifetime +pass in review before my mind's eye. + +I tried to imagine the astonishment, incredulity, and horror +with which my family and friends would be overwhelmed if, +for an instant, space could be annihilated and they could +see me at the gates of London. + +The gates of London! Where was the multitude hurrying to +the marts of trade after a night of pleasure or rest? Where +was the clang of tramcar gongs, the screech of motor horns, +the vast murmur of a dense throng? + +Where were they? And as I asked the question a lone, gaunt +lion strode from the tangled jungle upon the far side of the +clearing. Majestically and noiselessly upon his padded feet +the king of beasts moved slowly toward the gates of London +and toward me. + +Was I afraid? I fear that I was almost afraid. I know that +I thought that fear was coming to me, and so I straightened +up and squared my shoulders and looked the lion straight in +the eyes--and waited. + +It is not a nice way to die--alone, with one's hands fast +bound, beneath the fangs and talons of a beast of prey. No, +it is not a nice way to die, not a pretty way. + +The lion was halfway across the clearing when I heard a +slight sound behind me. The great cat stopped in his +tracks. He lashed his tail against his sides now, instead +of simply twitching its tip, and his low moan became a +thunderous roar. + +As I craned my neck to catch a glimpse of the thing that had +aroused the fury of the beast before me, it sprang through +the arched gateway and was at my side--with parted lips and +heaving bosom and disheveled hair--a bronzed and lovely +vision to eyes that had never harbored hope of rescue. + +It was Victory, and in her arms she clutched my rifle and +revolver. A long knife was in the doeskin belt that +supported the doeskin skirt tightly about her lithe limbs. +She dropped my weapons at my feet, and, snatching the knife +from its resting place, severed the bonds that held me. I +was free, and the lion was preparing to charge. + +"Run!" I cried to the girl, as I bent and seized my rifle. +But she only stood there at my side, her bared blade ready +in her hand. + +The lion was bounding toward us now in prodigious leaps. I +raised the rifle and fired. It was a lucky shot, for I had +no time to aim carefully, and when the beast crumpled and +rolled, lifeless, to the ground, I went upon my knees and +gave thanks to the God of my ancestors. + +And, still upon my knees, I turned, and taking the girl's +hand in mine, I kissed it. She smiled at that, and laid her +other hand upon my head. + +"You have strange customs in your country," she said. + +I could not but smile at that when I thought how strange it +would seem to my countrymen could they but see me kneeling +there on the site of London, kissing the hand of England's +queen. + +"And now," I said, as I rose, "you must return to the safety +of your camp. I will go with you until you are near enough +to continue alone in safety. Then I shall try to return to +my comrades." + +"I will not return to the camp," she replied. + +"But what shall you do?" I asked. + +"I do not know. Only I shall never go back while Buckingham +lives. I should rather die than go back to him. Mary came +to me, after they had taken you from the camp, and told me. +I found your strange weapons and followed with them. It +took me a little longer, for often I had to hide in the +trees that the lions might not get me, but I came in time, +and now you are free to go back to your friends." + +"And leave you here?" I exclaimed. + +She nodded, but I could see through all her brave front that +she was frightened at the thought. I could not leave her, +of course, but what in the world I was to do, cumbered with +the care of a young woman, and a queen at that, I was at a +loss to know. I pointed out that phase of it to her, but +she only shrugged her shapely shoulders and pointed to her +knife. + +It was evident that she felt entirely competent to protect +herself. + +As we stood there we heard the sound of voices. They were +coming from the forest through which we had passed when we +had come from camp. + +"They are searching for me," said the girl. "Where shall we +hide?" + +I didn't relish hiding. But when I thought of the +innumerable dangers which surrounded us and the +comparatively small amount of ammunition that I had with me, +I hesitated to provoke a battle with Buckingham and his +warriors when, by flight, I could avoid them and preserve my +cartridges against emergencies which could not be escaped. + +"Would they follow us there?" I asked, pointing through the +archway into the Camp of the Lions. + +"Never," she replied, "for, in the first place, they would +know that we would not dare go there, and in the second they +themselves would not dare." + +"Then we shall take refuge in the Camp of the Lions," I +said. + +She shuddered and drew closer to me. + +"You dare?" she asked. + +"Why not?" I returned. "We shall be safe from Buckingham, +and you have seen, for the second time in two days, that +lions are harmless before my weapons. Then, too, I can find +my friends easiest in this direction, for the River Thames +runs through this place you call the Camp of the Lions, and +it is farther down the Thames that my friends are awaiting +me. Do you not dare come with me?" + +"I dare follow wherever you lead," she answered simply. + +And so I turned and passed beneath the great arch into the +city of London. + + + +5 + + +As we entered deeper into what had once been the city, the +evidences of man's past occupancy became more frequent. For +a mile from the arch there was only a riot of weeds and +undergrowth and trees covering small mounds and little +hillocks that, I was sure, were formed of the ruins of +stately buildings of the dead past. + +But presently we came upon a district where shattered walls +still raised their crumbling tops in sad silence above the +grass-grown sepulchers of their fallen fellows. Softened +and mellowed by ancient ivy stood these sentinels of sorrow, +their scarred faces still revealing the rents and gashes of +shrapnel and of bomb. + +Contrary to our expectations, we found little indication +that lions in any great numbers laired in this part of +ancient London. Well-worn pathways, molded by padded paws, +led through the cavernous windows or doorways of a few of +the ruins we passed, and once we saw the savage face of a +great, black-maned lion scowling down upon us from a +shattered stone balcony. + +We followed down the bank of the Thames after we came upon +it. I was anxious to look with my own eyes upon the famous +bridge, and I guessed, too, that the river would lead me +into the part of London where stood Westminster Abbey and +the Tower. + +Realizing that the section through which we had been passing +was doubtless outlying, and therefore not so built up with +large structures as the more centrally located part of the +old town, I felt sure that farther down the river I should +find the ruins larger. The bridge would be there in part, +at least, and so would remain the walls of many of the great +edifices of the past. There would be no such complete ruin +of large structures as I had seen among the smaller +buildings. + +But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged +to have contained the relics I sought I found havoc that had +been wrought there even greater than elsewhere. + +At one point upon the bosom of the Thames there rises a few +feet above the water a single, disintegrating mound of +masonry. Opposite it, upon either bank of the river, are +tumbled piles of ruins overgrown with vegetation. + +These, I am forced to believe, are all that remain of London +Bridge, for nowhere else along the river is there any other +slightest sign of pier or abutment. + +Rounding the base of a large pile of grass-covered debris, +we came suddenly upon the best preserved ruin we had yet +discovered. The entire lower story and part of the second +story of what must once have been a splendid public building +rose from a great knoll of shrubbery and trees, while ivy, +thick and luxuriant, clambered upward to the summit of the +broken walls. + +In many places the gray stone was still exposed, its +smoothly chiseled face pitted with the scars of battle. The +massive portal yawned, somber and sorrowful, before us, +giving a glimpse of marble halls within. + +The temptation to enter was too great. I wished to explore +the interior of this one remaining monument of civilization +now dead beyond recall. Through this same portal, within +these very marble halls, had Gray and Chamberlin and +Kitchener and Shaw, perhaps, come and gone with the other +great ones of the past. + +I took Victory's hand in mine. + +"Come!" I said. "I do not know the name by which this great +pile was known, nor the purposes it fulfilled. It may have +been the palace of your sires, Victory. From some great +throne within, your forebears may have directed the +destinies of half the world. Come!" + +I must confess to a feeling of awe as we entered the rotunda +of the great building. Pieces of massive furniture of +another day still stood where man had placed them centuries +ago. They were littered with dust and broken stone and +plaster, but, otherwise, so perfect was their preservation I +could hardly believe that two centuries had rolled by since +human eyes were last set upon them. + +Through one great room after another we wandered, hand in +hand, while Victory asked many questions and for the first +time I began to realize something of the magnificence and +power of the race from whose loins she had sprung. + +Splendid tapestries, now mildewed and rotting, hung upon the +walls. There were mural paintings, too, depicting great +historic events of the past. For the first time Victory saw +the likeness of a horse, and she was much affected by a huge +oil which depicted some ancient cavalry charge against a +battery of field guns. + +In other pictures there were steamships, battleships, +submarines, and quaint looking railway trains--all small and +antiquated in appearance to me, but wonderful to Victory. +She told me that she would like to remain for the rest of +her life where she could look at those pictures daily. + +From room to room we passed until presently we emerged into +a mighty chamber, dark and gloomy, for its high and narrow +windows were choked and clogged by ivy. Along one paneled +wall we groped, our eyes slowly becoming accustomed to the +darkness. A rank and pungent odor pervaded the atmosphere. + +We had made our way about half the distance across one end +of the great apartment when a low growl from the far end +brought us to a startled halt. + +Straining my eyes through the gloom, I made out a raised +dais at the extreme opposite end of the hall. Upon the dais +stood two great chairs, highbacked and with great arms. + +The throne of England! But what were those strange forms +about it? + +Victory gave my hand a quick, excited little squeeze. + +"The lions!" she whispered. + +Yes, lions indeed! Sprawled about the dais were a dozen +huge forms, while upon the seat of one of the thrones a +small cub lay curled in slumber. + +As we stood there for a moment, spellbound by the sight of +those fearsome creatures occupying the very thrones of the +sovereigns of England, the low growl was repeated, and a +great male rose slowly to his feet. + +His devilish eyes bored straight through the semi-darkness +toward us. He had discovered the interloper. What right +had man within this palace of the beasts? Again he opened +his giant jaws, and this time there rumbled forth a warning +roar. + +Instantly eight or ten of the other beasts leaped to their +feet. Already the great fellow who had spied us was +advancing slowly in our direction. I held my rifle ready, +but how futile it appeared in the face of this savage horde. + +The foremost beast broke into a slow trot, and at his heels +came the others. All were roaring now, and the din of their +great voices reverberating through the halls and corridors +of the palace formed the most frightful chorus of thunderous +savagery imaginable to the mind of man. + +And then the leader charged, and upon the hideous +pandemonium broke the sharp crack of my rifle, once, twice, +thrice. Three lions rolled, struggling and biting, to the +floor. Victory seized my arm, with a quick, "This way! +Here is a door," and a moment later we were in a tiny +antechamber at the foot of a narrow stone staircase. + +Up this we backed, Victory just behind me, as the first of +the remaining lions leaped from the throne room and sprang +for the stairs. Again I fired, but others of the ferocious +beasts leaped over their fallen fellows and pursued us. + +The stairs were very narrow--that was all that saved us--for +as I backed slowly upward, but a single lion could attack me +at a time, and the carcasses of those I slew impeded the +rushes of the others. + +At last we reached the top. There was a long corridor from +which opened many doorways. One, directly behind us, was +tight closed. If we could open it and pass into the chamber +behind we might find a respite from attack. + +The remaining lions were roaring horribly. I saw one +sneaking very slowly up the stairs toward us. + +"Try that door," I called to Victory. "See if it will +open." + +She ran up to it and pushed. + +"Turn the knob!" I cried, seeing that she did not know how +to open a door, but neither did she know what I meant by +knob. + +I put a bullet in the spine of the approaching lion and +leaped to Victory's side. The door resisted my first +efforts to swing it inward. Rusted hinges and swollen wood +held it tightly closed. But at last it gave, and just as +another lion mounted to the top of the stairway it swung in, +and I pushed Victory across the threshold. + +Then I turned to meet the renewed attack of the savage foe. +One lion fell in his tracks, another stumbled to my very +feet, and then I leaped within and slammed the portal to. + +A quick glance showed me that this was the only door to the +small apartment in which we had found sanctuary, and, with a +sigh of relief, I leaned for a moment against the panels of +the stout barrier that separated us from the ramping demons +without. + +Across the room, between two windows, stood a flat-topped +desk. A little pile of white and brown lay upon it close to +the opposite edge. After a moment of rest I crossed the +room to investigate. The white was the bleached human +bones--the skull, collar bones, arms, and a few of the upper +ribs of a man. The brown was the dust of a decayed military +cap and blouse. In a chair before the desk were other +bones, while more still strewed the floor beneath the desk +and about the chair. A man had died sitting there with his +face buried in his arms--two hundred years ago. + +Beneath the desk were a pair of spurred military boots, +green and rotten with decay. In them were the leg bones of +a man. Among the tiny bones of the hands was an ancient +fountain pen, as good, apparently, as the day it was made, +and a metal covered memoranda book, closed over the bones of +an index finger. + +It was a gruesome sight--a pitiful sight--this lone +inhabitant of mighty London. + +I picked up the metal covered memoranda book. Its pages +were rotten and stuck together. Only here and there was a +sentence or a part of a sentence legible. The first that I +could read was near the middle of the little volume: + +"His majesty left for Tunbridge Wells today, he . . . jesty +was stricken . . . terday. God give she does not die . . . +am military governor of Lon . . ." + +And farther on: + +"It is awful . . . hundred deaths today . . . worse than the +bombardm . . ." + +Nearer the end I picked out the following: + +"I promised his maj . . . e will find me here when he ret . +. . alone." + +The most legible passage was on the next page: + +"Thank God we drove them out. There is not a single . . . +man on British soil today; but at what awful cost. I tried +to persuade Sir Phillip to urge the people to remain. But +they are mad with fear of the Death, and rage at our +enemies. He tells me that the coast cities are packed . . . +waiting to be taken across. What will become of England, +with none left to rebuild her shattered cities!" + +And the last entry: + +". . . alone. Only the wild beasts . . . A lion is roaring +now beneath the palace windows. I think the people feared +the beasts even more than they did the Death. But they are +gone, all gone, and to what? How much better conditions +will they find on the continent? All gone--only I remain. I +promised his majesty, and when he returns he will find that +I was true to my trust, for I shall be awaiting him. God +save the King!" + +That was all. This brave and forever nameless officer died +nobly at his post--true to his country and his king. It was +the Death, no doubt, that took him. + +Some of the entries had been dated. From the few legible +letters and figures which remained I judge the end came some +time in August, 1937, but of that I am not at all certain. + +The diary has cleared up at least one mystery that had +puzzled me not a little, and now I am surprised that I had +not guessed its solution myself--the presence of African and +Asiatic beasts in England. + +Acclimated by years of confinement in the zoological +gardens, they were fitted to resume in England the wild +existence for which nature had intended them, and once free, +had evidently bred prolifically, in marked contrast to the +captive exotics of twentieth century Pan-America, which had +gradually become fewer until extinction occurred some time +during the twenty-first century. + +The palace, if such it was, lay not far from the banks of +the Thames. The room in which we were imprisoned overlooked +the river, and I determined to attempt to escape in this +direction. + +To descend through the palace was out of the question, but +outside we could discover no lions. The stems of the ivy +which clambered upward past the window of the room were as +large around as my arm. I knew that they would support our +weight, and as we could gain nothing by remaining longer in +the palace, I decided to descend by way of the ivy and +follow along down the river in the direction of the launch. + +Naturally I was much handicapped by the presence of the +girl. But I could not abandon her, though I had no idea +what I should do with her after rejoining my companions. +That she would prove a burden and an embarrassment I was +certain, but she had made it equally plain to me that she +would never return to her people to mate with Buckingham. + +I owed my life to her, and, all other considerations aside, +that was sufficient demand upon my gratitude and my honor to +necessitate my suffering every inconvenience in her service. +Too, she was queen of England. But, by far the most potent +argument in her favor, she was a woman in distress--and a +young and very beautiful one. + +And so, though I wished a thousand times that she was back +in her camp, I never let her guess it, but did all that lay +within my power to serve and protect her. I thank God now +that I did so. + +With the lions still padding back and forth beyond the +closed door, Victory and I crossed the room to one of the +windows. I had outlined my plan to her, and she had assured +me that she could descend the ivy without assistance. In +fact, she smiled a trifle at my question. + +Swinging myself outward, I began the descent, and had come +to within a few feet of the ground, being just opposite a +narrow window, when I was startled by a savage growl almost +in my ear, and then a great taloned paw darted from the +aperture to seize me, and I saw the snarling face of a lion +within the embrasure. + +Releasing my hold upon the ivy, I dropped the re-maining +distance to the ground, saved from laceration only because +the lion's paw struck the thick stem of ivy. + +The creature was making a frightful racket now, leaping back +and forth from the floor at the broad window ledge, tearing +at the masonry with his claws in vain attempts to reach me. +But the opening was too narrow, and the masonry too solid. + +Victory had commenced the descent, but I called to her to +stop just above the window, and, as the lion reappeared, +growling and snarling, I put a .33 bullet in his face, and +at the same moment Victory slipped quickly past him, +dropping into my upraised arms that were awaiting her. + +The roaring of the beasts that had discovered us, together +with the report of my rifle, had set the balance of the +fierce inmates of the palace into the most frightful uproar +I have ever heard. + +I feared that it would not be long before intelligence or +instinct would draw them from the interiors and set them +upon our trail, the river. Nor had we much more than +reached it when a lion bounded around the corner of the +edifice we had just quitted and stood looking about as +though in search of us. + +Following, came others, while Victory and I crouched in +hiding behind a clump of bushes close to the bank of the +river. The beasts sniffed about the ground for a while, but +they did not chance to go near the spot where we had stood +beneath the window that had given us escape. + +Presently a black-maned male raised his head, and, with +cocked ears and glaring eyes, gazed straight at the bush +behind which we lay. I could have sworn that he had +discovered us, and when he took a few short and stately +steps in our direction I raised my rifle and covered him. +But, after a long, tense moment he looked away, and turned +to glare in another direction. + +I breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Victory. I could +feel her body quiver as she lay pressed close to me, our +cheeks almost touching as we both peered through the same +small opening in the foliage. + +I turned to give her a reassuring smile as the lion +indicated that he had not seen us, and as I did so she, too, +turned her face toward mine, for the same purpose, +doubtless. Anyway, as our heads turned simultaneously, our +lips brushed together. A startled expression came into +Victory's eyes as she drew back in evident confusion. + +As for me, the strangest sensation that I have ever +experienced claimed me for an instant. A peculiar, tingling +thrill ran through my veins, and my head swam. I could not +account for it. + +Naturally, being a naval officer and consequently in the +best society of the federation, I have seen much of women. +With others, I have laughed at the assertions of the savants +that modern man is a cold and passionless creation in +comparison with the males of former ages--in a word, that +love, as the one grand passion, had ceased to exist. + +I do not know, now, but that they were more nearly right +than we have guessed, at least in so far as modern civilized +woman is concerned. I have kissed many women--young and +beautiful and middle aged and old, and many that I had no +business kissing--but never before had I experienced that +remarkable and altogether delightful thrill that followed +the accidental brushing of my lips against the lips of +Victory. + +The occurrence interested me, and I was tempted to +experiment further. But when I would have essayed it +another new and entirely unaccountable force restrained me. +For the first time in my life I felt embarrassment in the +presence of a woman. + +What further might have developed I cannot say, for at that +moment a perfect she-devil of a lioness, with keener eyes +than her lord and master, discovered us. She came trotting +toward our place of concealment, growling and baring her +yellow fangs. + +I waited for an instant, hoping that I might be mistaken, +and that she would turn off in some other direction. But +no--she increased her trot to a gallop, and then I fired at +her, but the bullet, though it struck her full in the +breast, didn't stop her. + +Screaming with pain and rage, the creature fairly flew +toward us. Behind her came other lions. Our case looked +hopeless. We were upon the brink of the river. There +seemed no avenue of escape, and I knew that even my modern +automatic rifle was inadequate in the face of so many of +these fierce beasts. + +To remain where we were would have been suicidal. We were +both standing now, Victory keeping her place bravely at my +side, when I reached the only decision open to me. + +Seizing the girl's hand, I turned, just as the lioness +crashed into the opposite side of the bushes, and, dragging +Victory after me, leaped over the edge of the bank into the +river. + +I did not know that lions are not fond of water, nor did I +know if Victory could swim, but death, immediate and +terrible, stared us in the face if we remained, and so I +took the chance. + +At this point the current ran close to the shore, so that we +were immediately in deep water, and, to my intense +satisfaction, Victory struck out with a strong, overhand +stroke and set all my fears on her account at rest. + +But my relief was short-lived. That lioness, as I have said +before, was a veritable devil. She stood for a moment +glaring at us, then like a shot she sprang into the river +and swam swiftly after us. + +Victory was a length ahead of me. + +"Swim for the other shore!" I called to her. + +I was much impeded by my rifle, having to swim with one hand +while I clung to my precious weapon with the other. The +girl had seen the lioness take to the water, and she had +also seen that I was swimming much more slowly than she, and +what did she do? She started to drop back to my side. + +"Go on!" I cried. "Make for the other shore, and then +follow down until you find my friends. Tell them that I +sent you, and with orders that they are to protect you. Go +on! Go on!" + +But she only waited until we were again swimming side by +side, and I saw that she had drawn her long knife, and was +holding it between her teeth. + +"Do as I tell you!" I said to her sharply, but she shook her +head. + +The lioness was overhauling us rapidly. She was swimming +silently, her chin just touching the water, but blood was +streaming from between her lips. It was evident that her +lungs were pierced. + +She was almost upon me. I saw that in a moment she would +take me under her forepaws, or seize me in those great jaws. +I felt that my time had come, but I meant to die fighting. +And so I turned, and, treading water, raised my rifle above +my head and awaited her. + +Victory, animated by a bravery no less ferocious than that +of the dumb beast assailing us, swam straight for me. It +all happened so swiftly that I cannot recall the details of +the kaleidoscopic action which ensued. I knew that I rose +high out of the water, and, with clubbed rifle, dealt the +animal a terrific blow upon the skull, that I saw Victory, +her long blade flashing in her hand, close, striking, upon +the beast, that a great paw fell upon her shoulder, and that +I was swept beneath the surface of the water like a straw +before the prow of a freighter. + +Still clinging to my rifle, I rose again, to see the lioness +struggling in her death throes but an arm's length from me. +Scarcely had I risen than the beast turned upon her side, +struggled frantically for an instant, and then sank. + + + +6 + + +Victory was nowhere in sight. Alone, I floated upon the +bosom of the Thames. In that brief instant I believe that I +suffered more mental anguish than I have crowded into all +the balance of my life before or since. A few hours before, +I had been wishing that I might be rid of her, and now that +she was gone I would have given my life to have her back +again. + +Wearily I turned to swim about the spot where she had +disappeared, hoping that she might rise once at least, and I +would be given the opportunity to save her, and, as I +turned, the water boiled before my face and her head shot up +before me. I was on the point of striking out to seize her, +when a happy smile illumined her features. + +"You are not dead!" she cried. "I have been searching the +bottom for you. I was sure that the blow she gave you must +have disabled you," and she glanced about for the lioness. + +"She has gone?" she asked. + +"Dead," I replied. + +"The blow you struck her with the thing you call rifle +stunned her," she explained, "and then I swam in close +enough to get my knife into her heart." + +Ah, such a girl! I could not but wonder what one of our own +Pan-American women would have done under like circumstances. +But then, of course, they have not been trained by stern +necessity to cope with the emergencies and dangers of savage +primeval life. + +Along the bank we had just quitted, a score of lions paced +to and fro, growling menacingly. We could not return, and +we struck out for the opposite shore. I am a strong +swimmer, and had no doubt as to my ability to cross the +river, but I was not so sure about Victory, so I swam close +behind her, to be ready to give her assistance should she +need it. + +She did not, however, reaching the opposite bank as fresh, +apparently, as when she entered the water. Victory is a +wonder. Each day that we were together brought new proofs +of it. Nor was it her courage or vitality only which amazed +me. She had a head on those shapely shoulders of hers, and +dignity! My, but she could be regal when she chose! + +She told me that the lions were fewer upon this side of the +river, but that there were many wolves, running in great +packs later in the year. Now they were north somewhere, and +we should have little to fear from them, though we might +meet with a few. + +My first concern was to take my weapons apart and dry them, +which was rather difficult in the face of the fact that +every rag about me was drenched. But finally, thanks to the +sun and much rubbing, I succeeded, though I had no oil to +lubricate them. + +We ate some wild berries and roots that Victory found, and +then we set off again down the river, keeping an eye open +for game on one side and the launch on the other, for I +thought that Delcarte, who would be the natural leader +during my absence, might run up the Thames in search of me. + +The balance of that day we sought in vain for game or for +the launch, and when night came we lay down, our stomachs +empty, to sleep beneath the stars. We were entirely +unprotected from attack from wild beasts, and for this +reason I remained awake most of the night, on guard. But +nothing approached us, though I could hear the lions roaring +across the river, and once I thought I heard the howl of a +beast north of us--it might have been a wolf. + +Altogether, it was a most unpleasant night, and I determined +then that if we were forced to sleep out again that I should +provide some sort of shelter which would protect us from +attack while we slept. + +Toward morning I dozed, and the sun was well up when Victory +aroused me by gently shaking my shoulder. + +"Antelope!" she whispered in my ear, and, as I raised my +head, she pointed up-river. Crawling to my knees, I looked +in the direction she indicated, to see a buck standing upon +a little knoll some two hundred yards from us. There was +good cover between the animal and me, and so, though I might +have hit him at two hundred yards, I preferred to crawl +closer to him and make sure of the meat we both so craved. + +I had covered about fifty yards of the distance, and the +beast was still feeding peacefully, so I thought that I +would make even surer of a hit by going ahead another fifty +yards, when the animal suddenly raised his head and looked +away, up-river. His whole attitude proclaimed that he was +startled by something beyond him that I could not see. + +Realizing that he might break and run and that I should then +probably miss him entirely, I raised my rifle to my +shoulder. But even as I did so the animal leaped into the +air, and simultaneously there was a sound of a shot from +beyond the knoll. + +For an instant I was dumbfounded. Had the report come from +down-river, I should have instantly thought that one of my +own men had fired. But coming from up-river it puzzled me +considerably. Who could there be with firearms in primitive +England other than we of the Coldwater? + +Victory was directly behind me, and I motioned for her to +lie down, as I did, behind the bush from which I had been +upon the point of firing at the antelope. We could see that +the buck was quite dead, and from our hiding place we waited +to discover the identity of his slayer when the latter +should approach and claim his kill. + +We had not long to wait, and when I saw the head and +shoulders of a man appear above the crest of the knoll, I +sprang to my feet, with a heartfelt cry of joy, for it was +Delcarte. + +At the sound of my voice, Delcarte half raised his rifle in +readiness for the attack of an enemy, but a moment later he +recognized me, and was coming rapidly to meet us. Behind +him was Snider. They both were astounded to see me upon the +north bank of the river, and much more so at the sight of my +companion. + +Then I introduced them to Victory, and told them that she +was queen of England. They thought, at first, that I was +joking. But when I had recounted my adventures and they +realized that I was in earnest, they believed me. + +They told me that they had followed me inshore when I had +not returned from the hunt, that they had met the men of the +elephant country, and had had a short and one-sided battle +with the fellows. And that afterward they had returned to +the launch with a prisoner, from whom they had learned that +I had probably been captured by the men of the lion country. + +With the prisoner as a guide they had set off up-river in +search of me, but had been much delayed by motor trouble, +and had finally camped after dark a half mile above the spot +where Victory and I had spent the night. They must have +passed us in the dark, and why I did not hear the sound of +the propeller I do not know, unless it passed me at a time +when the lions were making an unusually earsplitting din +upon the opposite side. + +Taking the antelope with us, we all returned to the launch, +where we found Taylor as delighted to see me alive again as +Delcarte had been. I cannot say truthfully that Snider +evinced much enthusiasm at my rescue. + +Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel, and the +distilling of them had, with the motor trouble, accounted +for their delay in setting out after me. + +The prisoner that Delcarte and Snider had taken was a +powerful young fellow from the elephant country. +Notwithstanding the fact that they had all assured him to +the contrary, he still could not believe that we would not +kill him. + +He assured us that his name was Thirty-six, and, as he could +not count above ten, I am sure that he had no conception of +the correct meaning of the word, and that it may have been +handed down to him either from the military number of an +ancestor who had served in the English ranks during the +Great War, or that originally it was the number of some +famous regiment with which a forbear fought. + +Now that we were reunited, we held a council to determine +what course we should pursue in the immediate future. +Snider was still for setting out to sea and returning to +Pan-America, but the better judgment of Delcarte and Taylor +ridiculed the suggestion--we should not have lived a +fortnight. + +To remain in England, constantly menaced by wild beasts and +men equally as wild, seemed about as bad. I suggested that +we cross the Channel and ascertain if we could not discover +a more enlightened and civilized people upon the continent. +I was sure that some trace of the ancient culture and +greatness of Europe must remain. Germany, probably, would +be much as it was during the twentieth century, for, in +common with most Pan-Americans, I was positive that Germany +had been victorious in the Great War. + +Snider demurred at the suggestion. He said that it was bad +enough to have come this far. He did not want to make it +worse by going to the continent. The outcome of it was that +I finally lost my patience, and told him that from then on +he would do what I thought best--that I proposed to assume +command of the party, and that they might all consider +themselves under my orders, as much so as though we were +still aboard the Coldwater and in Pan-American waters. + +Delcarte and Taylor immediately assured me that they had not +for an instant assumed anything different, and that they +were as ready to follow and obey me here as they would be +upon the other side of thirty. + +Snider said nothing, but he wore a sullen scowl. And I +wished then, as I had before, and as I did to a much greater +extent later, that fate had not decreed that he should have +chanced to be a member of the launch's party upon that +memorable day when last we quitted the Coldwater. + +Victory, who was given a voice in our councils, was all for +going to the continent, or anywhere else, in fact, where she +might see new sights and experience new adventures. + +"Afterward we can come back to Grabritin," she said, "and if +Buckingham is not dead and we can catch him away from his +men and kill him, then I can return to my people, and we can +all live in peace and happiness." + +She spoke of killing Buckingham with no greater concern than +one might evince in the contemplated destruction of a sheep; +yet she was neither cruel nor vindictive. In fact, Victory +is a very sweet and womanly woman. But human life is of +small account beyond thirty--a legacy from the bloody days +when thousands of men perished in the trenches between the +rising and the setting of a sun, when they laid them +lengthwise in these same trenches and sprinkled dirt over +them, when the Germans corded their corpses like wood and +set fire to them, when women and children and old men were +butchered, and great passenger ships were torpedoed without +warning. + +Thirty-six, finally assured that we did not intend slaying +him, was as keen to accompany us as was Victory. + +The crossing to the continent was uneventful, its monotony +being relieved, however, by the childish delight of Victory +and Thirty-six in the novel experience of riding safely upon +the bosom of the water, and of being so far from land. + +With the possible exception of Snider, the little party +appeared in the best of spirits, laughing and joking, or +interestedly discussing the possibilities which the future +held for us: what we should find upon the continent, and +whether the inhabitants would be civilized or barbarian +peoples. + +Victory asked me to explain the difference between the two, +and when I had tried to do so as clearly as possible, she +broke into a gay little laugh. + +"Oh," she cried, "then I am a barbarian!" + +I could not but laugh, too, as I admitted that she was, +indeed, a barbarian. She was not offended, taking the +matter as a huge joke. But some time thereafter she sat in +silence, apparently deep in thought. Finally she looked up +at me, her strong white teeth gleaming behind her smiling +lips. + +"Should you take that thing you call 'razor,'" she said, +"and cut the hair from the face of Thirty-six, and exchange +garments with him, you would be the barbarian and Thirty-six +the civilized man. There is no other difference between +you, except your weapons. Clothe you in a wolfskin, give +you a knife and a spear, and set you down in the woods of +Grabritin--of what service would your civilization be to +you?" + +Delcarte and Taylor smiled at her reply, but Thirty-six and +Snider laughed uproariously. I was not surprised at Thirty- +six, but I thought that Snider laughed louder than the +occasion warranted. As a matter of fact, Snider, it seemed +to me, was taking advantage of every opportunity, however +slight, to show insubordination, and I determined then that +at the first real breach of discipline I should take action +that would remind Snider, ever after, that I was still his +commanding officer. + +I could not help but notice that his eyes were much upon +Victory, and I did not like it, for I knew the type of man +he was. But as it would not be necessary ever to leave the +girl alone with him I felt no apprehension for her safety. + +After the incident of the discussion of barbarians I thought +that Victory's manner toward me changed perceptibly. She +held aloof from me, and when Snider took his turn at the +wheel, sat beside him, upon the pretext that she wished to +learn how to steer the launch. I wondered if she had +guessed the man's antipathy for me, and was seeking his +company solely for the purpose of piquing me. + +Snider was, too, taking full advantage of his opportunity. +Often he leaned toward the girl to whisper in her ear, and +he laughed much, which was unusual with Snider. + +Of course, it was nothing at all to me; yet, for some +unaccountable reason, the sight of the two of them sitting +there so close to one another and seeming to be enjoying +each other's society to such a degree irritated me +tremendously, and put me in such a bad humor that I took no +pleasure whatsoever in the last few hours of the crossing. + +We aimed to land near the site of ancient Ostend. But when +we neared the coast we discovered no indication of any human +habitations whatever, let alone a city. After we had +landed, we found the same howling wilderness about us that +we had discovered on the British Isle. There was no +slightest indication that civilized man had ever set a foot +upon that portion of the continent of Europe. + +Although I had feared as much, since our experience in +England, I could not but own to a feeling of marked +disappointment, and to the gravest fears of the future, +which induced a mental depression that was in no way +dissipated by the continued familiarity between Victory and +Snider. + +I was angry with myself that I permitted that matter to +affect me as it had. I did not wish to admit to myself that +I was angry with this uncultured little savage, that it made +the slightest difference to me what she did or what she did +not do, or that I could so lower myself as to feel personal +enmity towards a common sailor. And yet, to be honest, I +was doing both. + +Finding nothing to detain us about the spot where Ostend +once had stood, we set out up the coast in search of the +mouth of the River Rhine, which I purposed ascending in +search of civilized man. It was my intention to explore the +Rhine as far up as the launch would take us. If we found no +civilization there we would return to the North Sea, +continue up the coast to the Elbe, and follow that river and +the canals of Berlin. Here, at least, I was sure that we +should find what we sought--and, if not, then all Europe had +reverted to barbarism. + +The weather remained fine, and we made excellent progress, +but everywhere along the Rhine we met with the same +disappointment--no sign of civilized man, in fact, no sign +of man at all. + +I was not enjoying the exploration of modern Europe as I had +anticipated--I was unhappy. Victory seemed changed, too. I +had enjoyed her company at first, but since the trip across +the Channel I had held aloof from her. + +Her chin was in the air most of the time, and yet I rather +think that she regretted her friendliness with Snider, for I +noticed that she avoided him entirely. He, on the contrary, +emboldened by her former friendliness, sought every +opportunity to be near her. I should have liked nothing +better than a reasonably good excuse to punch his head; yet, +paradoxically, I was ashamed of myself for harboring him any +ill will. I realized that there was something the matter +with me, but I did not know what it was. + +Matters remained thus for several days, and we continued our +journey up the Rhine. At Cologne, I had hoped to find some +reassuring indications, but there was no Cologne. And as +there had been no other cities along the river up to that +point, the devastation was infinitely greater than time +alone could have wrought. Great guns, bombs, and mines must +have leveled every building that man had raised, and then +nature, unhindered, had covered the ghastly evidence of +human depravity with her beauteous mantle of verdure. +Splendid trees reared their stately tops where splendid +cathedrals once had reared their domes, and sweet wild +flowers blossomed in simple serenity in soil that once was +drenched with human blood. + +Nature had reclaimed what man had once stolen from her and +defiled. A herd of zebras grazed where once the German +kaiser may have reviewed his troops. An antelope rested +peacefully in a bed of daisies where, perhaps, two hundred +years ago a big gun belched its terror-laden messages of +death, of hate, of destruction against the works of man and +God alike. + +We were in need of fresh meat, yet I hesitated to shatter +the quiet and peaceful serenity of the view with the crack +of a rifle and the death of one of those beautiful creatures +before us. But it had to be done--we must eat. I left the +work to Delcarte, however, and in a moment we had two +antelope and the landscape to ourselves. + +After eating, we boarded the launch and continued up the +river. For two days we passed through a primeval +wilderness. In the afternoon of the second day we landed +upon the west bank of the river, and, leaving Snider and +Thirty-six to guard Victory and the launch, Delcarte, +Taylor, and I set out after game. + +We tramped away from the river for upwards of an hour before +discovering anything, and then only a small red deer, which +Taylor brought down with a neat shot of two hundred yards. +It was getting too late to proceed farther, so we rigged a +sling, and the two men carried the deer back toward the +launch while I walked a hundred yards ahead, in the hope of +bagging something further for our larder. + +We had covered about half the distance to the river, when I +suddenly came face to face with a man. He was as primitive +and uncouth in appearance as the Grabritins--a shaggy, +unkempt savage, clothed in a shirt of skin cured with the +head on, the latter surmounting his own head to form a +bonnet, and giving to him a most fearful and ferocious +aspect. + +The fellow was armed with a long spear and a club, the +latter dangling down his back from a leathern thong about +his neck. His feet were incased in hide sandals. + +At sight of me, he halted for an instant, then turned and +dove into the forest, and, though I called reassuringly to +him in English he did not return nor did I again see him. + +The sight of the wild man raised my hopes once more that +elsewhere we might find men in a higher state of +civilization--it was the society of civilized man that I +craved--and so, with a lighter heart, I continued on toward +the river and the launch. + +I was still some distance ahead of Delcarte and Taylor, when +I came in sight of the Rhine again. But I came to the +water's edge before I noticed that anything was amiss with +the party we had left there a few hours before. + +My first intimation of disaster was the absence of the +launch from its former moorings. And then, a moment later-- +I discovered the body of a man lying upon the bank. Running +toward it, I saw that it was Thirty-six, and as I stopped +and raised the Grabritin's head in my arms, I heard a faint +moan break from his lips. He was not dead, but that he was +badly injured was all too evident. + +Delcarte and Taylor came up a moment later, and the three of +us worked over the fellow, hoping to revive him that he +might tell us what had happened, and what had become of the +others. My first thought was prompted by the sight I had +recently had of the savage native. The little party had +evidently been surprised, and in the attack Thirty-six had +been wounded and the others taken prisoners. The thought +was almost like a physical blow in the face--it stunned me. +Victory in the hands of these abysmal brutes! It was +frightful. I almost shook poor Thirty-six in my efforts to +revive him. + +I explained my theory to the others, and then Delcarte +shattered it by a single movement of the hand. He drew +aside the lion's skin that covered half of the Grabritin's +breast, revealing a neat, round hole in Thirty-six's chest-- +a hole that could have been made by no other weapon than a +rifle. + +"Snider!" I exclaimed. Delcarte nodded. At about the same +time the eyelids of the wounded man fluttered, and raised. +He looked up at us, and very slowly the light of +consciousness returned to his eyes. + +"What happened, Thirty-six?" I asked him. + +He tried to reply, but the effort caused him to cough, +bringing about a hemorrhage of the lungs and again he fell +back exhausted. For several long minutes he lay as one +dead, then in an almost inaudible whisper he spoke. + +"Snider--" He paused, tried to speak again, raised a hand, +and pointed down-river. "They--went--back," and then he +shuddered convulsively and died. + +None of us voiced his belief. But I think they were all +alike: Victory and Snider had stolen the launch, and +deserted us. + + + +7 + + +We stood there, grouped about the body of the dead +Grabritin, looking futilely down the river to where it made +an abrupt curve to the west, a quarter of a mile below us, +and was lost to sight, as though we expected to see the +truant returning to us with our precious launch--the thing +that meant life or death to us in this unfriendly, savage +world. + +I felt, rather than saw, Taylor turn his eyes slowly toward +my profile, and, as mine swung to meet them, the expression +upon his face recalled me to my duty and responsibility as +an officer. + +The utter hopelessness that was reflected in his face must +have been the counterpart of what I myself felt, but in that +brief instant I determined to hide my own misgivings that I +might bolster up the courage of the others. + +"We are lost!" was written as plainly upon Taylor's face as +though his features were the printed words upon an open +book. He was thinking of the launch, and of the launch +alone. Was I? I tried to think that I was. But a greater +grief than the loss of the launch could have engendered in +me, filled my heart--a sullen, gnawing misery which I tried +to deny--which I refused to admit--but which persisted in +obsessing me until my heart rose and filled my throat, and I +could not speak when I would have uttered words of +reassurance to my companions. + +And then rage came to my relief--rage against the vile +traitor who had deserted three of his fellow countrymen in +so frightful a position. I tried to feel an equal rage +against the woman, but somehow I could not, and kept +searching for excuses for her--her youth, her inexperience, +her savagery. + +My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness. I +smiled, and told Taylor not to look so glum. + +"We will follow them," I said, "and the chances are that we +shall overtake them. They will not travel as rapidly as +Snider probably hopes. He will be forced to halt for fuel +and for food, and the launch must follow the windings of the +river; we can take short cuts while they are traversing the +detour. I have my map--thank God! I always carry it upon my +person--and with that and the compass we will have an +advantage over them." + +My words seemed to cheer them both, and they were for +starting off at once in pursuit. There was no reason why we +should delay, and we set forth down the river. As we +tramped along, we discussed a question that was uppermost in +the mind of each--what we should do with Snider when we had +captured him, for with the action of pursuit had come the +optimistic conviction that we should succeed. As a matter +of fact, we had to succeed. The very thought of remaining +in this utter wilderness for the rest of our lives was +impossible. + +We arrived at nothing very definite in the matter of +Snider's punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him, +Delcarte insisting that he should be hanged, while I, +although fully conscious of the gravity of his offense, +could not bring myself to give the death penalty. + +I fell to wondering what charm Victory had found in such a +man as Snider, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for +her and trying to defend her indefensible act. She was +nothing to me. Aside from the natural gratitude I felt for +her since she had saved my life, I owed her nothing. She +was a half-naked little savage--I, a gentleman, and an +officer in the world's greatest navy. There could be no +close bonds of interest between us. + +This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing as +the former, but, though I tried to turn my mind to other +things, it persisted in returning to the vision of an oval +face, sun-tanned; of smiling lips, revealing white and even +teeth; of brave eyes that harbored no shadow of guile; and +of a tumbling mass of wavy hair that crowned the loveliest +picture on which my eyes had ever rested. + +Every time this vision presented itself I felt myself turn +cold with rage and hate against Snider. I could forgive the +launch, but if he had wronged her he should die--he should +die at my own hands; in this I was determined. + +For two days we followed the river northward, cutting off +where we could, but confined for the most part to the game +trails that paralleled the stream. One afternoon, we cut +across a narrow neck of land that saved us many miles, where +the river wound to the west and back again. + +Here we decided to halt, for we had had a hard day of it, +and, if the truth were known, I think that we had all given +up hope of overtaking the launch other than by the merest +accident. + +We had shot a deer just before our halt, and, as Taylor and +Delcarte were preparing it, I walked down to the water to +fill our canteens. I had just finished, and was +straightening up, when something floating around a bend +above me caught my eye. For a moment I could not believe +the testimony of my own senses. It was a boat. + +I shouted to Delcarte and Taylor, who came running to my +side. + +"The launch!" cried Delcarte; and, indeed, it was the +launch, floating down-river from above us. Where had it +been? How had we passed it? And how were we to reach it +now, should Snider and the girl discover us? + +"It's drifting," said Taylor. "I see no one in it." + +I was stripping off my clothes, and Delcarte soon followed +my example. I told Taylor to remain on shore with the +clothing and rifles. He might also serve us better there, +since it would give him an opportunity to take a shot at +Snider should the man discover us and show himself. + +With powerful strokes we swam out in the path of the +oncoming launch. Being a stronger swimmer than Delcarte, I +soon was far in the lead, reaching the center of the channel +just as the launch bore down upon me. It was drifting +broadside on. I seized the gunwale and raised myself +quickly, so that my chin topped the side. I expected a blow +the moment that I came within the view of the occupants, but +no blow fell. + +Snider lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat alone. +Even before I had clambered in and stooped above him I knew +that he was dead. Without examining him further, I ran +forward to the control board and pressed the starting +button. To my relief, the mechanism responded--the launch +was uninjured. Coming about, I picked up Delcarte. He was +astounded at the sight that met his eyes, and immediately +fell to examining Snider's body for signs of life or an +explanation of the manner in which he met his death. + +The fellow had been dead for hours--he was cold and still. +But Delcarte's search was not without results, for above +Snider's heart was a wound, a slit about an inch in length-- +such a slit as a sharp knife would make, and in the dead +fingers of one hand was clutched a strand of long brown +hair--Victory's hair was brown. + +They say that dead men tell no tales, but Snider told the +story of his end as clearly as though the dead lips had +parted and poured forth the truth. The beast had attacked +the girl, and she had defended her honor. + +We buried Snider beside the Rhine, and no stone marks his +last resting place. Beasts do not require headstones. + +Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose upstream. +When I had told Delcarte and Taylor that I intended +searching for the girl, neither had demurred. + +"We had her wrong in our thoughts," said Delcarte, "and the +least that we can do in expiation is to find and rescue +her." + +We called her name aloud every few minutes as we motored up +the river, but, though we returned all the way to our former +camping place, we did not find her. I then decided to +retrace our journey, letting Taylor handle the launch, while +Delcarte and I, upon opposite sides of the river, searched +for some sign of the spot where Victory had landed. + +We found nothing until we had reached a point a few miles +above the spot where I had first seen the launch drifting +down toward us, and there I discovered the remnants of a +recent camp fire. + +That Victory carried flint and steel I was aware, and that +it was she who built the fire I was positive. But which way +had she gone since she stopped here? + +Would she go on down the river, that she might thus bring +herself nearer her own Grabritin, or would she have sought +to search for us upstream, where she had seen us last? + +I had hailed Taylor, and sent him across the river to take +in Delcarte, that the two might join me and discuss my +discovery and our future plans. + +While waiting for them, I stood looking out over the river, +my back toward the woods that stretched away to the east +behind me. Delcarte was just stepping into the launch upon +the opposite side of the stream, when, without the least +warning, I was violently seized by both arms and about the +waist--three or four men were upon me at once; my rifle was +snatched from my hands and my revolver from my belt. + +I struggled for an instant, but finding my efforts of no +avail, I ceased them, and turned my head to have a look at +my assailants. At the same time several others of them +walked around in front of me, and, to my astonishment, I +found myself looking upon uniformed soldiery, armed with +rifles, revolvers, and sabers, but with faces as black as +coal. + + + +8 + + +Delcarte and Taylor were now in mid-stream, coming toward +us, and I called to them to keep aloof until I knew whether +the intentions of my captors were friendly or otherwise. My +good men wanted to come on and annihilate the blacks. But +there were upward of a hundred of the latter, all well +armed, and so I commanded Delcarte to keep out of harm's +way, and stay where he was till I needed him. + +A young officer called and beckoned to them. But they +refused to come, and so he gave orders that resulted in my +hands being secured at my back, after which the company +marched away, straight toward the east. + +I noticed that the men wore spurs, which seemed strange to +me. But when, late in the afternoon, we arrived at their +encampment, I discovered that my captors were cavalrymen. + +In the center of a plain stood a log fort, with a block- +house at each of its four corners. As we approached, I saw +a herd of cavalry horses grazing under guard outside the +walls of the post. They were small, stocky horses, but the +telltale saddle galls proclaimed their calling. The flag +flying from a tall staff inside the palisade was one which I +had never before seen nor heard of. + +We marched directly into the compound, where the company was +dismissed, with the exception of a guard of four privates, +who escorted me in the wake of the young officer. The +latter led us across a small parade ground, where a battery +of light field guns was parked, and toward a log building, +in front of which rose the flagstaff. + +I was escorted within the building into the presence of an +old negro, a fine looking man, with a dignified and military +bearing. He was a colonel, I was to learn later, and to him +I owe the very humane treatment that was accorded me while I +remained his prisoner. + +He listened to the report of his junior, and then turned to +question me, but with no better results than the former had +accomplished. Then he summoned an orderly, and gave some +instructions. The soldier saluted, and left the room, +returning in about five minutes with a hairy old white man-- +just such a savage, primeval-looking fellow as I had +discovered in the woods the day that Snider had disappeared +with the launch. + +The colonel evidently expected to use the fellow as +interpreter, but when the savage addressed me it was in a +language as foreign to me as was that of the blacks. At +last the old officer gave it up, and, shaking his head, gave +instructions for my removal. + +From his office I was led to a guardhouse, in which I found +about fifty half-naked whites, clad in the skins of wild +beasts. I tried to converse with them, but not one of them +could understand Pan-American, nor could I make head or tail +of their jargon. + +For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from +morning until night at odd jobs about the headquarters +building of the commanding officer. The other prisoners +worked harder than I did, and I owe my better treatment +solely to the kindliness and discrimination of the old +colonel. + +What had become of Victory, of Delcarte, of Taylor I could +not know; nor did it seem likely that I should ever learn. +I was most depressed. But I whiled away my time in +performing the duties given me to the best of my ability and +attempting to learn the language of my captors. + +Who they were or where they came from was a mystery to me. +That they were the outpost of some pow-erful black nation +seemed likely, yet where the seat of that nation lay I could +not guess. + +They looked upon the whites as their inferiors, and treated +us accordingly. They had a literature of their own, and +many of the men, even the common soldiers, were omnivorous +readers. Every two weeks a dust-covered trooper would trot +his jaded mount into the post and deliver a bulging sack of +mail at headquarters. The next day he would be away again +upon a fresh horse toward the south, carrying the soldiers' +letters to friends in the far off land of mystery from +whence they all had come. + +Troops, sometimes mounted and sometimes afoot, left the post +daily for what I assumed to be patrol duty. I judged the +little force of a thousand men were detailed here to +maintain the authority of a distant government in a +conquered country. Later, I learned that my surmise was +correct, and this was but one of a great chain of similar +posts that dotted the new frontier of the black nation into +whose hands I had fallen. + +Slowly I learned their tongue, so that I could understand +what was said before me, and make myself understood. I had +seen from the first that I was being treated as a slave-- +that all whites that fell into the hands of the blacks were +thus treated. + +Almost daily new prisoners were brought in, and about three +weeks after I was brought in to the post a troop of cavalry +came from the south to relieve one of the troops stationed +there. There was great jubilation in the encampment after +the arrival of the newcomers, old friendships were renewed +and new ones made. But the happiest men were those of the +troop that was to be relieved. + +The next morning they started away, and as they were forced +upon the parade ground we prisoners were marched from our +quarters and lined up before them. A couple of long chains +were brought, with rings in the links every few feet. At +first I could not guess the purpose of these chains. But I +was soon to learn. + +A couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck +of a powerful white slave, and one by one the rest of us +were herded to our places, and the work of shackling us neck +to neck commenced. + +The colonel stood watching the procedure. Presently his +eyes fell upon me, and he spoke to a young officer at his +side. The latter stepped toward me and motioned me to +follow him. I did so, and was led back to the colonel. + +By this time I could understand a few words of their strange +language, and when the colonel asked me if I would prefer to +remain at the post as his body servant, I signified my +willingness as emphatically as possible, for I had seen +enough of the brutality of the common soldiers toward their +white slaves to have no desire to start out upon a march of +unknown length, chained by the neck, and driven on by the +great whips that a score of the soldiers carried to +accelerate the speed of their charges. + +About three hundred prisoners who had been housed in six +prisons at the post marched out of the gates that morning, +toward what fate and what future I could not guess. Neither +had the poor devils themselves more than the most vague +conception of what lay in store for them, except that they +were going elsewhere to continue in the slavery that they +had known since their capture by their black conquerors--a +slavery that was to continue until death released them. + +My position was altered at the post. From working about the +headquarters office, I was transferred to the colonel's +living quarters. I had greater freedom, and no longer slept +in one of the prisons, but had a little room to myself off +the kitchen of the colonel's log house. + +My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly +learned the language of my captors, and much concerning them +that had been a mystery to me before. His name was Abu +Belik. He was a colonel in the cavalry of Abyssinia, a +country of which I do not remember ever hearing, but which +Colonel Belik assured me is the oldest civilized country in +the world. + +Colonel Belik was born in Adis Abeba, the capital of the +empire, and until recently had been in command of the +emperor's palace guard. Jealousy and the ambition and +intrigue of another officer had lost him the favor of his +emperor, and he had been detailed to this frontier post as a +mark of his sovereign's displeasure. + +Some fifty years before, the young emperor, Menelek XIV, was +ambitious. He knew that a great world lay across the waters +far to the north of his capital. Once he had crossed the +desert and looked out upon the blue sea that was the +northern boundary of his dominions. + +There lay another world to conquer. Menelek busied himself +with the building of a great fleet, though his people were +not a maritime race. His army crossed into Europe. It met +with little resistance, and for fifty years his soldiers had +been pushing his boundaries farther and farther toward the +north. + +"The yellow men from the east and north are contesting our +rights here now," said the colonel, "but we shall win--we +shall conquer the world, carrying Christianity to all the +benighted heathen of Europe, and Asia as well." + +"You are a Christian people?" I asked. + +He looked at me in surprise, nodding his head affirmatively. + +"I am a Christian," I said. "My people are the most +powerful on earth." + +He smiled, and shook his head indulgently, as a father to a +child who sets up his childish judgment against that of his +elders. + +Then I set out to prove my point. I told him of our cities, +of our army, of our great navy. He came right back at me +asking for figures, and when he was done I had to admit that +only in our navy were we numerically superior. + +Menelek XIV is the undisputed ruler of all the continent of +Africa, of all of ancient Europe except the British Isles, +Scandinavia, and eastern Russia, and has large possessions +and prosperous colonies in what once were Arabia and Turkey +in Asia. + +He has a standing army of ten million men, and his people +possess slaves--white slaves--to the number of ten or +fifteen million. + +Colonel Belik was much surprised, however, upon his part to +learn of the great nation which lay across the ocean, and +when he found that I was a naval officer, he was inclined to +accord me even greater consideration than formerly. It was +difficult for him to believe my assertion that there were +but few blacks in my country, and that these occupied a +lower social plane than the whites. + +Just the reverse is true in Colonel Belik's land. He +considered whites inferior beings, creatures of a lower +order, and assuring me that even the few white freemen of +Abyssinia were never accorded anything approximating a +position of social equality with the blacks. They live in +the poorer districts of the cities, in little white +colonies, and a black who marries a white is socially +ostracized. + +The arms and ammunition of the Abyssinians are greatly +inferior to ours, yet they are tremendously effective +against the ill-armed barbarians of Europe. Their rifles +are of a type similar to the magazine rifles of twentieth +century Pan-America, but carrying only five cartridges in +the magazine, in addition to the one in the chamber. They +are of extraordinary length, even those of the cavalry, and +are of extreme accuracy. + +The Abyssinians themselves are a fine looking race of black +men--tall, muscular, with fine teeth, and regular features, +which incline distinctly toward Semitic mold--I refer to the +full-blooded natives of Abyssinia. They are the patricians-- +the aristocracy. The army is officered almost exclusively +by them. Among the soldiery a lower type of negro +predominates, with thicker lips and broader, flatter noses. +These men are recruited, so the colonel told me, from among +the conquered tribes of Africa. They are good soldiers-- +brave and loyal. They can read and write, and they are +endowed with a self-confidence and pride which, from my +readings of the words of ancient African explorers, must +have been wanting in their earliest progenitors. On the +whole, it is apparent that the black race has thrived far +better in the past two centuries under men of its own color +than it had under the domination of whites during all +previous history. + +I had been a prisoner at the little frontier post for over a +month, when orders came to Colonel Belik to hasten to the +eastern frontier with the major portion of his command, +leaving only one troop to garrison the fort. As his body +servant, I accompanied him mounted upon a fiery little +Abyssinian pony. + +We marched rapidly for ten days through the heart of the +ancient German empire, halting when night found us in +proximity to water. Often we passed small posts similar to +that at which the colonel's regiment had been quartered, +finding in each instance that only a single company or troop +remained for defence, the balance having been withdrawn +toward the northeast, in the same direction in which we were +moving. + +Naturally, the colonel had not confided to me the nature of +his orders. But the rapidity of our march and the fact that +all available troops were being hastened toward the +northeast assured me that a matter of vital importance to +the dominion of Menelek XIV in that part of Europe was +threatening or had already broken. + +I could not believe that a simple rising of the savage +tribes of whites would necessitate the mobilizing of such a +force as we presently met with converging from the south +into our trail. There were large bodies of cavalry and +infantry, endless streams of artillery wagons and guns, and +countless horse-drawn covered vehicles laden with camp +equipage, munitions, and provisions. + +Here, for the first time, I saw camels, great caravans of +them, bearing all sorts of heavy burdens, and miles upon +miles of elephants doing similar service. It was a scene of +wondrous and barbaric splendor, for the men and beasts from +the south were gaily caparisoned in rich colors, in marked +contrast to the gray uniformed forces of the frontier, with +which I had been familiar. + +The rumor reached us that Menelek himself was coming, and +the pitch of excitement to which this announcement raised +the troops was little short of miraculous--at least, to one +of my race and nationality whose rulers for centuries had +been but ordinary men, holding office at the will of the +people for a few brief years. + +As I witnessed it, I could not but speculate upon the moral +effect upon his troops of a sovereign's presence in the +midst of battle. All else being equal in war between the +troops of a republic and an empire, could not this +exhilarated mental state, amounting almost to hysteria on +the part of the imperial troops, weigh heavily against the +soldiers of a president? I wonder. + +But if the emperor chanced to be absent? What then? Again I +wonder. + +On the eleventh day we reached our destination--a walled +frontier city of about twenty thousand. We passed some +lakes, and crossed some old canals before entering the +gates. Within, beside the frame buildings, were many built +of ancient brick and well-cut stone. These, I was told, +were of material taken from the ruins of the ancient city +which, once, had stood upon the site of the present town. + +The name of the town, translated from the Abyssinian, is New +Gondar. It stands, I am convinced, upon the ruins of +ancient Berlin, the one time capital of the old German +empire, but except for the old building material used in the +new town there is no sign of the former city. + +The day after we arrived, the town was gaily decorated with +flags, streamers, gorgeous rugs, and banners, for the rumor +had proved true--the emperor was coming. + +Colonel Belik had accorded me the greatest liberty, +permitting me to go where I pleased, after my few duties had +been performed. As a result of his kindness, I spent much +time wandering about New Gondar, talking with the +inhabitants, and exploring the city of black men. + +As I had been given a semi-military uniform which bore +insignia indicating that I was an officer's body servant, +even the blacks treated me with a species of respect, though +I could see by their manner that I was really as the dirt +beneath their feet. They answered my questions civilly +enough, but they would not enter into conversation with me. +It was from other slaves that I learned the gossip of the +city. + +Troops were pouring in from the west and south, and pouring +out toward the east. I asked an old slave who was sweeping +the dirt into little piles in the gutters of the street +where the soldiers were going. He looked at me in surprise. + +"Why, to fight the yellow men, of course," he said. "They +have crossed the border, and are marching toward New +Gondar." + +"Who will win?" I asked. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows?" he said. "I hope +it will be the yellow men, but Menelek is powerful--it will +take many yellow men to defeat him." + +Crowds were gathering along the sidewalks to view the +emperor's entry into the city. I took my place among them, +although I hate crowds, and I am glad that I did, for I +witnessed such a spectacle of barbaric splendor as no other +Pan-American has ever looked upon. + +Down the broad main thoroughfare, which may once have been +the historic Unter den Linden, came a brilliant cortege. At +the head rode a regiment of red-coated hussars--enormous +men, black as night. There were troops of riflemen mounted +on camels. The emperor rode in a golden howdah upon the +back of a huge elephant so covered with rich hangings and +embellished with scintillating gems that scarce more than +the beast's eyes and feet were visible. + +Menelek was a rather gross-looking man, well past middle +age, but he carried himself with an air of dignity befitting +one descended in unbroken line from the Prophet--as was his +claim. + +His eyes were bright but crafty, and his features denoted +both sensuality and cruelness. In his youth he may have +been a rather fine looking black, but when I saw him his +appearance was revolting--to me, at least. + +Following the emperor came regiment after regiment from the +various branches of the service, among them batteries of +field guns mounted on elephants. + +In the center of the troops following the imperial elephant +marched a great caravan of slaves. The old street sweeper +at my elbow told me that these were the gifts brought in +from the far outlying districts by the commanding officers +of the frontier posts. The majority of them were women, +destined, I was told, for the harems of the emperor and his +favorites. It made my old companion clench his fists to see +those poor white women marching past to their horrid fates, +and, though I shared his sentiments, I was as powerless to +alter their destinies as he. + +For a week the troops kept pouring in and out of New Gondar-- +in, always, from the south and west, but always toward the +east. Each new contingent brought its gifts to the emperor. +From the south they brought rugs and ornaments and jewels; +from the west, slaves; for the commanding officers of the +western frontier posts had naught else to bring. + +From the number of women they brought, I judged that they +knew the weakness of their imperial master. + +And then soldiers commenced coming in from the east, but not +with the gay assurance of those who came from the south and +west--no, these others came in covered wagons, blood-soaked +and suffering. They came at first in little parties of +eight or ten, and then they came in fifties, in hundreds, +and one day a thousand maimed and dying men were carted into +New Gondar. + +It was then that Menelek XIV became uneasy. For fifty years +his armies had conquered wherever they had marched. At +first he had led them in person, lately his presence within +a hundred miles of the battle line had been sufficient for +large engagements--for minor ones only the knowledge that +they were fighting for the glory of their sovereign was +necessary to win victories. + +One morning, New Gondar was awakened by the booming of +cannon. It was the first intimation that the townspeople +had received that the enemy was forcing the imperial troops +back upon the city. Dust covered couriers galloped in from +the front. Fresh troops hastened from the city, and about +noon Menelek rode out surrounded by his staff. + +For three days thereafter we could hear the cannonading and +the spitting of the small arms, for the battle line was +scarce two leagues from New Gondar. The city was filled +with wounded. Just outside, soldiers were engaged in +throwing up earthworks. It was evident to the least +enlightened that Menelek expected further reverses. + +And then the imperial troops fell back upon these new +defenses, or, rather, they were forced back by the enemy. +Shells commenced to fall within the city. Menelek returned +and took up his headquarters in the stone building that was +called the palace. That night came a lull in the +hostilities--a truce had been arranged. + +Colonel Belik summoned me about seven o'clock to dress him +for a function at the palace. In the midst of death and +defeat the emperor was about to give a great banquet to his +officers. I was to accompany my master and wait upon him-- +I, Jefferson Turck, lieutenant in the Pan-American navy! + +In the privacy of the colonel's quarters I had become +accustomed to my menial duties, lightened as they were by +the natural kindliness of my master, but the thought of +appearing in public as a common slave revolted every fine +instinct within me. Yet there was nothing for it but to +obey. + +I cannot, even now, bring myself to a narration of the +humiliation which I experienced that night as I stood behind +my black master in silent servility, now pouring his wine, +now cutting up his meats for him, now fanning him with a +large, plumed fan of feathers. + +As fond as I had grown of him, I could have thrust a knife +into him, so keenly did I feel the affront that had been put +upon me. But at last the long banquet was concluded. The +tables were removed. The emperor ascended a dais at one end +of the room and seated himself upon a throne, and the +entertainment commenced. It was only what ancient history +might have led me to expect--musicians, dancing girls, +jugglers, and the like. + +Near midnight, the master of ceremonies announced that the +slave women who had been presented to the emperor since his +arrival in New Gondar would be exhibited, that the royal +host would select such as he wished, after which he would +present the balance of them to his guests. Ah, what royal +generosity! + +A small door at one side of the room opened, and the poor +creatures filed in and were ranged in a long line before the +throne. Their backs were toward me. I saw only an +occasional profile as now and then a bolder spirit among +them turned to survey the apartment and the gorgeous +assemblage of officers in their brilliant dress uniforms. +They were profiles of young girls, and pretty, but horror +was indelibly stamped upon them all. I shuddered as I +contemplated their sad fate, and turned my eyes away. + +I heard the master of ceremonies command them to prostrate +themselves before the emperor, and the sounds as they went +upon their knees before him, touching their foreheads to the +floor. Then came the official's voice again, in sharp and +peremptory command. + +"Down, slave!" he cried. "Make obeisance to your +sovereign!" + +I looked up, attracted by the tone of the man's voice, to +see a single, straight, slim figure standing erect in the +center of the line of prostrate girls, her arms folded +across her breast and little chin in the air. Her back was +toward me--I could not see her face, though I should like to +see the countenance of this savage young lioness, standing +there defiant among that herd of terrified sheep. + +"Down! Down!" shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a +step toward her and half drawing his sword. + +My blood boiled. To stand there, inactive, while a negro +struck down that brave girl of my own race! Instinctively I +took a forward step to place myself in the man's path. But +at the same instant Menelek raised his hand in a gesture +that halted the officer. The emperor seemed interested, but +in no way angered at the girl's attitude. + +"Let us inquire," he said in a smooth, pleasant voice, "why +this young woman refuses to do homage to her sovereign," and +he put the question himself directly to her. + +She answered him in Abyssinian, but brokenly and with an +accent that betrayed how recently she had acquired her +slight knowledge of the tongue. + +"I go on my knees to no one," she said. "I have no +sovereign. I myself am sovereign in my own country." + +Menelek, at her words, leaned back in his throne and laughed +uproariously. Following his example, which seemed always +the correct procedure, the assembled guests vied with one +another in an effort to laugh more noisily than the emperor. + +The girl but tilted her chin a bit higher in the air--even +her back proclaimed her utter contempt for her captors. +Finally Menelek restored quiet by the simple expedient of a +frown, whereupon each loyal guest exchanged his mirthful +mien for an emulative scowl. + +"And who," asked Menelek, "are you, and by what name is your +country called?" + +"I am Victory, Queen of Grabritin," replied the girl so +quickly and so unexpectedly that I gasped in astonishment. + + + +9 + + +Victory! She was here, a slave to these black conquerors. +Once more I started toward her, but better judgment held me +back--I could do nothing to help her other than by stealth. +Could I even accomplish aught by this means? I did not +know. It seemed beyond the pale of possibility, and yet I +should try. + +"And you will not bend the knee to me?" continued Menelek, +after she had spoken. Victory shook her head in a most +decided negation. + +"You shall be my first choice, then," said the emperor. "I +like your spirit, for the breaking of it will add to my +pleasure in you, and never fear but that it shall be broken-- +this very night. Take her to my apartments," and he +motioned to an officer at his side + +I was surprised to see Victory follow the man off in +apparent quiet submission. I tried to follow, that I might +be near her against some opportunity to speak with her or +assist in her escape. But, after I had followed them from +the throne room, through several other apartments, and down +a long corridor, I found my further progress barred by a +soldier who stood guard before a doorway through which the +officer conducted Victory. + +Almost immediately the officer reappeared and started back +in the direction of the throne room. I had been hiding in a +doorway after the guard had turned me back, having taken +refuge there while his back was turned, and, as the officer +approached me, I withdrew into the room beyond, which was in +darkness. There I remained for a long time, watching the +sentry before the door of the room in which Victory was a +prisoner, and awaiting some favorable circumstance which +would give me entry to her. + +I have not attempted to fully describe my sensations at the +moment I recognized Victory, because, I can assure you, they +were entirely indescribable. I should never have imagined +that the sight of any human being could affect me as had +this unexpected discovery of Victory in the same room in +which I was, while I had thought of her for weeks either as +dead, or at best hundreds of miles to the west, and as +irretrievably lost to me as though she were, in truth, dead. + +I was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her. It +was not enough merely to assist her, or protect her--I +desired to touch her--to take her in my arms. I was +astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled me--it was my +incomprehensible feeling of elation since I had again seen +her. With a fate worse than death staring her in the face, +and with the knowledge that I should probably die defending +her within the hour, I was still happier than I had been for +weeks--and all because I had seen again for a few brief +minutes the figure of a little heathen maiden. I couldn't +account for it, and it angered me; I had never before felt +any such sensations in the presence of a woman, and I had +made love to some very beautiful ones in my time. + +It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of that doorway, +in the ill-lit corridor of the palace of Menelek XIV. A +sickly gas jet cast a sad pallor upon the black face of the +sentry. The fellow seemed rooted to the spot. Evidently he +would never leave, or turn his back again. + +I had been in hiding but a short time when I heard the sound +of distant cannon. The truce had ended, and the battle had +been resumed. Very shortly thereafter the earth shook to +the explosion of a shell within the city, and from time to +time thereafter other shells burst at no great distance from +the palace. The yellow men were bombarding New Gondar +again. + +Presently officers and slaves commenced to traverse the +corridor on matters pertaining to their duties, and then +came the emperor, scowling and wrathful. He was followed by +a few personal attendants, whom he dismissed at the doorway +to his apartments--the same doorway through which Victory +had been taken. I chafed to follow him, but the corridor +was filled with people. At last they betook themselves to +their own apartments, which lay upon either side of the +corridor. + +An officer and a slave entered the very room in which I hid, +forcing me to flatten myself to one side in the darkness +until they had passed. Then the slave made a light, and I +knew that I must find another hiding place. + +Stepping boldly into the corridor, I saw that it was now +empty save for the single sentry before the emperor's door. +He glanced up as I emerged from the room, the occupants of +which had not seen me. I walked straight toward the +soldier, my mind made up in an instant. I tried to simulate +an expression of cringing servility, and I must have +succeeded, for I entirely threw the man off his guard, so +that he permitted me to approach within reach of his rifle +before stopping me. Then it was too late--for him. + +Without a word or a warning, I snatched the piece from his +grasp, and, at the same time struck him a terrific blow +between the eyes with my clenched fist. He staggered back +in surprise, too dumbfounded even to cry out, and then I +clubbed his rifle and felled him with a single mighty blow. + +A moment later, I had burst into the room beyond. It was +empty! + +I gazed about, mad with disappointment. Two doors opened +from this to other rooms. I ran to the nearer and listened. +Yes, voices were coming from beyond and one was a woman's, +level and cold and filled with scorn. There was no terror +in it. It was Victory's. + +I turned the knob and pushed the door inward just in time to +see Menelek seize the girl and drag her toward the far end +of the apartment. At the same instant there was a deafening +roar just outside the palace--a shell had struck much nearer +than any of its predecessors. The noise of it drowned my +rapid rush across the room. + +But in her struggles, Victory turned Menelek about so that +he saw me. She was striking him in the face with her +clenched fist, and now he was choking her. + +At sight of me, he gave voice to a roar of anger. + +"What means this, slave?" he cried. "Out of here! Out of +here! Quick, before I kill you!" + +But for answer I rushed upon him, striking him with the butt +of the rifle. He staggered back, dropping Victory to the +floor, and then he cried aloud for the guard, and came at +me. Again and again I struck him; but his thick skull might +have been armor plate, for all the damage I did it. + +He tried to close with me, seizing the rifle, but I was +stronger than he, and, wrenching the weapon from his grasp, +tossed it aside and made for his throat with my bare hands. +I had not dared fire the weapon for fear that its report +would bring the larger guard stationed at the farther end of +the corridor. + +We struggled about the room, striking one another, knocking +over furniture, and rolling upon the floor. Menelek was a +powerful man, and he was fighting for his life. Continually +he kept calling for the guard, until I succeeded in getting +a grip upon his throat; but it was too late. His cries had +been heard, and suddenly the door burst open, and a score of +armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment. + +Victory seized the rifle from the floor and leaped between +me and them. I had the black emperor upon his back, and +both my hands were at his throat, choking the life from him. + +The rest happened in the fraction of a second. There was a +rending crash above us, then a deafening explosion within +the chamber. Smoke and powder fumes filled the room. Half +stunned, I rose from the lifeless body of my antagonist just +in time to see Victory stagger to her feet and turn toward +me. Slowly the smoke cleared to reveal the shattered +remnants of the guard. A shell had fallen through the +palace roof and exploded just in the rear of the detachment +of guardsmen who were coming to the rescue of their emperor. +Why neither Victory nor I were struck is a miracle. The +room was a wreck. A great, jagged hole was torn in the +ceiling, and the wall toward the corridor had been blown +entirely out. + +As I rose, Victory had risen, too, and started toward me. +But when she saw that I was uninjured she stopped, and stood +there in the center of the demolished apartment looking at +me. Her expression was inscrutable--I could not guess +whether she was glad to see me, or not. + +"Victory!" I cried. "Thank God that you are safe!" And I +approached her, a greater gladness in my heart than I had +felt since the moment that I knew the Coldwater must be +swept beyond thirty. + +There was no answering gladness in her eyes. Instead, she +stamped her little foot in anger. + +"Why did it have to be you who saved me!" she exclaimed. "I +hate you!" + +"Hate me?" I asked. "Why should you hate me, Victory? I do +not hate you. I--I--" What was I about to say? I was very +close to her as a great light broke over me. Why had I +never realized it before? The truth accounted for a great +many hitherto inexplicable moods that had claimed me from +time to time since first I had seen Victory. + +"Why should I hate you?" she repeated. "Because Snider told +me--he told me that you had promised me to him, but he did +not get me. I killed him, as I should like to kill you!" + +"Snider lied!" I cried. And then I seized her and held her +in my arms, and made her listen to me, though she struggled +and fought like a young lioness. "I love you, Victory. You +must know that I love you--that I have always loved you, and +that I never could have made so base a promise." + +She ceased her struggles, just a trifle, but still tried to +push me from her. "You called me a barbarian!" she said. + +Ah, so that was it! That still rankled. I crushed her to +me. + +"You could not love a barbarian," she went on, but she had +ceased to struggle. + +"But I do love a barbarian, Victory!" I cried, "the dearest +barbarian in the world." + +She raised her eyes to mine, and then her smooth, brown arms +encircled my neck and drew my lips down to hers. + +"I love you--I have loved you always!" she said, and then +she buried her face upon my shoulder and sobbed. "I have +been so unhappy," she said, "but I could not die while I +thought that you might live." + +As we stood there, momentarily forgetful of all else than +our new found happiness, the ferocity of the bombardment +increased until scarce thirty seconds elapsed between the +shells that rained about the palace. + +To remain long would be to invite certain death. We could +not escape the way that we had entered the apartment, for +not only was the corridor now choked with debris, but beyond +the corridor there were doubtless many members of the +emperor's household who would stop us. + +Upon the opposite side of the room was another door, and +toward this I led the way. It opened into a third apartment +with windows overlooking an inner court. From one of these +windows I surveyed the courtyard. Apparently it was empty, +and the rooms upon the opposite side were unlighted. + +Assisting Victory to the open, I followed, and together we +crossed the court, discovering upon the opposite side a +number of wide, wooden doors set in the wall of the palace, +with small windows between. As we stood close behind one of +the doors, listening, a horse within neighed. + +"The stables!" I whispered, and, a moment later, had pushed +back a door and entered. From the city about us we could +hear the din of great commotion, and quite close the sounds +of battle--the crack of thousands of rifles, the yells of +the soldiers, the hoarse commands of officers, and the blare +of bugles. + +The bombardment had ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. +I judged that the enemy was storming the city, for the +sounds we heard were the sounds of hand-to-hand combat. + +Within the stables I groped about until I had found saddles +and bridles for two horses. But afterward, in the darkness, +I could find but a single mount. The doors of the opposite +side, leading to the street, were open, and we could see +great multitudes of men, women, and children fleeing toward +the west. Soldiers, afoot and mounted, were joining the mad +exodus. Now and then a camel or an elephant would pass +bearing some officer or dignitary to safety. It was evident +that the city would fall at any moment--a fact which was +amply proclaimed by the terror-stricken haste of the fear- +mad mob. + +Horse, camel, and elephant trod helpless women and children +beneath their feet. A common soldier dragged a general from +his mount, and, leaping to the animal's back, fled down the +packed street toward the west. A woman seized a gun and +brained a court dignitary, whose horse had trampled her +child to death. Shrieks, curses, commands, supplications +filled the air. It was a frightful scene--one that will be +burned upon my memory forever. + +I had saddled and bridled the single horse which had +evidently been overlooked by the royal household in its +flight, and, standing a little back in the shadow of the +stable's interior, Victory and I watched the surging throng +without. + +To have entered it would have been to have courted greater +danger than we were already in. We decided to wait until +the stress of blacks thinned, and for more than an hour we +stood there while the sounds of battle raged upon the +eastern side of the city and the population flew toward the +west. More and more numerous became the uniformed soldiers +among the fleeing throng, until, toward the last, the street +was packed with them. It was no orderly retreat, but a +rout, complete and terrible. + +The fighting was steadily approaching us now, until the +crack of rifles sounded in the very street upon which we +were looking. And then came a handful of brave men--a +little rear guard backing slowly toward the west, working +their smoking rifles in feverish haste as they fired volley +after volley at the foe we could not see. + +But these were pressed back and back until the first line of +the enemy came opposite our shelter. They were men of +medium height, with olive complexions and almond eyes. In +them I recognized the descendants of the ancient Chinese +race. + +They were well uniformed and superbly armed, and they fought +bravely and under perfect discipline. So rapt was I in the +exciting events transpiring in the street that I did not +hear the approach of a body of men from behind. It was a +party of the conquerors who had entered the palace and were +searching it. + +They came upon us so unexpectedly that we were prisoners +before we realized what had happened. That night we were +held under a strong guard just outside the eastern wall of +the city, and the next morning were started upon a long +march toward the east. + +Our captors were not unkind to us, and treated the women +prisoners with respect. We marched for many days--so many +that I lost count of them--and at last we came to another +city--a Chinese city this time--which stands upon the site +of ancient Moscow. + +It is only a small frontier city, but it is well built and +well kept. Here a large military force is maintained, and +here also, is a terminus of the railroad that crosses modern +China to the Pacific. + +There was every evidence of a high civilization in all that +we saw within the city, which, in connection with the humane +treatment that had been accorded all prisoners upon the long +and tiresome march, encouraged me to hope that I might +appeal to some high officer here for the treatment which my +rank and birth merited. + +We could converse with our captors only through the medium +of interpreters who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian. But +there were many of these, and shortly after we reached the +city I persuaded one of them to carry a verbal message to +the officer who had commanded the troops during the return +from New Gondar, asking that I might be given a hearing by +some high official. + +The reply to my request was a summons to appear before the +officer to whom I had addressed my appeal. A sergeant came +for me along with the interpreter, and I managed to obtain +his permission to let Victory accompany me--I had never left +her alone with the prisoners since we had been captured. + +To my delight I found that the officer into whose presence +we were conducted spoke Abyssinian fluently. He was +astounded when I told him that I was a Pan-American. Unlike +all others whom I had spoken with since my arrival in +Europe, he was well acquainted with ancient history--was +familiar with twentieth century conditions in Pan-America, +and after putting a half dozen questions to me was satisfied +that I spoke the truth. + +When I told him that Victory was Queen of England he showed +little surprise, telling me that in their recent +explorations in ancient Russia they had found many +descendants of the old nobility and royalty. + +He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, +furnished us with servants and with money, and in other ways +showed us every attention and kindness. + +He told me that he would telegraph his emperor at once, and +the result was that we were presently commanded to repair to +Peking and present ourselves before the ruler. + +We made the journey in a comfortable railway carriage, +through a country which, as we traveled farther toward the +east, showed increasing evidence of prosperity and wealth. + +At the imperial court we were received with great kindness, +the emperor being most inquisitive about the state of modern +Pan-America. He told me that while he personally deplored +the existence of the strict regulations which had raised a +barrier between the east and the west, he had felt, as had +his predecessors, that recognition of the wishes of the +great Pan-American federation would be most conducive to the +continued peace of the world. + +His empire includes all of Asia, and the islands of the +Pacific as far east as 175dW. The empire of Japan no longer +exists, having been conquered and absorbed by China over a +hundred years ago. The Philippines are well administered, +and constitute one of the most progressive colonies of the +Chinese empire. + +The emperor told me that the building of this great empire +and the spreading of enlightenment among its diversified and +savage peoples had required all the best efforts of nearly +two hundred years. Upon his accession to the throne he had +found the labor well nigh perfected and had turned his +attention to the reclamation of Europe. + +His ambition is to wrest it from the hands of the blacks, +and then to attempt the work of elevating its fallen peoples +to the high estate from which the Great War precipitated +them. + +I asked him who was victorious in that war, and he shook his +head sadly as he replied: + +"Pan-America, perhaps, and China, with the blacks of +Abyssinia," he said. "Those who did not fight were the only +ones to reap any of the rewards that are supposed to belong +to victory. The combatants reaped naught but annihilation. +You have seen--better than any man you must realize that +there was no victory for any nation embroiled in that +frightful war." + +"When did it end?" I asked him. + +Again he shook his head. "It has not ended yet. There has +never been a formal peace declared in Europe. After a while +there were none left to make peace, and the rude tribes +which sprang from the survivors continued to fight among +themselves because they knew no better condition of society. +War razed the works of man--war and pestilence razed man. +God give that there shall never be such another war!" + +You all know how Porfirio Johnson returned to Pan-America +with John Alvarez in chains; how Alvarez's trial raised a +popular demonstration that the government could not ignore. +His eloquent appeal--not for himself, but for me--is +historic, as are its results. You know how a fleet was sent +across the Atlantic to search for me, how the restrictions +against crossing thirty to one hundred seventy-five were +removed forever, and how the officers were brought to +Peking, arriving upon the very day that Victory and I were +married at the imperial court. + +My return to Pan-America was very different from anything I +could possibly have imagined a year before. Instead of +being received as a traitor to my country, I was acclaimed a +hero. It was good to get back again, good to witness the +kindly treatment that was accorded my dear Victory, and when +I learned that Delcarte and Taylor had been found at the +mouth of the Rhine and were already back in Pan-America my +joy was unalloyed. + +And now we are going back, Victory and I, with the men and +the munitions and power to reclaim England for her queen. +Again I shall cross thirty, but under what altered +conditions! + +A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated, with enlightened +China on the east and enlightened Pan-America on the west-- +the two great peace powers whom God has preserved to +regenerate chastened and forgiven Europe. I have been +through much--I have suffered much, but I have won two great +laurel wreaths beyond thirty. One is the opportunity to +rescue Europe from barbarism, the other is a little +barbarian, and the greater of these is--Victory. + + + +End of Project Gutenberg etext of The Lost Continent by +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + + diff --git a/old/lcont10.zip b/old/lcont10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..94e706a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lcont10.zip diff --git a/old/lcont10h.htm b/old/lcont10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f1aa045 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lcont10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5111 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Lost Continent, by Edgar Burroughs. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + p.center {text-indent: 0; text-align: center;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 100%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + +<pre> +Project Gutenberg Etext, Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* +</pre> + +<p>The Lost Continent was originally published under +the title Beyond Thirty</p> + +<hr /> + +<h1>THE LOST CONTINENT</h1> + +<h2>Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>1</h2> + + +<p>Since earliest childhood I have been strangely fascinated by +the mystery surrounding the history of the last days of +twentieth century Europe. My interest is keenest, perhaps, +not so much in relation to known facts as to speculation +upon the unknowable of the two centuries that have rolled by +since human intercourse between the Western and Eastern +Hemispheres ceased—the mystery of Europe's state following +the termination of the Great War—provided, of course, that +the war had been terminated.</p> + +<p>From out of the meagerness of our censored histories we +learned that for fifteen years after the cessation of +diplomatic relations between the United States of North +America and the belligerent nations of the Old World, news +of more or less doubtful authenticity filtered, from time to +time, into the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern.</p> + +<p>Then came the fruition of that historic propaganda which is +best described by its own slogan: "The East for the East—the West for the West," and all further intercourse was +stopped by statute.</p> + +<p>Even prior to this, transoceanic commerce had practically +ceased, owing to the perils and hazards of the mine-strewn +waters of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Just when +submarine activities ended we do not know but the last +vessel of this type sighted by a Pan-American merchantman +was the huge Q 138, which discharged twenty-nine torpedoes +at a Brazilian tank steamer off the Bermudas in the fall of +1972. A heavy sea and the excellent seamanship of the +master of the Brazilian permitted the Pan-American to escape +and report this last of a long series of outrages upon our +commerce. God alone knows how many hundreds of our ancient +ships fell prey to the roving steel sharks of blood-frenzied +Europe. Countless were the vessels and men that passed over +our eastern and western horizons never to return; but +whether they met their fates before the belching tubes of +submarines or among the aimlessly drifting mine fields, no +man lived to tell.</p> + +<p>And then came the great Pan-American Federation which linked +the Western Hemisphere from pole to pole under a single +flag, which joined the navies of the New World into the +mightiest fighting force that ever sailed the seven seas—the greatest argument for peace the world had ever known.</p> + +<p>Since that day peace had reigned from the western shores of +the Azores to the western shores of the Hawaiian Islands, +nor has any man of either hemisphere dared cross 30dW. or +175dW. From 30d to 175d is ours—from 30d to 175d is +peace, prosperity and happiness.</p> + +<p>Beyond was the great unknown. Even the geographies of my +boyhood showed nothing beyond. We were taught of nothing +beyond. Speculation was discouraged. For two hundred years +the Eastern Hemisphere had been wiped from the maps and +histories of Pan-America. Its mention in fiction, even, was +forbidden.</p> + +<p>Our ships of peace patrol thirty and one hundred seventy- +five. What ships from beyond they have warned only the +secret archives of government show; but, a naval officer +myself, I have gathered from the traditions of the service +that it has been fully two hundred years since smoke or sail +has been sighted east of 30d or west of 175d. The fate of +the relinquished provinces which lay beyond the dead lines +we could only speculate upon. That they were taken by the +military power, which rose so suddenly in China after the +fall of the republic, and which wrested Manchuria and Korea +from Russia and Japan, and also absorbed the Philippines, is +quite within the range of possibility.</p> + +<p>It was the commander of a Chinese man-of-war who received a +copy of the edict of 1972 from the hand of my illustrious +ancestor, Admiral Turck, on one hundred seventy-five, two +hundred and six years ago, and from the yellowed pages of +the admiral's diary I learned that the fate of the +Philippines was even then presaged by these Chinese naval +officers.</p> + +<p>Yes, for over two hundred years no man crossed 30d to 175d +and lived to tell his story—not until chance drew me across +and back again, and public opinion, revolting at last +against the drastic regulations of our long-dead forbears, +demanded that my story be given to the world, and that the +narrow interdict which commanded peace, prosperity, and +happiness to halt at 30d and 175d be removed forever.</p> + +<p>I am glad that it was given to me to be an instrument in the +hands of Providence for the uplifting of benighted Europe, +and the amelioration of the suffering, degradation, and +abysmal ignorance in which I found her.</p> + +<p>I shall not live to see the complete regeneration of the +savage hordes of the Eastern Hemisphere—that is a work +which will require many generations, perhaps ages, so +complete has been their reversion to savagery; but I know +that the work has been started, and I am proud of the share +in it which my generous countrymen have placed in my hands.</p> + +<p>The government already possesses a complete official report +of my adventures beyond thirty. In the narrative I purpose +telling my story in a less formal, and I hope, a more +entertaining, style; though, being only a naval officer and +without claim to the slightest literary ability, I shall +most certainly fall far short of the possibilities which are +inherent in my subject. That I have passed through the most +wondrous adventures that have befallen a civilized man +during the past two centuries encourages me in the belief +that, however ill the telling, the facts themselves will +command your interest to the final page.</p> + +<p>Beyond thirty! Romance, adventure, strange peoples, +fearsome beasts—all the excitement and scurry of the lives +of the twentieth century ancients that have been denied us +in these dull days of peace and prosaic prosperity—all, all +lay beyond thirty, the invisible barrier between the stupid, +commercial present and the carefree, barbarous past.</p> + +<p>What boy has not sighed for the good old days of wars, +revolutions, and riots; how I used to pore over the +chronicles of those old days, those dear old days, when +workmen went armed to their labors; when they fell upon one +another with gun and bomb and dagger, and the streets ran +red with blood! Ah, but those were the times when life was +worth the living; when a man who went out by night knew not +at which dark corner a "footpad" might leap upon and slay +him; when wild beasts roamed the forest and the jungles, and +there were savage men, and countries yet unexplored.</p> + +<p>Now, in all the Western Hemisphere dwells no man who may not +find a school house within walking distance of his home, or +at least within flying distance.</p> + +<p>The wildest beast that roams our waste places lairs in the +frozen north or the frozen south within a government +reserve, where the curious may view him and feed him bread +crusts from the hand with perfect impunity.</p> + +<p>But beyond thirty! And I have gone there, and come back; +and now you may go there, for no longer is it high treason, +punishable by disgrace or death, to cross 30d or 175d.</p> + +<p>My name is Jefferson Turck. I am a lieutenant in the navy—in the great Pan-American navy, the only navy which now +exists in all the world.</p> + +<p>I was born in Arizona, in the United States of North +America, in the year of our Lord 2116. Therefore, I am +twenty-one years old.</p> + +<p>In early boyhood I tired of the teeming cities and +overcrowded rural districts of Arizona. Every generation of +Turcks for over two centuries has been represented in the +navy. The navy called to me, as did the free, wide, +unpeopled spaces of the mighty oceans. And so I joined the +navy, coming up from the ranks, as we all must, learning our +craft as we advance. My promotion was rapid, for my family +seems to inherit naval lore. We are born officers, and I +reserve to myself no special credit for an early advancement +in the service.</p> + +<p>At twenty I found myself a lieutenant in command of the +aero-submarine Coldwater, of the SS-96 class. The Coldwater +was one of the first of the air and underwater craft which +have been so greatly improved since its launching, and was +possessed of innumerable weaknesses which, fortunately, have +been eliminated in more recent vessels of similar type.</p> + +<p>Even when I took command, she was fit only for the junk +pile; but the world-old parsimony of government retained her +in active service, and sent two hundred men to sea in her, +with myself, a mere boy, in command of her, to patrol thirty +from Iceland to the Azores.</p> + +<p>Much of my service had been spent aboard the great +merchantmen-of-war. These are the utility naval vessels +that have transformed the navies of old, which burdened the +peoples with taxes for their support, into the present day +fleets of self-supporting ships that find ample time for +target practice and gun drill while they bear freight and +the mails from the continents to the far-scattered island of +Pan-America.</p> + +<p>This change in service was most welcome to me, especially as +it brought with it coveted responsibilities of sole command, +and I was prone to overlook the deficiencies of the +Coldwater in the natural pride I felt in my first ship.</p> + +<p>The Coldwater was fully equipped for two months' patrolling—the ordinary length of assignment to this service—and a +month had already passed, its monotony entirely unrelieved +by sight of another craft, when the first of our misfortunes +befell.</p> + +<p>We had been riding out a storm at an altitude of about three +thousand feet. All night we had hovered above the tossing +billows of the moonlight clouds. The detonation of the +thunder and the glare of lightning through an occasional +rift in the vaporous wall proclaimed the continued fury of +the tempest upon the surface of the sea; but we, far above +it all, rode in comparative ease upon the upper gale. With +the coming of dawn the clouds beneath us became a glorious +sea of gold and silver, soft and beautiful; but they could +not deceive us as to the blackness and the terrors of the +storm-lashed ocean which they hid.</p> + +<p>I was at breakfast when my chief engineer entered and +saluted. His face was grave, and I thought he was even a +trifle paler than usual.</p> + +<p>"Well?" I asked.</p> + +<p>He drew the back of his forefinger nervously across his brow +in a gesture that was habitual with him in moments of mental +stress.</p> + +<p>"The gravitation-screen generators, sir," he said. "Number +one went to the bad about an hour and a half ago. We have +been working upon it steadily since; but I have to report, +sir, that it is beyond repair."</p> + +<p>"Number two will keep us supplied," I answered. "In the +meantime we will send a wireless for relief."</p> + +<p>"But that is the trouble, sir," he went on. "Number two has +stopped. I knew it would come, sir. I made a report on +these generators three years ago. I advised then that they +both be scrapped. Their principle is entirely wrong. +They're done for." And, with a grim smile, "I shall at +least have the satisfaction of knowing my report was +accurate."</p> + +<p>"Have we sufficient reserve screen to permit us to make +land, or, at least, meet our relief halfway?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," he replied gravely; "we are sinking now."</p> + +<p>"Have you anything further to report?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," he said.</p> + +<p>"Very good," I replied; and, as I dismissed him, I rang for +my wireless operator. When he appeared, I gave him a +message to the secretary of the navy, to whom all vessels in +service on thirty and one hundred seventy-five report +direct. I explained our predicament, and stated that with +what screening force remained I should continue in the air, +making as rapid headway toward St. Johns as possible, and +that when we were forced to take to the water I should +continue in the same direction.</p> + +<p>The accident occurred directly over 30d and about 52d N. +The surface wind was blowing a tempest from the west. To +attempt to ride out such a storm upon the surface seemed +suicidal, for the Coldwater was not designed for surface +navigation except under fair weather conditions. Submerged, +or in the air, she was tractable enough in any sort of +weather when under control; but without her screen +generators she was almost helpless, since she could not fly, +and, if submerged, could not rise to the surface.</p> + +<p>All these defects have been remedied in later models; but +the knowledge did not help us any that day aboard the slowly +settling Coldwater, with an angry sea roaring beneath, a +tempest raging out of the west, and 30d only a few knots +astern.</p> + +<p>To cross thirty or one hundred seventy-five has been, as you +know, the direst calamity that could befall a naval +commander. Court-martial and degradation follow swiftly, +unless as is often the case, the unfortunate man takes his +own life before this unjust and heartless regulation can +hold him up to public scorn.</p> + +<p>There has been in the past no excuse, no circumstance, that +could palliate the offense.</p> + +<p>"He was in command, and he took his ship across thirty!" +That was sufficient. It might not have been in any way his +fault, as, in the case of the Coldwater, it could not +possibly have been justly charged to my account that the +gravitation-screen generators were worthless; but well I +knew that should chance have it that we were blown across +thirty today—as we might easily be before the terrific west +wind that we could hear howling below us, the responsibility +would fall upon my shoulders.</p> + +<p>In a way, the regulation was a good one, for it certainly +accomplished that for which it was intended. We all fought +shy of 30d on the east and 175d on the west, and, though we +had to skirt them pretty close, nothing but an act of God +ever drew one of us across. You all are familiar with the +naval tradition that a good officer could sense proximity to +either line, and for my part, I am firmly convinced of the +truth of this as I am that the compass finds the north +without recourse to tedious processes of reasoning.</p> + +<p>Old Admiral Sanchez was wont to maintain that he could smell +thirty, and the men of the first ship in which I sailed +claimed that Coburn, the navigating officer, knew by name +every wave along thirty from 60dN. to 60dS. However, I'd +hate to vouch for this.</p> + +<p>Well, to get back to my narrative; we kept on dropping +slowly toward the surface the while we bucked the west wind, +clawing away from thirty as fast as we could. I was on the +bridge, and as we dropped from the brilliant sunlight into +the dense vapor of clouds and on down through them to the +wild, dark storm strata beneath, it seemed that my spirits +dropped with the falling ship, and the buoyancy of hope ran +low in sympathy.</p> + +<p>The waves were running to tremendous heights, and the +Coldwater was not designed to meet such waves head on. Her +elements were the blue ether, far above the raging storm, or +the greater depths of ocean, which no storm could ruffle.</p> + +<p>As I stood speculating upon our chances once we settled into +the frightful Maelstrom beneath us and at the same time +mentally computing the hours which must elapse before aid +could reach us, the wireless operator clambered up the +ladder to the bridge, and, disheveled and breathless, stood +before me at salute. It needed but a glance at him to +assure me that something was amiss.</p> + +<p>"What now?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"The wireless, sir!" he cried. "My God, sir, I cannot +send."</p> + +<p>"But the emergency outfit?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I have tried everything, sir. I have exhausted every +resource. We cannot send," and he drew himself up and +saluted again.</p> + +<p>I dismissed him with a few kind words, for I knew that it +was through no fault of his that the mechanism was +antiquated and worthless, in common with the balance of the +Coldwater's equipment. There was no finer operator in Pan- +America than he.</p> + +<p>The failure of the wireless did not appear as momentous to +me as to him, which is not unnatural, since it is but human +to feel that when our own little cog slips, the entire +universe must necessarily be put out of gear. I knew that +if this storm were destined to blow us across thirty, or +send us to the bottom of the ocean, no help could reach us +in time to prevent it. I had ordered the message sent +solely because regulations required it, and not with any +particular hope that we could benefit by it in our present +extremity.</p> + +<p>I had little time to dwell upon the coincidence of the +simultaneous failure of the wireless and the buoyancy +generators, since very shortly after the Coldwater had +dropped so low over the waters that all my attention was +necessarily centered upon the delicate business of settling +upon the waves without breaking my ship's back. With our +buoyancy generators in commission it would have been a +simple thing to enter the water, since then it would have +been but a trifling matter of a forty-five degree dive into +the base of a huge wave. We should have cut into the water +like a hot knife through butter, and have been totally +submerged with scarce a jar—I have done it a thousand +times—but I did not dare submerge the Coldwater for fear +that it would remain submerged to the end of time—a +condition far from conducive to the longevity of commander +or crew.</p> + +<p>Most of my officers were older men than I. John Alvarez, my +first officer, is twenty years my senior. He stood at my +side on the bridge as the ship glided closer and closer to +those stupendous waves. He watched my every move, but he +was by far too fine an officer and gentleman to embarrass me +by either comment or suggestion.</p> + +<p>When I saw that we soon would touch, I ordered the ship +brought around broadside to the wind, and there we hovered a +moment until a huge wave reached up and seized us upon its +crest, and then I gave the order that suddenly reversed the +screening force, and let us into the ocean. Down into the +trough we went, wallowing like the carcass of a dead whale, +and then began the fight, with rudder and propellers, to +force the Coldwater back into the teeth of the gale and +drive her on and on, farther and farther from relentless +thirty.</p> + +<p>I think that we should have succeeded, even though the ship +was wracked from stem to stern by the terrific buffetings +she received, and though she were half submerged the greater +part of the time, had no further accident befallen us.</p> + +<p>We were making headway, though slowly, and it began to look +as though we were going to pull through. Alvarez never left +my side, though I all but ordered him below for much-needed +rest. My second officer, Porfirio Johnson, was also often +on the bridge. He was a good officer, but a man for whom I +had conceived a rather unreasoning aversion almost at the +first moment of meeting him, an aversion which was not +lessened by the knowledge which I subsequently gained that +he looked upon my rapid promotion with jealousy. He was ten +years my senior both in years and service, and I rather +think he could never forget the fact that he had been an +officer when I was a green apprentice.</p> + +<p>As it became more and more apparent that the Coldwater, +under my seamanship, was weathering the tempest and giving +promise of pulling through safely, I could have sworn that I +perceived a shade of annoyance and disappointment growing +upon his dark countenance. He left the bridge finally and +went below. I do not know that he is directly responsible +for what followed so shortly after; but I have always had my +suspicions, and Alvarez is even more prone to place the +blame upon him than I.</p> + +<p>It was about six bells of the forenoon watch that Johnson +returned to the bridge after an absence of some thirty +minutes. He seemed nervous and ill at ease—a fact which +made little impression on me at the time, but which both +Alvarez and I recalled subsequently.</p> + +<p>Not three minutes after his reappearance at my side the +Coldwater suddenly commenced to lose headway. I seized the +telephone at my elbow, pressing upon the button which would +call the chief engineer to the instrument in the bowels of +the ship, only to find him already at the receiver +attempting to reach me.</p> + +<p>"Numbers one, two, and five engines have broken down, sir," +he called. "Shall we force the remaining three?"</p> + +<p>"We can do nothing else," I bellowed into the transmitter.</p> + +<p>"They won't stand the gaff, sir," he returned.</p> + +<p>"Can you suggest a better plan?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Then give them the gaff, lieutenant," I shouted back, and +hung up the receiver.</p> + +<p>For twenty minutes the Coldwater bucked the great seas with +her three engines. I doubt if she advanced a foot; but it +was enough to keep her nose in the wind, and, at least, we +were not drifting toward thirty.</p> + +<p>Johnson and Alvarez were at my side when, without warning, +the bow swung swiftly around and the ship fell into the +trough of the sea.</p> + +<p>"The other three have gone," I said, and I happened to be +looking at Johnson as I spoke. Was it the shadow of a +satisfied smile that crossed his thin lips? I do not know; +but at least he did not weep.</p> + +<p>"You always have been curious, sir, about the great unknown +beyond thirty," he said. "You are in a good way to have +your curiosity satisfied." And then I could not mistake the +slight sneer that curved his upper lip. There must have +been a trace of disrespect in his tone or manner which +escaped me, for Alvarez turned upon him like a flash.</p> + +<p>"When Lieutenant Turck crosses thirty," he said, "we shall +all cross with him, and God help the officer or the man who +reproaches him!"</p> + +<p>"I shall not be a party to high treason," snapped Johnson. +"The regulations are explicit, and if the Coldwater crosses +thirty it devolves upon you to place Lieutenant Turck under +arrest and immediately exert every endeavor to bring the +ship back into Pan-American waters."</p> + +<p>"I shall not know," replied Alvarez, "that the Coldwater +passes thirty; nor shall any other man aboard know it," and, +with his words, he drew a revolver from his pocket, and +before either I or Johnson could prevent it had put a bullet +into every instrument upon the bridge, ruining them beyond +repair.</p> + +<p>And then he saluted me, and strode from the bridge, a martyr +to loyalty and friendship, for, though no man might know +that Lieutenant Jefferson Turck had taken his ship across +thirty, every man aboard would know that the first officer +had committed a crime that was punishable by both +degradation and death. Johnson turned and eyed me narrowly.</p> + +<p>"Shall I place him under arrest?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"You shall not," I replied. "Nor shall anyone else."</p> + +<p>"You become a party to his crime!" he cried angrily.</p> + +<p>"You may go below, Mr. Johnson," I said, "and attend to the +work of unpacking the extra instruments and having them +properly set upon the bridge."</p> + +<p>He saluted, and left me, and for some time I stood, gazing +out upon the angry waters, my mind filled with unhappy +reflections upon the unjust fate that had overtaken me, and +the sorrow and disgrace that I had unwittingly brought down +upon my house.</p> + +<p>I rejoiced that I should leave neither wife nor child to +bear the burden of my shame throughout their lives.</p> + +<p>As I thought upon my misfortune, I considered more clearly +than ever before the unrighteousness of the regulation which +was to prove my doom, and in the natural revolt against its +injustice my anger rose, and there mounted within me a +feeling which I imagine must have paralleled that spirit +that once was prevalent among the ancients called anarchy.</p> + +<p>For the first time in my life I found my sentiments arraying +themselves against custom, tradition, and even government. +The wave of rebellion swept over me in an instant, beginning +with an heretical doubt as to the sanctity of the +established order of things—that fetish which has ruled +Pan-Americans for two centuries, and which is based upon a +blind faith in the infallibility of the prescience of the +long-dead framers of the articles of Pan-American +federation—and ending in an adamantine determination to +defend my honor and my life to the last ditch against the +blind and senseless regulation which assumed the synonymity +of misfortune and treason.</p> + +<p>I would replace the destroyed instruments upon the bridge; +every officer and man should know when we crossed thirty. +But then I should assert the spirit which dominated me, I +should resist arrest, and insist upon bringing my ship back +across the dead line, remaining at my post until we had +reached New York. Then I should make a full report, and +with it a demand upon public opinion that the dead lines be +wiped forever from the seas.</p> + +<p>I knew that I was right. I knew that no more loyal officer +wore the uniform of the navy. I knew that I was a good +officer and sailor, and I didn't propose submitting to +degradation and discharge because a lot of old, preglacial +fossils had declared over two hundred years before that no +man should cross thirty.</p> + +<p>Even while these thoughts were passing through my mind I was +busy with the details of my duties. I had seen to it that a +sea anchor was rigged, and even now the men had completed +their task, and the Coldwater was swinging around rapidly, +her nose pointing once more into the wind, and the frightful +rolling consequent upon her wallowing in the trough was +happily diminishing.</p> + +<p>It was then that Johnson came hurrying to the bridge. One +of his eyes was swollen and already darkening, and his lip +was cut and bleeding. Without even the formality of a +salute, he burst upon me, white with fury.</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Alvarez attacked me!" he cried. "I demand that +he be placed under arrest. I found him in the act of +destroying the reserve instruments, and when I would have +interfered to protect them he fell upon me and beat me. I +demand that you arrest him!"</p> + +<p>"You forget yourself, Mr. Johnson," I said. "You are not in +command of the ship. I deplore the action of Lieutenant +Alvarez, but I cannot expunge from my mind the loyalty and +self-sacrificing friendship which has prompted him to his +acts. Were I you, sir, I should profit by the example he +has set. Further, Mr. Johnson, I intend retaining command +of the ship, even though she crosses thirty, and I shall +demand implicit obedience from every officer and man aboard +until I am properly relieved from duty by a superior officer +in the port of New York."</p> + +<p>"You mean to say that you will cross thirty without +submitting to arrest?" he almost shouted.</p> + +<p>"I do, sir," I replied. "And now you may go below, and, +when again you find it necessary to address me, you will +please be so good as to bear in mind the fact that I am your +commanding officer, and as such entitled to a salute."</p> + +<p>He flushed, hesitated a moment, and then, saluting, turned +upon his heel and left the bridge. Shortly after, Alvarez +appeared. He was pale, and seemed to have aged ten years in +the few brief minutes since I last had seen him. Saluting, +he told me very simply what he had done, and asked that I +place him under arrest.</p> + +<p>I put my hand on his shoulder, and I guess that my voice +trembled a trifle as, while reproving him for his act, I +made it plain to him that my gratitude was no less potent a +force than his loyalty to me. Then it was that I outlined +to him my purpose to defy the regulation that had raised the +dead lines, and to take my ship back to New York myself.</p> + +<p>I did not ask him to share the responsibility with me. I +merely stated that I should refuse to submit to arrest, and +that I should demand of him and every other officer and man +implicit obedience to my every command until we docked at +home.</p> + +<p>His face brightened at my words, and he assured me that I +would find him as ready to acknowledge my command upon the +wrong side of thirty as upon the right, an assurance which I +hastened to tell him I did not need.</p> + +<p>The storm continued to rage for three days, and as far as +the wind scarce varied a point during all that time, I knew +that we must be far beyond thirty, drifting rapidly east by +south. All this time it had been impossible to work upon +the damaged engines or the gravity-screen generators; but we +had a full set of instruments upon the bridge, for Alvarez, +after discovering my intentions, had fetched the reserve +instruments from his own cabin, where he had hidden them. +Those which Johnson had seen him destroy had been a third +set which only Alvarez had known was aboard the Coldwater.</p> + +<p>We waited impatiently for the sun, that we might determine +our exact location, and upon the fourth day our vigil was +rewarded a few minutes before noon.</p> + +<p>Every officer and man aboard was tense with nervous +excitement as we awaited the result of the reading. The +crew had known almost as soon as I that we were doomed to +cross thirty, and I am inclined to believe that every man +jack of them was tickled to death, for the spirits of +adventure and romance still live in the hearts of men of the +twenty-second century, even though there be little for them +to feed upon between thirty and one hundred seventy-five.</p> + +<p>The men carried none of the burdens of responsibility. They +might cross thirty with impunity, and doubtless they would +return to be heroes at home; but how different the home- +coming of their commanding officer!</p> + +<p>The wind had dropped to a steady blow, still from west by +north, and the sea had gone down correspondingly. The crew, +with the exception of those whose duties kept them below, +were ranged on deck below the bridge. When our position was +definitely fixed I personally announced it to the eager, +waiting men.</p> + +<p>"Men," I said, stepping forward to the handrail and looking +down into their upturned, bronzed faces, "you are anxiously +awaiting information as to the ship's position. It has been +determined at latitude fifty degrees seven minutes north, +longitude twenty degrees sixteen minutes west."</p> + +<p>I paused and a buzz of animated comment ran through the +massed men beneath me. "Beyond thirty. But there will be +no change in commanding officers, in routine or in +discipline, until after we have docked again in New York."</p> + +<p>As I ceased speaking and stepped back from the rail there +was a roar of applause from the deck such as I never before +had heard aboard a ship of peace. It recalled to my mind +tales that I had read of the good old days when naval +vessels were built to fight, when ships of peace had been +man-of-war, and guns had flashed in other than futile target +practice, and decks had run red with blood.</p> + +<p>With the subsistence of the sea, we were able to go to work +upon the damaged engines to some effect, and I also set men +to examining the gravitation-screen generators with a view +to putting them in working order should it prove not beyond +our resources.</p> + +<p>For two weeks we labored at the engines, which indisputably +showed evidence of having been tampered with. I appointed a +board to investigate and report upon the disaster. But it +accomplished nothing other than to convince me that there +were several officers upon it who were in full sympathy with +Johnson, for, though no charges had been preferred against +him, the board went out of its way specifically to exonerate +him in its findings.</p> + +<p>All this time we were drifting almost due east. The work +upon the engines had progressed to such an extent that +within a few hours we might expect to be able to proceed +under our own power westward in the direction of Pan- +American waters.</p> + +<p>To relieve the monotony I had taken to fishing, and early +that morning I had departed from the Coldwater in one of the +boats on such an excursion. A gentle west wind was blowing. +The sea shimmered in the sunlight. A cloudless sky canopied +the west for our sport, as I had made it a point never +voluntarily to make an inch toward the east that I could +avoid. At least, they should not be able to charge me with +a willful violation of the dead lines regulation.</p> + +<p>I had with me only the boat's ordinary complement of men—three in all, and more than enough to handle any small power +boat. I had not asked any of my officers to accompany me, +as I wished to be alone, and very glad am I now that I had +not. My only regret is that, in view of what befell us, it +had been necessary to bring the three brave fellows who +manned the boat.</p> + +<p>Our fishing, which proved excellent, carried us so far to +the west that we no longer could see the Coldwater. The day +wore on, until at last, about mid-afternoon, I gave the +order to return to the ship.</p> + +<p>We had proceeded but a short distance toward the east when +one of the men gave an exclamation of excitement, at the +same time pointing eastward. We all looked on in the +direction he had indicated, and there, a short distance +above the horizon, we saw the outlines of the Coldwater +silhouetted against the sky.</p> + +<p>"They've repaired the engines and the generators both," +exclaimed one of the men.</p> + +<p>It seemed impossible, but yet it had evidently been done. +Only that morning, Lieutenant Johnson had told me that he +feared that it would be impossible to repair the generators. +I had put him in charge of this work, since he always had +been accounted one of the best gravitation-screen men in +the navy. He had invented several of the improvements that +are incorporated in the later models of these generators, +and I am convinced that he knows more concerning both the +theory and the practice of screening gravitation than any +living Pan-American.</p> + +<p>At the sight of the Coldwater once more under control, the +three men burst into a glad cheer. But, for some reason +which I could not then account, I was strangely overcome by +a premonition of personal misfortune. It was not that I now +anticipated an early return to Pan-America and a board of +inquiry, for I had rather looked forward to the fight that +must follow my return. No, there was something else, +something indefinable and vague that cast a strange gloom +upon me as I saw my ship rising farther above the water and +making straight in our direction.</p> + +<p>I was not long in ascertaining a possible explanation of my +depression, for, though we were plainly visible from the +bridge of the aero-submarine and to the hundreds of men who +swarmed her deck, the ship passed directly above us, not +five hundred feet from the water, and sped directly +westward.</p> + +<p>We all shouted, and I fired my pistol to attract their +attention, though I knew full well that all who cared to had +observed us, but the ship moved steadily away, growing +smaller and smaller to our view until at last she passed +completely out of sight.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>2</h2> + + +<p>What could it mean? I had left Alvarez in command. He was +my most loyal subordinate. It was absolutely beyond the +pale of possibility that Alvarez should desert me. No, +there was some other explanation. Something occurred to +place my second officer, Porfirio Johnson, in command. I +was sure of it but why speculate? The futility of +conjecture was only too palpable. The Coldwater had +abandoned us in midocean. Doubtless none of us would +survive to know why.</p> + +<p>The young man at the wheel of the power boat had turned her +nose about as it became evident that the ship intended +passing over us, and now he still held her in futile pursuit +of the Coldwater.</p> + +<p>"Bring her about, Snider," I directed, "and hold her due +east. We can't catch the Coldwater, and we can't cross the +Atlantic in this. Our only hope lies in making the nearest +land, which, unless I am mistaken, is the Scilly Islands, +off the southwest coast of England. Ever heard of England, +Snider?"</p> + +<p>"There's a part of the United States of North America that +used to be known to the ancients as New England," he +replied. "Is that where you mean, sir?"</p> + +<p>"No, Snider," I replied. "The England I refer to was an +island off the continent of Europe. It was the seat of a +very powerful kingdom that flourished over two hundred years +ago. A part of the United States of North America and all +of the Federated States of Canada once belonged to this +ancient England."</p> + +<p>"Europe," breathed one of the men, his voice tense with +excitement. "My grandfather used to tell me stories of the +world beyond thirty. He had been a great student, and he +had read much from forbidden books."</p> + +<p>"In which I resemble your grandfather," I said, "for I, too, +have read more even than naval officers are supposed to +read, and, as you men know, we are permitted a greater +latitude in the study of geography and history than men of +other professions.</p> + +<p>"Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turck, who +lived two hundred years ago, and from whom I am descended, +many volumes still exist, and are in my possession, which +deal with the history and geography of ancient Europe. +Usually I bring several of these books with me upon a +cruise, and this time, among others, I have maps of Europe +and her surrounding waters. I was studying them as we came +away from the Coldwater this morning, and luckily I have +them with me."</p> + +<p>"You are going to try to make Europe, sir?" asked Taylor, +the young man who had last spoken.</p> + +<p>"It is the nearest land," I replied. "I have always wanted +to explore the forgotten lands of the Eastern Hemisphere. +Here's our chance. To remain at sea is to perish. None of +us ever will see home again. Let us make the best of it, +and enjoy while we do live that which is forbidden the +balance of our race—the adventure and the mystery which lie +beyond thirty."</p> + +<p>Taylor and Delcarte seized the spirit of my mood but Snider, +I think, was a trifle sceptical.</p> + +<p>"It is treason, sir," I replied, "but there is no law which +compels us to visit punishment upon ourselves. Could we +return to Pan-America, I should be the first to insist that +we face it. But we know that's not possible. Even if this +craft would carry us so far, we haven't enough water or food +for more than three days.</p> + +<p>"We are doomed, Snider, to die far from home and without +ever again looking upon the face of another fellow +countryman than those who sit here now in this boat. Isn't +that punishment sufficient for even the most exacting +judge?"</p> + +<p>Even Snider had to admit that it was.</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, let us live while we live, and enjoy to +the fullest whatever of adventure or pleasure each new day +brings, since any day may be our last, and we shall be dead +for a considerable while."</p> + +<p>I could see that Snider was still fearful, but Taylor and +Delcarte responded with a hearty, "Aye, aye, sir!"</p> + +<p>They were of different mold. Both were sons of naval +officers. They represented the aristocracy of birth, and +they dared to think for themselves.</p> + +<p>Snider was in the minority, and so we continued toward the +east. Beyond thirty, and separated from my ship, my +authority ceased. I held leadership, if I was to hold it at +all, by virtue of personal qualifications only, but I did +not doubt my ability to remain the director of our destinies +in so far as they were amenable to human agencies. I have +always led. While my brain and brawn remain unimpaired I +shall continue always to lead. Following is an art which +Turcks do not easily learn.</p> + +<p>It was not until the third day that we raised land, dead +ahead, which I took, from my map, to be the isles of Scilly. +But such a gale was blowing that I did not dare attempt to +land, and so we passed to the north of them, skirted Land's +End, and entered the English Channel.</p> + +<p>I think that up to that moment I had never experienced such +a thrill as passed through me when I realized that I was +navigating these historic waters. The lifelong dreams that +I never had dared hope to see fulfilled were at last a +reality—but under what forlorn circumstances!</p> + +<p>Never could I return to my native land. To the end of my +days I must remain in exile. Yet even these thoughts failed +to dampen my ardor.</p> + +<p>My eyes scanned the waters. To the north I could see the +rockbound coast of Cornwall. Mine were the first American +eyes to rest upon it for more than two hundred years. In +vain, I searched for some sign of ancient commerce that, if +history is to be believed, must have dotted the bosom of the +Channel with white sails and blackened the heavens with the +smoke of countless funnels, but as far as eye could reach +the tossing waters of the Channel were empty and deserted.</p> + +<p>Toward midnight the wind and sea abated, so that shortly +after dawn I determined to make inshore in an attempt to +effect a landing, for we were sadly in need of fresh water +and food.</p> + +<p>According to my observations, we were just off Ram Head, and +it was my intention to enter Plymouth Bay and visit +Plymouth. From my map it appeared that this city lay back +from the coast a short distance, and there was another city +given as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the mouth of +the river Tamar.</p> + +<p>However, I knew that it would make little difference which +city we entered, as the English people were famed of old for +their hospitality toward visiting mariners. As we +approached the mouth of the bay I looked for the fishing +craft which I expected to see emerging thus early in the day +for their labors. But even after we rounded Ram Head and +were well within the waters of the bay I saw no vessel. +Neither was there buoy nor light nor any other mark to show +larger ships the channel, and I wondered much at this.</p> + +<p>The coast was densely overgrown, nor was any building or +sign of man apparent from the water. Up the bay and into +the River Tamar we motored through a solitude as unbroken as +that which rested upon the waters of the Channel. For all +we could see, there was no indication that man had ever set +his foot upon this silent coast.</p> + +<p>I was nonplused, and then, for the first time, there crept +over me an intuition of the truth.</p> + +<p>Here was no sign of war. As far as this portion of the +Devon coast was concerned, that seemed to have been over for +many years, but neither were there any people. Yet I could +not find it within myself to believe that I should find no +inhabitants in England. Reasoning thus, I discovered that +it was improbable that a state of war still existed, and +that the people all had been drawn from this portion of +England to some other, where they might better defend +themselves against an invader.</p> + +<p>But what of their ancient coast defenses? What was there +here in Plymouth Bay to prevent an enemy landing in force +and marching where they wished? Nothing. I could not +believe that any enlightened military nation, such as the +ancient English are reputed to have been, would have +voluntarily so deserted an exposed coast and an excellent +harbor to the mercies of an enemy.</p> + +<p>I found myself becoming more and more deeply involved in +quandary. The puzzle which confronted me I could not +unravel. We had landed, and I now stood upon the spot +where, according to my map, a large city should rear its +spires and chimneys. There was nothing but rough, broken +ground covered densely with weeds and brambles, and tall, +rank, grass.</p> + +<p>Had a city ever stood there, no sign of it remained. The +roughness and unevenness of the ground suggested something +of a great mass of debris hidden by the accumulation of +centuries of undergrowth.</p> + +<p>I drew the short cutlass with which both officers and men of +the navy are, as you know, armed out of courtesy to the +traditions and memories of the past, and with its point dug +into the loam about the roots of the vegetation growing at +my feet.</p> + +<p>The blade entered the soil for a matter of seven inches, +when it struck upon something stonelike. Digging about the +obstacle, I presently loosened it, and when I had withdrawn +it from its sepulcher I found the thing to be an ancient +brick of clay, baked in an oven.</p> + +<p>Delcarte we had left in charge of the boat; but Snider and +Taylor were with me, and following my example, each engaged +in the fascinating sport of prospecting for antiques. Each +of us uncovered a great number of these bricks, until we +commenced to weary of the monotony of it, when Snider +suddenly gave an exclamation of excitement, and, as I turned +to look, he held up a human skull for my inspection.</p> + +<p>I took it from him and examined it. Directly in the center +of the forehead was a small round hole. The gentleman had +evidently come to his end defending his country from an +invader.</p> + +<p>Snider again held aloft another trophy of the search—a +metal spike and some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments. +They had lain close beside the skull.</p> + +<p>With the point of his cutlass Snider scraped the dirt and +verdigris from the face of the larger ornament.</p> + +<p>"An inscription," he said, and handed the thing to me.</p> + +<p>They were the spike and ornaments of an ancient German +helmet. Before long we had uncovered many other indications +that a great battle had been fought upon the ground where we +stood. But I was then, and still am, at loss to account for +the presence of German soldiers upon the English coast so +far from London, which history suggests would have been the +natural goal of an invader.</p> + +<p>I can only account for it by assuming that either England +was temporarily conquered by the Teutons, or that an +invasion of so vast proportions was undertaken that German +troops were hurled upon the England coast in huge numbers +and that landings were necessarily effected at many places +simultaneously. Subsequent discoveries tend to strengthen +this view.</p> + +<p>We dug about for a short time with our cutlasses until I +became convinced that a city had stood upon the spot at some +time in the past, and that beneath our feet, crumbled and +dead, lay ancient Devonport.</p> + +<p>I could not repress a sigh at the thought of the havoc war +had wrought in this part of England, at least. Farther +east, nearer London, we should find things very different. +There would be the civilization that two centuries must have +wrought upon our English cousins as they had upon us. There +would be mighty cities, cultivated fields, happy people. +There we would be welcomed as long-lost brothers. There +would we find a great nation anxious to learn of the world +beyond their side of thirty, as I had been anxious to learn +of that which lay beyond our side of the dead line.</p> + +<p>I turned back toward the boat.</p> + +<p>"Come, men!" I said. "We will go up the river and fill our +casks with fresh water, search for food and fuel, and then +tomorrow be in readiness to push on toward the east. I am +going to London."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>3</h2> + + +<p>The report of a gun blasted the silence of a dead Devonport +with startling abruptness.</p> + +<p>It came from the direction of the launch, and in an instant +we three were running for the boat as fast as our legs would +carry us. As we came in sight of it we saw Delcarte a +hundred yards inland from the launch, leaning over something +which lay upon the ground. As we called to him he waved his +cap, and stooping, lifted a small deer for our inspection.</p> + +<p>I was about to congratulate him on his trophy when we were +startled by a horrid, half-human, half-bestial scream a +little ahead and to the right of us. It seemed to come from +a clump of rank and tangled bush not far from where Delcarte +stood. It was a horrid, fearsome sound, the like of which +never had fallen upon my ears before.</p> + +<p>We looked in the direction from which it came. The smile +had died from Delcarte's lips. Even at the distance we were +from him I saw his face go suddenly white, and he quickly +threw his rifle to his shoulder. At the same moment the +thing that had given tongue to the cry moved from the +concealing brushwood far enough for us, too, to see it.</p> + +<p>Both Taylor and Snider gave little gasps of astonishment and +dismay.</p> + +<p>"What is it, sir?" asked the latter.</p> + +<p>The creature stood about the height of a tall man's waist, +and was long and gaunt and sinuous, with a tawny coat +striped with black, and with white throat and belly. In +conformation it was similar to a cat—a huge cat, +exaggerated colossal cat, with fiendish eyes and the most +devilish cast of countenance, as it wrinkled its bristling +snout and bared its great yellow fangs.</p> + +<p>It was pacing, or rather, slinking, straight for Delcarte, +who had now leveled his rifle upon it.</p> + +<p>"What is it, sir?" mumbled Snider again, and then a half- +forgotten picture from an old natural history sprang to my +mind, and I recognized in the frightful beast the Felis +tigris of ancient Asia, specimens of which had, in former +centuries, been exhibited in the Western Hemisphere.</p> + +<p>Snider and Taylor were armed with rifles and revolvers, +while I carried only a revolver. Seizing Snider's rifle +from his trembling hands, I called to Taylor to follow me, +and together we ran forward, shouting, to attract the +beast's attention from Delcarte until we should all be quite +close enough to attack with the greatest assurance of +success.</p> + +<p>I cried to Delcarte not to fire until we reached his side, +for I was fearful lest our small caliber, steel-jacketed +bullets should, far from killing the beast, tend merely to +enrage it still further. But he misunderstood me, thinking +that I had ordered him to fire.</p> + +<p>With the report of his rifle the tiger stopped short in +apparent surprise, then turned and bit savagely at its +shoulder for an instant, after which it wheeled again toward +Delcarte, issuing the most terrific roars and screams, and +launched itself, with incredible speed, toward the brave +fellow, who now stood his ground pumping bullets from his +automatic rifle as rapidly as the weapon would fire.</p> + +<p>Taylor and I also opened up on the creature, and as it was +broadside to us it offered a splendid target, though for all +the impression we appeared to make upon the great cat we +might as well have been launching soap bubbles at it.</p> + +<p>Straight as a torpedo it rushed for Delcarte, and, as Taylor +and I stumbled on through the tall grass toward our +unfortunate comrade, we saw the tiger rear upon him and +crush him to the earth.</p> + +<p>Not a backward step had the noble Delcarte taken. Two +hundred years of peace had not sapped the red blood from his +courageous line. He went down beneath that avalanche of +bestial savagery still working his gun and with his face +toward his antagonist. Even in the instant that I thought +him dead I could not help but feel a thrill of pride that he +was one of my men, one of my class, a Pan-American gentleman +of birth. And that he had demonstrated one of the principal +contentions of the army-and-navy adherents—that military +training was necessary for the salvation of personal courage +in the Pan-American race which for generations had had to +face no dangers more grave than those incident to ordinary +life in a highly civilized community, safeguarded by every +means at the disposal of a perfectly organized and all- +powerful government utilizing the best that advanced science +could suggest.</p> + +<p>As we ran toward Delcarte, both Taylor and I were struck by +the fact that the beast upon him appeared not to be mauling +him, but lay quiet and motionless upon its prey, and when we +were quite close, and the muzzles of our guns were at the +animal's head, I saw the explanation of this sudden +cessation of hostilities—Felis tigris was dead.</p> + +<p>One of our bullets, or one of the last that Delcarte fired, +had penetrated the heart, and the beast had died even as it +sprawled forward crushing Delcarte to the ground.</p> + +<p>A moment later, with our assistance, the man had scrambled +from beneath the carcass of his would-be slayer, without a +scratch to indicate how close to death he had been.</p> + +<p>Delcarte's buoyance was entirely unruffled. He came from +under the tiger with a broad grin on his handsome face, nor +could I perceive that a muscle trembled or that his voice +showed the least indication of nervousness or excitement.</p> + +<p>With the termination of the adventure, we began to speculate +upon the explanation of the presence of this savage brute at +large so great a distance from its native habitat. My +readings had taught me that it was practically unknown +outside of Asia, and that, so late as the twentieth century, +at least, there had been no savage beasts outside captivity +in England.</p> + +<p>As we talked, Snider joined us, and I returned his rifle to +him. Taylor and Delcarte picked up the slain deer, and we +all started down toward the launch, walking slowly. +Delcarte wanted to fetch the tiger's skin, but I had to deny +him permission, since we had no means to properly cure it.</p> + +<p>Upon the beach, we skinned the deer and cut away as much +meat as we thought we could dispose of, and as we were again +embarking to continue up the river for fresh water and fuel, +we were startled by a series of screams from the bushes a +short distance away.</p> + +<p>"Another Felis tigris," said Taylor.</p> + +<p>"Or a dozen of them," supplemented Delcarte, and, even as he +spoke, there leaped into sight, one after another, eight of +the beasts, full grown—magnificent specimens.</p> + +<p>At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated +demons. I saw that three rifles would be no match for them, +and so I gave the word to put out from shore, hoping that +the "tiger," as the ancients called him, could not swim.</p> + +<p>Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and +forth, uttering fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the +most malevolent manner.</p> + +<p>As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar +animals far inland. They seemed to be answering the cries +of their fellows at the water's edge, and from the wide +distribution and great volume of the sound we came to the +conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts must roam +the adjacent country.</p> + +<p>"They have eaten up the inhabitants," murmured Snider, +shuddering.</p> + +<p>"I imagine you are right," I agreed, "for their extreme +boldness and fearlessness in the presence of man would +suggest either that man is entirely unknown to them, or that +they are extremely familiar with him as their natural and +most easily procured prey."</p> + +<p>"But where did they come from?" asked Delcarte. "Could they +have traveled here from Asia?"</p> + +<p>I shook my head. The thing was a puzzle to me. I knew that +it was practically beyond reason to imagine that tigers had +crossed the mountain ranges and rivers and all the great +continent of Europe to travel this far from their native +lairs, and entirely impossible that they should have crossed +the English Channel at all. Yet here they were, and in +great numbers.</p> + +<p>We continued up the Tamar several miles, filled our casks, +and then landed to cook some of our deer steak, and have the +first square meal that had fallen to our lot since the +Coldwater deserted us. But scarce had we built our fire and +prepared the meat for cooking than Snider, whose eyes had +been constantly roving about the landscape from the moment +that we left the launch, touched me on the arm and pointed +to a clump of bushes which grew a couple of hundred yards +away.</p> + +<p>Half concealed behind their screening foliage I saw the +yellow and black of a big tiger, and, as I looked, the beast +stalked majestically toward us. A moment later, he was +followed by another and another, and it is needless to state +that we beat a hasty retreat to the launch.</p> + +<p>The country was apparently infested by these huge Carnivora, +for after three other attempts to land and cook our food we +were forced to abandon the idea entirely, as each time we +were driven off by hunting tigers.</p> + +<p>It was also equally impossible to obtain the necessary +ingredients for our chemical fuel, and, as we had very +little left aboard, we determined to step our folding mast +and proceed under sail, hoarding our fuel supply for use in +emergencies.</p> + +<p>I may say that it was with no regret that we bid adieu to +Tigerland, as we rechristened the ancient Devon, and, +beating out into the Channel, turned the launch's nose +southeast, to round Bolt Head and continue up the coast +toward the Strait of Dover and the North Sea.</p> + +<p>I was determined to reach London as soon as possible, that +we might obtain fresh clothing, meet with cultured people, +and learn from the lips of Englishmen the secrets of the two +centuries since the East had been divorced from the West.</p> + +<p>Our first stopping place was the Isle of Wight. We entered +the Solent about ten o'clock one morning, and I must confess +that my heart sank as we came close to shore. No lighthouse +was visible, though one was plainly indicated upon my map. +Upon neither shore was sign of human habitation. We skirted +the northern shore of the island in fruitless search for +man, and then at last landed upon an eastern point, where +Newport should have stood, but where only weeds and great +trees and tangled wild wood rioted, and not a single manmade +thing was visible to the eye.</p> + +<p>Before landing, I had the men substitute soft bullets for +the steel-jacketed projectiles with which their belts and +magazines were filled. Thus equipped, we felt upon more +even terms with the tigers, but there was no sign of the +tigers, and I decided that they must be confined to the +mainland.</p> + +<p>After eating, we set out in search of fuel, leaving Taylor +to guard the launch. For some reason I could not trust +Snider alone. I knew that he looked with disapproval upon +my plan to visit England, and I did not know but what at his +first opportunity, he might desert us, taking the launch +with him, and attempt to return to Pan-America.</p> + +<p>That he would be fool enough to venture it, I did not doubt.</p> + +<p>We had gone inland for a mile or more, and were passing +through a park-like wood, when we came suddenly upon the +first human beings we had seen since we sighted the English +coast.</p> + +<p>There were a score of men in the party. Hairy, half-naked +men they were, resting in the shade of a great tree. At the +first sight of us they sprang to their feet with wild yells, +seizing long spears that had lain beside them as they +rested.</p> + +<p>For a matter of fifty yards they ran from us as rapidly as +they could, and then they turned and surveyed us for a +moment. Evidently emboldened by the scarcity of our +numbers, they commenced to advance upon us, brandishing +their spears and shouting horribly.</p> + +<p>They were short and muscular of build, with long hair and +beards tangled and matted with filth. Their heads, however, +were shapely, and their eyes, though fierce and warlike, +were intelligent.</p> + +<p>Appreciation of these physical attributes came later, of +course, when I had better opportunity to study the men at +close range and under circumstances less fraught with danger +and excitement. At the moment I saw, and with unmixed +wonder, only a score of wild savages charging down upon us, +where I had expected to find a community of civilized and +enlightened people.</p> + +<p>Each of us was armed with rifle, revolver, and cutlass, but +as we stood shoulder to shoulder facing the wild men I was +loath to give the command to fire upon them, inflicting +death or suffering upon strangers with whom we had no +quarrel, and so I attempted to restrain them for the moment +that we might parley with them.</p> + +<p>To this end I raised my left hand above my head with the +palm toward them as the most natural gesture indicative of +peaceful intentions which occurred to me. At the same time +I called aloud to them that we were friends, though, from +their appearance, there was nothing to indicate that they +might understand Pan-American, or ancient English, which are +of course practically identical.</p> + +<p>At my gesture and words they ceased their shouting and came +to a halt a few paces from us. Then, in deep tones, one who +was in advance of the others and whom I took to be the chief +or leader of the party replied in a tongue which while +intelligible to us, was so distorted from the English +language from which it evidently had sprung, that it was +with difficulty that we interpreted it.</p> + +<p>"Who are you," he asked, "and from what country?"</p> + +<p>I told him that we were from Pan-America, but he only shook +his head and asked where that was. He had never heard of +it, or of the Atlantic Ocean which I told him separated his +country from mine.</p> + +<p>"It has been two hundred years," I told him, "since a Pan- +American visited England."</p> + +<p>"England?" he asked. "What is England?"</p> + +<p>"Why this is a part of England!" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"This is Grubitten," he assured me. "I know nothing about +England, and I have lived here all my life."</p> + +<p>It was not until long after that the derivation of Grubitten +occurred to me. Unquestionably it is a corruption of Great +Britain, a name formerly given to the large island +comprising England, Scotland and Wales. Subsequently we +heard it pronounced Grabrittin and Grubritten.</p> + +<p>I then asked the fellow if he could direct us to Ryde or +Newport; but again he shook his head, and said that he never +had heard of such countries. And when I asked him if there +were any cities in this country he did not know what I +meant, never having heard the word cities.</p> + +<p>I explained my meaning as best I could by stating that by +city I referred to a place where many people lived together +in houses.</p> + +<p>"Oh," he exclaimed, "you mean a camp! Yes, there are two +great camps here, East Camp and West Camp. We are from East +Camp."</p> + +<p>The use of the word camp to describe a collection of +habitations naturally suggested war to me, and my next +question was as to whether the war was over, and who had +been victorious.</p> + +<p>"No," he replied to this question. "The war is not yet +over. But it soon will be, and it will end, as it always +does, with the Westenders running away. We, the Eastenders, +are always victorious."</p> + +<p>"No," I said, seeing that he referred to the petty tribal +wars of his little island, "I mean the Great War, the war +with Germany. Is it ended—and who was victorious?"</p> + +<p>He shook his head impatiently.</p> + +<p>"I never heard," he said, "of any of these strange countries +of which you speak."</p> + +<p>It seemed incredible, and yet it was true. These people +living at the very seat of the Great War knew nothing of it, +though but two centuries had passed since, to our knowledge, +it had been running in the height of its titanic +frightfulness all about them, and to us upon the far side of +the Atlantic still was a subject of keen interest.</p> + +<p>Here was a lifelong inhabitant of the Isle of Wight who +never had heard of either Germany or England! I turned to +him quite suddenly with a new question.</p> + +<p>"What people live upon the mainland?" I asked, and pointed +in the direction of the Hants coast.</p> + +<p>"No one lives there," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Long ago, it is said, my people dwelt across the waters +upon that other land; but the wild beasts devoured them in +such numbers that finally they were driven here, paddling +across upon logs and driftwood, nor has any dared return +since, because of the frightful creatures which dwell in +that horrid country."</p> + +<p>"Do no other peoples ever come to your country in ships?" I +asked.</p> + +<p>He never heard the word ship before, and did not know its +meaning. But he assured me that until we came he had +thought that there were no other peoples in the world other +than the Grubittens, who consist of the Eastenders and the +Westenders of the ancient Isle of Wight.</p> + +<p>Assured that we were inclined to friendliness, our new +acquaintances led us to their village, or, as they call it, +camp. There we found a thousand people, perhaps, dwelling +in rude shelters, and living upon the fruits of the chase +and such sea food as is obtainable close to shore, for they +had no boats, nor any knowledge of such things.</p> + +<p>Their weapons were most primitive, consisting of rude spears +tipped with pieces of metal pounded roughly into shape. +They had no literature, no religion, and recognized no law +other than the law of might. They produced fire by striking +a bit of flint and steel together, but for the most part +they ate their food raw. Marriage is unknown among them, +and while they have the word, mother, they did not know what +I meant by "father." The males fight for the favor of the +females. They practice infanticide, and kill the aged and +physically unfit.</p> + +<p>The family consists of the mother and the children, the men +dwelling sometimes in one hut and sometimes in another. +Owing to their bloody duels, they are always numerically +inferior to the women, so there is shelter for them all.</p> + +<p>We spent several hours in the village, where we were objects +of the greatest curiosity. The inhabitants examined our +clothing and all our belongings, and asked innumerable +questions concerning the strange country from which we had +come and the manner of our coming.</p> + +<p>I questioned many of them concerning past historical events, +but they knew nothing beyond the narrow limits of their +island and the savage, primitive life they led there. +London they had never heard of, and they assured me that I +would find no human beings upon the mainland.</p> + +<p>Much saddened by what I had seen, I took my departure from +them, and the three of us made our way back to the launch, +accompanied by about five hundred men, women, girls, and +boys.</p> + +<p>As we sailed away, after procuring the necessary ingredients +of our chemical fuel, the Grubittens lined the shore in +silent wonder at the strange sight of our dainty craft +dancing over the sparkling waters, and watched us until we +were lost to their sight.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>4</h2> + + +<p>It was during the morning of July 6, 2137, that we entered +the mouth of the Thames—to the best of my knowledge the +first Western keel to cut those historic waters for two +hundred and twenty-one years!</p> + +<p>But where were the tugs and the lighters and the barges, the +lightships and the buoys, and all those countless attributes +which went to make up the myriad life of the ancient Thames?</p> + +<p>Gone! All gone! Only silence and desolation reigned where +once the commerce of the world had centered.</p> + +<p>I could not help but compare this once great water-way with +the waters about our New York, or Rio, or San Diego, or +Valparaiso. They had become what they are today during the +two centuries of the profound peace which we of the navy +have been prone to deplore. And what, during this same +period, had shorn the waters of the Thames of their pristine +grandeur?</p> + +<p>Militarist that I am, I could find but a single word of +explanation—war!</p> + +<p>I bowed my head and turned my eyes downward from the lonely +and depressing sight, and in a silence which none of us +seemed willing to break, we proceeded up the deserted river.</p> + +<p>We had reached a point which, from my map, I imagined must +have been about the former site of Erith, when I discovered +a small band of antelope a short distance inland. As we +were now entirely out of meat once more, and as I had given +up all expectations of finding a city upon the site of +ancient London, I determined to land and bag a couple of the +animals.</p> + +<p>Assured that they would be timid and easily frightened, I +decided to stalk them alone, telling the men to wait at the +boat until I called to them to come and carry the carcasses +back to the shore.</p> + +<p>Crawling carefully through the vegetation, making use of +such trees and bushes as afforded shelter, I came at last +almost within easy range of my quarry, when the antlered +head of the buck went suddenly into the air, and then, as +though in accordance with a prearranged signal, the whole +band moved slowly off, farther inland.</p> + +<p>As their pace was leisurely, I determined to follow them +until I came again within range, as I was sure that they +would stop and feed in a short time.</p> + +<p>They must have led me a mile or more at least before they +again halted and commenced to browse upon the rank, +luxuriant grasses. All the time that I had followed them I +had kept both eyes and ears alert for sign or sound that +would indicate the presence of Felis tigris; but so far not +the slightest indication of the beast had been apparent.</p> + +<p>As I crept closer to the antelope, sure this time of a good +shot at a large buck, I suddenly saw something that caused +me to forget all about my prey in wonderment.</p> + +<p>It was the figure of an immense grey-black creature, rearing +its colossal shoulders twelve or fourteen feet above the +ground. Never in my life had I seen such a beast, nor did I +at first recognize it, so different in appearance is the +live reality from the stuffed, unnatural specimens preserved +to us in our museums.</p> + +<p>But presently I guessed the identity of the mighty creature +as Elephas africanus, or, as the ancients commonly described +it, African elephant.</p> + +<p>The antelope, although in plain view of the huge beast, paid +not the slightest attention to it, and I was so wrapped up +in watching the mighty pachyderm that I quite forgot to +shoot at the buck and presently, and in quite a startling +manner, it became impossible to do so.</p> + +<p>The elephant was browsing upon the young and tender shoots +of some low bushes, waving his great ears and switching his +short tail. The antelope, scarce twenty paces from him, +continued their feeding, when suddenly, from close beside +the latter, there came a most terrifying roar, and I saw a +great, tawny body shoot, from the concealing verdure beyond +the antelope, full upon the back of a small buck.</p> + +<p>Instantly the scene changed from one of quiet and peace to +indescribable chaos. The startled and terrified buck +uttered cries of agony. His fellows broke and leaped off in +all directions. The elephant raised his trunk, and, +trumpeting loudly, lumbered off through the wood, crushing +down small trees and trampling bushes in his mad flight.</p> + +<p>Growling horribly, a huge lion stood across the body of his +prey—such a creature as no Pan-American of the twenty- +second century had ever beheld until my eyes rested upon +this lordly specimen of "the king of beasts." But what a +different creature was this fierce-eyed demon, palpitating +with life and vigor, glossy of coat, alert, growling, +magnificent, from the dingy, moth-eaten replicas beneath +their glass cases in the stuffy halls of our public museums.</p> + +<p>I had never hoped or expected to see a living lion, tiger, +or elephant—using the common terms that were familiar to +the ancients, since they seem to me less unwieldy than those +now in general use among us—and so it was with sentiments +not unmixed with awe that I stood gazing at this regal beast +as, above the carcass of his kill, he roared out his +challenge to the world.</p> + +<p>So enthralled was I by the spectacle that I quite forgot +myself, and the better to view him, the great lion, I had +risen to my feet and stood, not fifty paces from him, in +full view.</p> + +<p>For a moment he did not see me, his attention being directed +toward the retreating elephant, and I had ample time to +feast my eyes upon his splendid proportions, his great head, +and his thick black mane.</p> + +<p>Ah, what thoughts passed through my mind in those brief +moments as I stood there in rapt fascination! I had come to +find a wondrous civilization, and instead I found a wild- +beast monarch of the realm where English kings had ruled. A +lion reigned, undisturbed, within a few miles of the seat of +one of the greatest governments the world has ever known, +his domain a howling wilderness, where yesterday fell the +shadows of the largest city in the world.</p> + +<p>It was appalling; but my reflections upon this depressing +subject were doomed to sudden extinction. The lion had +discovered me.</p> + +<p>For an instant he stood silent and motionless as one of the +mangy effigies at home, but only for an instant. Then, with +a most ferocious roar, and without the slightest hesitancy +or warning, he charged upon me.</p> + +<p>He forsook the prey already dead beneath him for the +pleasures of the delectable tidbit, man. From the +remorselessness with which the great Carnivora of modern +England hunted man, I am constrained to believe that, +whatever their appetites in times past, they have cultivated +a gruesome taste for human flesh.</p> + +<p>As I threw my rifle to my shoulder, I thanked God, the +ancient God of my ancestors, that I had replaced the hard- +jacketed bullets in my weapon with soft-nosed projectiles, +for though this was my first experience with Felis leo, I +knew the moment that I faced that charge that even my +wonderfully perfected firearm would be as futile as a +peashooter unless I chanced to place my first bullet in a +vital spot.</p> + +<p>Unless you had seen it you could not believe credible the +speed of a charging lion. Apparently the animal is not +built for speed, nor can he maintain it for long. But for a +matter of forty or fifty yards there is, I believe, no +animal on earth that can overtake him.</p> + +<p>Like a bolt he bore down upon me, but, fortunately for me, I +did not lose my head. I guessed that no bullet would kill +him instantly. I doubted that I could pierce his skull. +There was hope, though, in finding his heart through his +exposed chest, or, better yet, of breaking his shoulder or +foreleg, and bringing him up long enough to pump more +bullets into him and finish him.</p> + +<p>I covered his left shoulder and pulled the trigger as he was +almost upon me. It stopped him. With a terrific howl of +pain and rage, the brute rolled over and over upon the +ground almost to my feet. As he came I pumped two more +bullets into him, and as he struggled to rise, clawing +viciously at me, I put a bullet in his spine.</p> + +<p>That finished him, and I am free to admit that I was mighty +glad of it. There was a great tree close behind me, and, +stepping within its shade, I leaned against it, wiping the +perspiration from my face, for the day was hot, and the +exertion and excitement left me exhausted.</p> + +<p>I stood there, resting, for a moment, preparatory to turning +and retracing my steps to the launch, when, without warning, +something whizzed through space straight toward me. There +was a dull thud of impact as it struck the tree, and as I +dodged to one side and turned to look at the thing I saw a +heavy spear imbedded in the wood not three inches from where +my head had been.</p> + +<p>The thing had come from a little to one side of me, and, +without waiting to investigate at the instant, I leaped +behind the tree, and, circling it, peered around the other +side to get a sight of my would-be murderer.</p> + +<p>This time I was pitted against men—the spear told me that +all too plainly—but so long as they didn't take me unawares +or from behind I had little fear of them.</p> + +<p>Cautiously I edged about the far side of the trees until I +could obtain a view of the spot from which the spear must +have come, and when I did I saw the head of a man just +emerging from behind a bush.</p> + +<p>The fellow was quite similar in type to those I had seen +upon the Isle of Wight. He was hairy and unkempt, and as he +finally stepped into view I saw that he was garbed in the +same primitive fashion.</p> + +<p>He stood for a moment gazing about in search of me, and then +he advanced. As he did so a number of others, precisely +like him, stepped from the concealing verdure of nearby +bushes and followed in his wake. Keeping the trees between +them and me, I ran back a short distance until I found a +clump of underbrush that would effectually conceal me, for I +wished to discover the strength of the party and its +armament before attempting to parley with it.</p> + +<p>The useless destruction of any of these poor creatures was +the farthest idea from my mind. I should have liked to have +spoken with them, but I did not care to risk having to use +my high-powered rifle upon them other than in the last +extremity.</p> + +<p>Once in my new place of concealment, I watched them as they +approached the tree. There were about thirty men in the +party and one woman—a girl whose hands seemed to be bound +behind her and who was being pulled along by two of the men.</p> + +<p>They came forward warily, peering cautiously into every bush +and halting often. At the body of the lion, they paused, +and I could see from their gesticulations and the higher +pitch of their voices that they were much excited over my +kill.</p> + +<p>But presently they resumed their search for me, and as they +advanced I became suddenly aware of the unnecessary +brutality with which the girl's guards were treating her. +She stumbled once, not far from my place of concealment, and +after the balance of the party had passed me. As she did so +one of the men at her side jerked her roughly to her feet +and struck her across the mouth with his fist.</p> + +<p>Instantly my blood boiled, and forgetting every +consideration of caution, I leaped from my concealment, and, +springing to the man's side, felled him with a blow.</p> + +<p>So unexpected had been my act that it found him and his +fellow unprepared; but instantly the latter drew the knife +that protruded from his belt and lunged viciously at me, at +the same time giving voice to a wild cry of alarm.</p> + +<p>The girl shrank back at sight of me, her eyes wide in +astonishment, and then my antagonist was upon me. I parried +his first blow with my forearm, at the same time delivering +a powerful blow to his jaw that sent him reeling back; but +he was at me again in an instant, though in the brief +interim I had time to draw my revolver.</p> + +<p>I saw his companion crawling slowly to his feet, and the +others of the party racing down upon me. There was no time +to argue now, other than with the weapons we wore, and so, +as the fellow lunged at me again with the wicked-looking +knife, I covered his heart and pulled the trigger.</p> + +<p>Without a sound, he slipped to the earth, and then I turned +the weapon upon the other guard, who was now about to attack +me. He, too, collapsed, and I was alone with the astonished +girl.</p> + +<p>The balance of the party was some twenty paces from us, but +coming rapidly. I seized her arm and drew her after me +behind a nearby tree, for I had seen that with both their +comrades down the others were preparing to launch their +spears.</p> + +<p>With the girl safe behind the tree, I stepped out in sight +of the advancing foe, shouting to them that I was no enemy, +and that they should halt and listen to me. But for answer +they only yelled in derision and launched a couple of spears +at me, both of which missed.</p> + +<p>I saw then that I must fight, yet still I hated to slay +them, and it was only as a final resort that I dropped two +of them with my rifle, bringing the others to a temporary +halt. Again, I appealed to them to desist. But they only +mistook my solicitude for them for fear, and, with shouts of +rage and derision, leaped forward once again to overwhelm +me.</p> + +<p>It was now quite evident that I must punish them severely, +or—myself—die and relinquish the girl once more to her +captors. Neither of these things had I the slightest notion +of doing, and so I again stepped from behind the tree, and, +with all the care and deliberation of target practice, I +commenced picking off the foremost of my assailants.</p> + +<p>One by one the wild men dropped, yet on came the others, +fierce and vengeful, until, only a few remaining, these +seemed to realize the futility of combating my modern weapon +with their primitive spears, and, still howling wrathfully, +withdrew toward the west.</p> + +<p>Now, for the first time, I had an opportunity to turn my +attention toward the girl, who had stood, silent and +motionless, behind me as I pumped death into my enemies and +hers from my automatic rifle.</p> + +<p>She was of medium height, well formed, and with fine, clear- +cut features. Her forehead was high, and her eyes both +intelligent and beautiful. Exposure to the sun had browned +a smooth and velvety skin to a shade which seemed to enhance +rather than mar an altogether lovely picture of youthful +femininity.</p> + +<p>A trace of apprehension marked her expression—I cannot call +it fear since I have learned to know her—and astonishment +was still apparent in her eyes. She stood quite erect, her +hands still bound behind her, and met my gaze with level, +proud return.</p> + +<p>"What language do you speak?" I asked. "Do you understand +mine?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied. "It is similar to my own. I am +Grabritin. What are you?"</p> + +<p>"I am a Pan-American," I answered. She shook her head. +"What is that?"</p> + +<p>I pointed toward the west. "Far away, across the ocean."</p> + +<p>Her expression altered a trifle. A slight frown contracted +her brow. The expression of apprehension deepened.</p> + +<p>"Take off your cap," she said, and when, to humor her +strange request, I did as she bid, she appeared relieved. +Then she edged to one side and leaned over seemingly to peer +behind me. I turned quickly to see what she discovered, but +finding nothing, wheeled about to see that her expression +was once more altered.</p> + +<p>"You are not from there?" and she pointed toward the east. +It was a half question. "You are not from across the water +there?"</p> + +<p>"No," I assured her. "I am from Pan-America, far away to +the west. Have you ever heard of Pan-America?"</p> + +<p>She shook her head in negation. "I do not care where you +are from," she explained, "if you are not from there, and I +am sure you are not, for the men from there have horns and +tails."</p> + +<p>It was with difficulty that I restrained a smile.</p> + +<p>"Who are the men from there?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"They are bad men," she replied. "Some of my people do not +believe that there are such creatures. But we have a +legend—a very old, old legend, that once the men from there +came across to Grabritin. They came upon the water, and +under the water, and even in the air. They came in great +numbers, so that they rolled across the land like a great +gray fog. They brought with them thunder and lightning and +smoke that killed, and they fell upon us and slew our people +by the thousands and the hundreds of thousands. But at last +we drove them back to the water's edge, back into the sea, +where many were drowned. Some escaped, and these our people +followed—men, women, and even children, we followed them +back. That is all. The legend says our people never +returned. Maybe they were all killed. Maybe they are still +there. But this, also, is in the legend, that as we drove +the men back across the water they swore that they would +return, and that when they left our shores they would leave +no human being alive behind them. I was afraid that you +were from there."</p> + +<p>"By what name were these men called?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"We call them only the 'men from there,'" she replied, +pointing toward the east. "I have never heard that they had +another name."</p> + +<p>In the light of what I knew of ancient history, it was not +difficult for me to guess the nationality of those she +described simply as "the men from over there." But what +utter and appalling devastation the Great War must have +wrought to have erased not only every sign of civilization +from the face of this great land, but even the name of the +enemy from the knowledge and language of the people.</p> + +<p>I could only account for it on the hypothesis that the +country had been entirely depopulated except for a few +scattered and forgotten children, who, in some marvelous +manner, had been preserved by Providence to re-populate the +land. These children had, doubtless, been too young to +retain in their memories to transmit to their children any +but the vaguest suggestion of the cataclysm which had +overwhelmed their parents.</p> + +<p>Professor Cortoran, since my return to Pan-America, has +suggested another theory which is not entirely without claim +to serious consideration. He points out that it is quite +beyond the pale of human instinct to desert little children +as my theory suggests the ancient English must have done. +He is more inclined to believe that the expulsion of the foe +from England was synchronous with widespread victories by +the allies upon the continent, and that the people of +England merely emigrated from their ruined cities and their +devastated, blood-drenched fields to the mainland, in the +hope of finding, in the domain of the conquered enemy, +cities and farms which would replace those they had lost.</p> + +<p>The learned professor assumes that while a long-continued +war had strengthened rather than weakened the instinct of +paternal devotion, it had also dulled other humanitarian +instincts, and raised to the first magnitude the law of the +survival of the fittest, with the result that when the +exodus took place the strong, the intelligent, and the +cunning, together with their offspring, crossed the waters +of the Channel or the North Sea to the continent, leaving in +unhappy England only the helpless inmates of asylums for the +feebleminded and insane.</p> + +<p>My objections to this, that the present inhabitants of +England are mentally fit, and could therefore not have +descended from an ancestry of undiluted lunacy he brushes +aside with the assertion that insanity is not necessarily +hereditary; and that even though it was, in many cases a +return to natural conditions from the state of high +civilization, which is thought to have induced mental +disease in the ancient world, would, after several +generations, have thoroughly expunged every trace of the +affliction from the brains and nerves of the descendants of +the original maniacs.</p> + +<p>Personally, I do not place much stock in Professor +Cortoran's theory, though I admit that I am prejudiced. +Naturally one does not care to believe that the object of +his greatest affection is descended from a gibbering idiot +and a raving maniac.</p> + +<p>But I am forgetting the continuity of my narrative—a +continuity which I desire to maintain, though I fear that I +shall often be led astray, so numerous and varied are the +bypaths of speculation which lead from the present day story +of the Grabritins into the mysterious past of their +forbears.</p> + +<p>As I stood talking with the girl I presently recollected +that she still was bound, and with a word of apology, I drew +my knife and cut the rawhide thongs which confined her +wrists at her back.</p> + +<p>She thanked me, and with such a sweet smile that I should +have been amply repaid by it for a much more arduous +service.</p> + +<p>"And now," I said, "let me accompany you to your home and +see you safely again under the protection of your friends."</p> + +<p>"No," she said, with a hint of alarm in her voice; "you must +not come with me—Buckingham will kill you."</p> + +<p>Buckingham. The name was famous in ancient English history. +Its survival, with many other illustrious names, is one of +the strongest arguments in refutal of Professor Cortoran's +theory; yet it opens no new doors to the past, and, on the +whole, rather adds to than dissipates the mystery.</p> + +<p>"And who is Buckingham," I asked, "and why should he wish to +kill me?"</p> + +<p>"He would think that you had stolen me," she replied, "and +as he wishes me for himself, he will kill any other whom he +thinks desires me. He killed Wettin a few days ago. My +mother told me once that Wettin was my father. He was king. +Now Buckingham is king."</p> + +<p>Here, evidently, were a people slightly superior to those of +the Isle of Wight. These must have at least the rudiments +of civilized government since they recognized one among them +as ruler, with the title, king. Also, they retained the +word father. The girl's pronunciation, while far from +identical with ours, was much closer than the tortured +dialect of the Eastenders of the Isle of Wight. The longer +I talked with her the more hopeful I became of finding here, +among her people, some records, or traditions, which might +assist in clearing up the historic enigma of the past two +centuries. I asked her if we were far from the city of +London, but she did not know what I meant. When I tried to +explain, describing mighty buildings of stone and brick, +broad avenues, parks, palaces, and countless people, she but +shook her head sadly.</p> + +<p>"There is no such place near by," she said. "Only the Camp +of the Lions has places of stone where the beasts lair, but +there are no people in the Camp of the Lions. Who would +dare go there!" And she shuddered.</p> + +<p>"The Camp of the Lions," I repeated. "And where is that, +and what?"</p> + +<p>"It is there," she said, pointing up the river toward the +west. "I have seen it from a great distance, but I have +never been there. We are much afraid of the lions, for this +is their country, and they are angry that man has come to +live here.</p> + +<p>"Far away there," and she pointed toward the south-west, "is +the land of tigers, which is even worse than this, the land +of the lions, for the tigers are more numerous than the +lions and hungrier for human flesh. There were tigers here +long ago, but both the lions and the men set upon them and +drove them off."</p> + +<p>"Where did these savage beasts come from?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh," she replied, "they have been here always. It is their +country."</p> + +<p>"Do they not kill and eat your people?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Often, when we meet them by accident, and we are too few to +slay them, or when one goes too close to their camp. But +seldom do they hunt us, for they find what food they need +among the deer and wild cattle, and, too, we make them +gifts, for are we not intruders in their country? Really we +live upon good terms with them, though I should not care to +meet one were there not many spears in my party."</p> + +<p>"I should like to visit this Camp of the Lions," I said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, you must not!" cried the girl. "That would be +terrible. They would eat you." For a moment, then, she +seemed lost in thought, but presently she turned upon me +with: "You must go now, for any minute Buckingham may come +in search of me. Long since should they have learned that I +am gone from the camp—they watch over me very closely—and +they will set out after me. Go! I shall wait here until +they come in search of me."</p> + +<p>"No," I told her. "I'll not leave you alone in a land +infested by lions and other wild beasts. If you won't let +me go as far as your camp with you, then I'll wait here +until they come in search of you."</p> + +<p>"Please go!" she begged. "You have saved me, and I would +save you, but nothing will save you if Buckingham gets his +hands on you. He is a bad man. He wishes to have me for +his woman so that he may be king. He would kill anyone who +befriended me, for fear that I might become another's."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you say that Buckingham is already the king?" I +asked.</p> + +<p>"He is. He took my mother for his woman after he had killed +Wettin. But my mother will die soon—she is very old—and +then the man to whom I belong will become king."</p> + +<p>Finally, after much questioning, I got the thing through my +head. It appears that the line of descent is through the +women. A man is merely head of his wife's family—that is +all. If she chances to be the oldest female member of the +"royal" house, he is king. Very naively the girl explained +that there was seldom any doubt as to whom a child's mother +was.</p> + +<p>This accounted for the girl's importance in the community +and for Buckingham's anxiety to claim her, though she told +me that she did not wish to become his woman, for he was a +bad man and would make a bad king. But he was powerful, and +there was no other man who dared dispute his wishes.</p> + +<p>"Why not come with me," I suggested, "if you do not wish to +become Buckingham's?"</p> + +<p>"Where would you take me?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Where, indeed! I had not thought of that. But before I +could reply to her question she shook her head and said, +"No, I cannot leave my people. I must stay and do my best, +even if Buckingham gets me, but you must go at once. Do not +wait until it is too late. The lions have had no offering +for a long time, and Buckingham would seize upon the first +stranger as a gift to them."</p> + +<p>I did not perfectly understand what she meant, and was about +to ask her when a heavy body leaped upon me from behind, and +great arms encircled my neck. I struggled to free myself +and turn upon my antagonist, but in another instant I was +overwhelmed by a half dozen powerful, half-naked men, while +a score of others surrounded me, a couple of whom seized the +girl.</p> + +<p>I fought as best I could for my liberty and for hers, but +the weight of numbers was too great, though I had the +satisfaction at least of giving them a good fight.</p> + +<p>When they had overpowered me, and I stood, my hands bound +behind me, at the girl's side, she gazed commiseratingly at +me.</p> + +<p>"It is too bad that you did not do as I bid you," she said, +"for now it has happened just as I feared—Buckingham has +you."</p> + +<p>"Which is Buckingham?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I am Buckingham," growled a burly, unwashed brute, +swaggering truculently before me. "And who are you who +would have stolen my woman?"</p> + +<p>The girl spoke up then and tried to explain that I had not +stolen her; but on the contrary I had saved her from the men +from the "Elephant Country" who were carrying her away.</p> + +<p>Buckingham only sneered at her explanation, and a moment +later gave the command that started us all off toward the +west. We marched for a matter of an hour or so, coming at +last to a collection of rude huts, fashioned from branches +of trees covered with skins and grasses and sometimes +plastered with mud. All about the camp they had erected a +wall of saplings pointed at the tops and fire hardened.</p> + +<p>This palisade was a protection against both man and beasts, +and within it dwelt upward of two thousand persons, the +shelters being built very close together, and sometimes +partially underground, like deep trenches, with the poles +and hides above merely as protection from the sun and rain.</p> + +<p>The older part of the camp consisted almost wholly of +trenches, as though this had been the original form of +dwellings which was slowly giving way to the drier and +airier surface domiciles. In these trench habitations I saw +a survival of the military trenches which formed so famous a +part of the operation of the warring nations during the +twentieth century.</p> + +<p>The women wore a single light deerskin about their hips, for +it was summer, and quite warm. The men, too, were clothed +in a single garment, usually the pelt of some beast of prey. +The hair of both men and women was confined by a rawhide +thong passing about the forehead and tied behind. In this +leathern band were stuck feathers, flowers, or the tails of +small mammals. All wore necklaces of the teeth or claws of +wild beasts, and there were numerous metal wristlets and +anklets among them.</p> + +<p>They wore, in fact, every indication of a most primitive +people—a race which had not yet risen to the heights of +agriculture or even the possession of domestic animals. +They were hunters—the lowest plane in the evolution of the +human race of which science takes cognizance.</p> + +<p>And yet as I looked at their well shaped heads, their +handsome features, and their intelligent eyes, it was +difficult to believe that I was not among my own. It was +only when I took into consideration their mode of living, +their scant apparel, the lack of every least luxury among +them, that I was forced to admit that they were, in truth, +but ignorant savages.</p> + +<p>Buckingham had relieved me of my weapons, though he had not +the slightest idea of their purpose or uses, and when we +reached the camp he exhibited both me and my arms with every +indication of pride in this great capture.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants flocked around me, examining my clothing, +and exclaiming in wonderment at each new discovery of +button, buckle, pocket, and flap. It seemed incredible that +such a thing could be, almost within a stone's throw of the +spot where but a brief two centuries before had stood the +greatest city of the world.</p> + +<p>They bound me to a small tree that grew in the middle of one +of their crooked streets, but the girl they released as soon +as we had entered the enclosure. The people greeted her +with every mark of respect as she hastened to a large hut +near the center of the camp.</p> + +<p>Presently she returned with a fine looking, white-haired +woman, who proved to be her mother. The older woman carried +herself with a regal dignity that seemed quite remarkable in +a place of such primitive squalor.</p> + +<p>The people fell aside as she approached, making a wide way +for her and her daughter. When they had come near and +stopped before me the older woman addressed me.</p> + +<p>"My daughter has told me," she said, "of the manner in which +you rescued her from the men of the elephant country. If +Wettin lived you would be well treated, but Buckingham has +taken me now, and is king. You can hope for nothing from +such a beast as Buckingham."</p> + +<p>The fact that Buckingham stood within a pace of us and was +an interested listener appeared not to temper her +expressions in the slightest.</p> + +<p>"Buckingham is a pig," she continued. "He is a coward. He +came upon Wettin from behind and ran his spear through him. +He will not be king for long. Some one will make a face at +him, and he will run away and jump into the river."</p> + +<p>The people began to titter and clap their hands. Buckingham +became red in the face. It was evident that he was far from +popular.</p> + +<p>"If he dared," went on the old lady, "he would kill me now, +but he does not dare. He is too great a coward. If I could +help you I should gladly do so. But I am only queen—the +vehicle that has helped carry down, unsullied, the royal +blood from the days when Grabritin was a mighty country."</p> + +<p>The old queen's words had a noticeable effect upon the mob +of curious savages which surrounded me. The moment they +discovered that the old queen was friendly to me and that I +had rescued her daughter they commenced to accord me a more +friendly interest, and I heard many words spoken in my +behalf, and demands were made that I not be harmed.</p> + +<p>But now Buckingham interfered. He had no intention of being +robbed of his prey. Blustering and storming, he ordered the +people back to their huts, at the same time directing two of +his warriors to confine me in a dugout in one of the +trenches close to his own shelter.</p> + +<p>Here they threw me upon the ground, binding my ankles +together and trussing them up to my wrists behind. There +they left me, lying upon my stomach—a most uncomfortable +and strained position, to which was added the pain where the +cords cut into my flesh.</p> + +<p>Just a few days ago my mind had been filled with the +anticipation of the friendly welcome I should find among the +cultured Englishmen of London. Today I should be sitting in +the place of honor at the banquet board of one of London's +most exclusive clubs, feted and lionized.</p> + +<p>The actuality! Here I lay, bound hand and foot, doubtless +almost upon the very site of a part of ancient London, yet +all about me was a primeval wilderness, and I was a captive +of half-naked wild men.</p> + +<p>I wondered what had become of Delcarte and Taylor and +Snider. Would they search for me? They could never find +me, I feared, yet if they did, what could they accomplish +against this horde of savage warriors?</p> + +<p>Would that I could warn them. I thought of the girl—doubtless she could get word to them, but how was I to +communicate with her? Would she come to see me before I was +killed? It seemed incredible that she should not make some +slight attempt to befriend me; yet, as I recalled, she had +made no effort to speak with me after we had reached the +village. She had hastened to her mother the moment she had +been liberated. Though she had returned with the old queen, +she had not spoken to me, even then. I began to have my +doubts.</p> + +<p>Finally, I came to the conclusion that I was absolutely +friendless except for the old queen. For some unaccountable +reason my rage against the girl for her ingratitude rose to +colossal proportions.</p> + +<p>For a long time I waited for some one to come to my prison +whom I might ask to bear word to the queen, but I seemed to +have been forgotten. The strained position in which I lay +became unbearable. I wriggled and twisted until I managed +to turn myself partially upon my side, where I lay half +facing the entrance to the dugout.</p> + +<p>Presently my attention was attracted by the shadow of +something moving in the trench without, and a moment later +the figure of a child appeared, creeping upon all fours, as, +wide-eyed, and prompted by childish curiosity, a little girl +crawled to the entrance of my hut and peered cautiously and +fearfully in.</p> + +<p>I did not speak at first for fear of frightening the little +one away. But when I was satisfied that her eyes had become +sufficiently accustomed to the subdued light of the +interior, I smiled.</p> + +<p>Instantly the expression of fear faded from her eyes to be +replaced with an answering smile.</p> + +<p>"Who are you, little girl?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"My name is Mary," she replied. "I am Victory's sister."</p> + +<p>"And who is Victory?"</p> + +<p>"You do not know who Victory is?" she asked, in +astonishment.</p> + +<p>I shook my head in negation.</p> + +<p>"You saved her from the elephant country people, and yet you +say you do not know her!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, so she is Victory, and you are her sister! I have not +heard her name before. That is why I did not know whom you +meant," I explained. Here was just the messenger for me. +Fate was becoming more kind.</p> + +<p>"Will you do something for me, Mary?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"If I can."</p> + +<p>"Go to your mother, the queen, and ask her to come to me," I +said. "I have a favor to ask."</p> + +<p>She said that she would, and with a parting smile she left +me.</p> + +<p>For what seemed many hours I awaited her return, chafing +with impatience. The afternoon wore on and night came, and +yet no one came near me. My captors brought me neither food +nor water. I was suffering considerable pain where the +rawhide thongs cut into my swollen flesh. I thought that +they had either forgotten me, or that it was their intention +to leave me here to die of starvation.</p> + +<p>Once I heard a great uproar in the village. Men were +shouting—women were screaming and moaning. After a time +this subsided, and again there was a long interval of +silence.</p> + +<p>Half the night must have been spent when I heard a sound in +the trench near the hut. It resembled muffled sobs. +Presently a figure appeared, silhouetted against the lesser +darkness beyond the doorway. It crept inside the hut.</p> + +<p>"Are you here?" whispered a childlike voice.</p> + +<p>It was Mary! She had returned. The thongs no longer hurt +me. The pangs of hunger and thirst disappeared. I realized +that it had been loneliness from which I suffered most.</p> + +<p>"Mary!" I exclaimed. "You are a good girl. You have come +back, after all. I had commenced to think that you would +not. Did you give my message to the queen? Will she come? +Where is she?"</p> + +<p>The child's sobs increased, and she flung herself upon the +dirt floor of the hut, apparently overcome by grief.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" I asked. "Why do you cry?"</p> + +<p>"The queen, my mother, will not come to you," she said, +between sobs. "She is dead. Buckingham has killed her. +Now he will take Victory, for Victory is queen. He kept us +fastened up in our shelter, for fear that Victory would +escape him, but I dug a hole beneath the back wall and got +out. I came to you, because you saved Victory once before, +and I thought that you might save her again, and me, also. +Tell me that you will."</p> + +<p>"I am bound and helpless, Mary," I replied. "Otherwise I +would do what I could to save you and your sister."</p> + +<p>"I will set you free!" cried the girl, creeping up to my +side. "I will set you free, and then you may come and slay +Buckingham."</p> + +<p>"Gladly!" I assented.</p> + +<p>"We must hurry," she went on, as she fumbled with the hard +knots in the stiffened rawhide, "for Buckingham will be +after you soon. He must make an offering to the lions at +dawn before he can take Victory. The taking of a queen +requires a human offering!"</p> + +<p>"And I am to be the offering?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, tugging at a knot. "Buckingham has been +wanting a sacrifice ever since he killed Wettin, that he +might slay my mother and take Victory."</p> + +<p>The thought was horrible, not solely because of the hideous +fate to which I was condemned, but from the contemplation it +engendered of the sad decadence of a once enlightened race. +To these depths of ignorance, brutality, and superstition +had the vaunted civilization of twentieth century England +been plunged, and by what? War! I felt the structure of +our time-honored militaristic arguments crumbling about me.</p> + +<p>Mary labored with the thongs that confined me. They proved +refractory—defying her tender, childish fingers. She +assured me, however, that she would release me, if "they" +did not come too soon.</p> + +<p>But, alas, they came. We heard them coming down the trench, +and I bade Mary hide in a corner, lest she be discovered and +punished. There was naught else she could do, and so she +crawled away into the Stygian blackness behind me.</p> + +<p>Presently two warriors entered. The leader exhibited a +unique method of discovering my whereabouts in the darkness. +He advanced slowly, kicking out viciously before him. +Finally he kicked me in the face. Then he knew where I was.</p> + +<p>A moment later I had been jerked roughly to my feet. One of +the fellows stopped and severed the bonds that held my +ankles. I could scarcely stand alone. The two pulled and +hauled me through the low doorway and along the trench. A +party of forty or fifty warriors were awaiting us at the +brink of the excavation some hundred yards from the hut.</p> + +<p>Hands were lowered to us, and we were dragged to the +surface. Then commenced a long march. We stumbled through +the underbrush wet with dew, our way lighted by a score of +torchbearers who surrounded us. But the torches were not to +light the way—that was but incidental. They were carried +to keep off the huge Carnivora that moaned and coughed and +roared about us.</p> + +<p>The noises were hideous. The whole country seemed alive +with lions. Yellow-green eyes blazed wickedly at us from +out the surrounding darkness. My escort carried long, heavy +spears. These they kept ever pointed toward the beast of +prey, and I learned from snatches of the conversation I +overheard that occasionally there might be a lion who would +brave even the terrors of fire to leap in upon human prey. +It was for such that the spears were always couched.</p> + +<p>But nothing of the sort occurred during this hideous death +march, and with the first pale heralding of dawn we reached +our goal—an open place in the midst of a tangled wildwood. +Here rose in crumbling grandeur the first evidences I had +seen of the ancient civilization which once had graced fair +Albion—a single, time-worn arch of masonry.</p> + +<p>"The entrance to the Camp of the Lions!" murmured one of the +party in a voice husky with awe.</p> + +<p>Here the party knelt, while Buckingham recited a weird, +prayer-like chant. It was rather long, and I recall only a +portion of it, which ran, if my memory serves me, somewhat +as follows:</p> + +<p class="center">Lord of Grabritin, we<br /> +Fall on our knees to thee,<br /> +This gift to bring.<br /> +Greatest of kings are thou!<br /> +To thee we humbly bow!<br /> +Peace to our camp allow.<br /> +God save thee, king!</p> + + +<p>Then the party rose, and dragging me to the crumbling arch, +made me fast to a huge, corroded, copper ring which was +dangling from an eyebolt imbedded in the masonry.</p> + +<p>None of them, not even Buckingham, seemed to feel any +personal animosity toward me. They were naturally rough and +brutal, as primitive men are supposed to have been since the +dawn of humanity, but they did not go out of their way to +maltreat me.</p> + +<p>With the coming of dawn the number of lions about us seemed +to have greatly diminished—at least they made less noise—and as Buckingham and his party disappeared into the woods, +leaving me alone to my terrible fate, I could hear the +grumblings and growlings of the beasts diminishing with the +sound of the chant, which the party still continued. It +appeared that the lions had failed to note that I had been +left for their breakfast, and had followed off after their +worshippers instead.</p> + +<p>But I knew the reprieve would be but for a short time, and +though I had no wish to die, I must confess that I rather +wished the ordeal over and the peace of oblivion upon me.</p> + +<p>The voices of the men and the lions receded in the distance, +until finally quiet reigned about me, broken only by the +sweet voices of birds and the sighing of the summer wind in +the trees.</p> + +<p>It seemed impossible to believe that in this peaceful +woodland setting the frightful thing was to occur which must +come with the passing of the next lion who chanced within +sight or smell of the crumbling arch.</p> + +<p>I strove to tear myself loose from my bonds, but succeeded +only in tightening them about my arms. Then I remained +passive for a long time, letting the scenes of my lifetime +pass in review before my mind's eye.</p> + +<p>I tried to imagine the astonishment, incredulity, and horror +with which my family and friends would be overwhelmed if, +for an instant, space could be annihilated and they could +see me at the gates of London.</p> + +<p>The gates of London! Where was the multitude hurrying to +the marts of trade after a night of pleasure or rest? Where +was the clang of tramcar gongs, the screech of motor horns, +the vast murmur of a dense throng?</p> + +<p>Where were they? And as I asked the question a lone, gaunt +lion strode from the tangled jungle upon the far side of the +clearing. Majestically and noiselessly upon his padded feet +the king of beasts moved slowly toward the gates of London +and toward me.</p> + +<p>Was I afraid? I fear that I was almost afraid. I know that +I thought that fear was coming to me, and so I straightened +up and squared my shoulders and looked the lion straight in +the eyes—and waited.</p> + +<p>It is not a nice way to die—alone, with one's hands fast +bound, beneath the fangs and talons of a beast of prey. No, +it is not a nice way to die, not a pretty way.</p> + +<p>The lion was halfway across the clearing when I heard a +slight sound behind me. The great cat stopped in his +tracks. He lashed his tail against his sides now, instead +of simply twitching its tip, and his low moan became a +thunderous roar.</p> + +<p>As I craned my neck to catch a glimpse of the thing that had +aroused the fury of the beast before me, it sprang through +the arched gateway and was at my side—with parted lips and +heaving bosom and disheveled hair—a bronzed and lovely +vision to eyes that had never harbored hope of rescue.</p> + +<p>It was Victory, and in her arms she clutched my rifle and +revolver. A long knife was in the doeskin belt that +supported the doeskin skirt tightly about her lithe limbs. +She dropped my weapons at my feet, and, snatching the knife +from its resting place, severed the bonds that held me. I +was free, and the lion was preparing to charge.</p> + +<p>"Run!" I cried to the girl, as I bent and seized my rifle. +But she only stood there at my side, her bared blade ready +in her hand.</p> + +<p>The lion was bounding toward us now in prodigious leaps. I +raised the rifle and fired. It was a lucky shot, for I had +no time to aim carefully, and when the beast crumpled and +rolled, lifeless, to the ground, I went upon my knees and +gave thanks to the God of my ancestors.</p> + +<p>And, still upon my knees, I turned, and taking the girl's +hand in mine, I kissed it. She smiled at that, and laid her +other hand upon my head.</p> + +<p>"You have strange customs in your country," she said.</p> + +<p>I could not but smile at that when I thought how strange it +would seem to my countrymen could they but see me kneeling +there on the site of London, kissing the hand of England's +queen.</p> + +<p>"And now," I said, as I rose, "you must return to the safety +of your camp. I will go with you until you are near enough +to continue alone in safety. Then I shall try to return to +my comrades."</p> + +<p>"I will not return to the camp," she replied.</p> + +<p>"But what shall you do?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I do not know. Only I shall never go back while Buckingham +lives. I should rather die than go back to him. Mary came +to me, after they had taken you from the camp, and told me. +I found your strange weapons and followed with them. It +took me a little longer, for often I had to hide in the +trees that the lions might not get me, but I came in time, +and now you are free to go back to your friends."</p> + +<p>"And leave you here?" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>She nodded, but I could see through all her brave front that +she was frightened at the thought. I could not leave her, +of course, but what in the world I was to do, cumbered with +the care of a young woman, and a queen at that, I was at a +loss to know. I pointed out that phase of it to her, but +she only shrugged her shapely shoulders and pointed to her +knife.</p> + +<p>It was evident that she felt entirely competent to protect +herself.</p> + +<p>As we stood there we heard the sound of voices. They were +coming from the forest through which we had passed when we +had come from camp.</p> + +<p>"They are searching for me," said the girl. "Where shall we +hide?"</p> + +<p>I didn't relish hiding. But when I thought of the +innumerable dangers which surrounded us and the +comparatively small amount of ammunition that I had with me, +I hesitated to provoke a battle with Buckingham and his +warriors when, by flight, I could avoid them and preserve my +cartridges against emergencies which could not be escaped.</p> + +<p>"Would they follow us there?" I asked, pointing through the +archway into the Camp of the Lions.</p> + +<p>"Never," she replied, "for, in the first place, they would +know that we would not dare go there, and in the second they +themselves would not dare."</p> + +<p>"Then we shall take refuge in the Camp of the Lions," I +said.</p> + +<p>She shuddered and drew closer to me.</p> + +<p>"You dare?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" I returned. "We shall be safe from Buckingham, +and you have seen, for the second time in two days, that +lions are harmless before my weapons. Then, too, I can find +my friends easiest in this direction, for the River Thames +runs through this place you call the Camp of the Lions, and +it is farther down the Thames that my friends are awaiting +me. Do you not dare come with me?"</p> + +<p>"I dare follow wherever you lead," she answered simply.</p> + +<p>And so I turned and passed beneath the great arch into the +city of London.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>5</h2> + + +<p>As we entered deeper into what had once been the city, the +evidences of man's past occupancy became more frequent. For +a mile from the arch there was only a riot of weeds and +undergrowth and trees covering small mounds and little +hillocks that, I was sure, were formed of the ruins of +stately buildings of the dead past.</p> + +<p>But presently we came upon a district where shattered walls +still raised their crumbling tops in sad silence above the +grass-grown sepulchers of their fallen fellows. Softened +and mellowed by ancient ivy stood these sentinels of sorrow, +their scarred faces still revealing the rents and gashes of +shrapnel and of bomb.</p> + +<p>Contrary to our expectations, we found little indication +that lions in any great numbers laired in this part of +ancient London. Well-worn pathways, molded by padded paws, +led through the cavernous windows or doorways of a few of +the ruins we passed, and once we saw the savage face of a +great, black-maned lion scowling down upon us from a +shattered stone balcony.</p> + +<p>We followed down the bank of the Thames after we came upon +it. I was anxious to look with my own eyes upon the famous +bridge, and I guessed, too, that the river would lead me +into the part of London where stood Westminster Abbey and +the Tower.</p> + +<p>Realizing that the section through which we had been passing +was doubtless outlying, and therefore not so built up with +large structures as the more centrally located part of the +old town, I felt sure that farther down the river I should +find the ruins larger. The bridge would be there in part, +at least, and so would remain the walls of many of the great +edifices of the past. There would be no such complete ruin +of large structures as I had seen among the smaller +buildings.</p> + +<p>But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged +to have contained the relics I sought I found havoc that had +been wrought there even greater than elsewhere.</p> + +<p>At one point upon the bosom of the Thames there rises a few +feet above the water a single, disintegrating mound of +masonry. Opposite it, upon either bank of the river, are +tumbled piles of ruins overgrown with vegetation.</p> + +<p>These, I am forced to believe, are all that remain of London +Bridge, for nowhere else along the river is there any other +slightest sign of pier or abutment.</p> + +<p>Rounding the base of a large pile of grass-covered debris, +we came suddenly upon the best preserved ruin we had yet +discovered. The entire lower story and part of the second +story of what must once have been a splendid public building +rose from a great knoll of shrubbery and trees, while ivy, +thick and luxuriant, clambered upward to the summit of the +broken walls.</p> + +<p>In many places the gray stone was still exposed, its +smoothly chiseled face pitted with the scars of battle. The +massive portal yawned, somber and sorrowful, before us, +giving a glimpse of marble halls within.</p> + +<p>The temptation to enter was too great. I wished to explore +the interior of this one remaining monument of civilization +now dead beyond recall. Through this same portal, within +these very marble halls, had Gray and Chamberlin and +Kitchener and Shaw, perhaps, come and gone with the other +great ones of the past.</p> + +<p>I took Victory's hand in mine.</p> + +<p>"Come!" I said. "I do not know the name by which this great +pile was known, nor the purposes it fulfilled. It may have +been the palace of your sires, Victory. From some great +throne within, your forebears may have directed the +destinies of half the world. Come!"</p> + +<p>I must confess to a feeling of awe as we entered the rotunda +of the great building. Pieces of massive furniture of +another day still stood where man had placed them centuries +ago. They were littered with dust and broken stone and +plaster, but, otherwise, so perfect was their preservation I +could hardly believe that two centuries had rolled by since +human eyes were last set upon them.</p> + +<p>Through one great room after another we wandered, hand in +hand, while Victory asked many questions and for the first +time I began to realize something of the magnificence and +power of the race from whose loins she had sprung.</p> + +<p>Splendid tapestries, now mildewed and rotting, hung upon the +walls. There were mural paintings, too, depicting great +historic events of the past. For the first time Victory saw +the likeness of a horse, and she was much affected by a huge +oil which depicted some ancient cavalry charge against a +battery of field guns.</p> + +<p>In other pictures there were steamships, battleships, +submarines, and quaint looking railway trains—all small and +antiquated in appearance to me, but wonderful to Victory. +She told me that she would like to remain for the rest of +her life where she could look at those pictures daily.</p> + +<p>From room to room we passed until presently we emerged into +a mighty chamber, dark and gloomy, for its high and narrow +windows were choked and clogged by ivy. Along one paneled +wall we groped, our eyes slowly becoming accustomed to the +darkness. A rank and pungent odor pervaded the atmosphere.</p> + +<p>We had made our way about half the distance across one end +of the great apartment when a low growl from the far end +brought us to a startled halt.</p> + +<p>Straining my eyes through the gloom, I made out a raised +dais at the extreme opposite end of the hall. Upon the dais +stood two great chairs, highbacked and with great arms.</p> + +<p>The throne of England! But what were those strange forms +about it?</p> + +<p>Victory gave my hand a quick, excited little squeeze.</p> + +<p>"The lions!" she whispered.</p> + +<p>Yes, lions indeed! Sprawled about the dais were a dozen +huge forms, while upon the seat of one of the thrones a +small cub lay curled in slumber.</p> + +<p>As we stood there for a moment, spellbound by the sight of +those fearsome creatures occupying the very thrones of the +sovereigns of England, the low growl was repeated, and a +great male rose slowly to his feet.</p> + +<p>His devilish eyes bored straight through the semi-darkness +toward us. He had discovered the interloper. What right +had man within this palace of the beasts? Again he opened +his giant jaws, and this time there rumbled forth a warning +roar.</p> + +<p>Instantly eight or ten of the other beasts leaped to their +feet. Already the great fellow who had spied us was +advancing slowly in our direction. I held my rifle ready, +but how futile it appeared in the face of this savage horde.</p> + +<p>The foremost beast broke into a slow trot, and at his heels +came the others. All were roaring now, and the din of their +great voices reverberating through the halls and corridors +of the palace formed the most frightful chorus of thunderous +savagery imaginable to the mind of man.</p> + +<p>And then the leader charged, and upon the hideous +pandemonium broke the sharp crack of my rifle, once, twice, +thrice. Three lions rolled, struggling and biting, to the +floor. Victory seized my arm, with a quick, "This way! +Here is a door," and a moment later we were in a tiny +antechamber at the foot of a narrow stone staircase.</p> + +<p>Up this we backed, Victory just behind me, as the first of +the remaining lions leaped from the throne room and sprang +for the stairs. Again I fired, but others of the ferocious +beasts leaped over their fallen fellows and pursued us.</p> + +<p>The stairs were very narrow—that was all that saved us—for +as I backed slowly upward, but a single lion could attack me +at a time, and the carcasses of those I slew impeded the +rushes of the others.</p> + +<p>At last we reached the top. There was a long corridor from +which opened many doorways. One, directly behind us, was +tight closed. If we could open it and pass into the chamber +behind we might find a respite from attack.</p> + +<p>The remaining lions were roaring horribly. I saw one +sneaking very slowly up the stairs toward us.</p> + +<p>"Try that door," I called to Victory. "See if it will +open."</p> + +<p>She ran up to it and pushed.</p> + +<p>"Turn the knob!" I cried, seeing that she did not know how +to open a door, but neither did she know what I meant by +knob.</p> + +<p>I put a bullet in the spine of the approaching lion and +leaped to Victory's side. The door resisted my first +efforts to swing it inward. Rusted hinges and swollen wood +held it tightly closed. But at last it gave, and just as +another lion mounted to the top of the stairway it swung in, +and I pushed Victory across the threshold.</p> + +<p>Then I turned to meet the renewed attack of the savage foe. +One lion fell in his tracks, another stumbled to my very +feet, and then I leaped within and slammed the portal to.</p> + +<p>A quick glance showed me that this was the only door to the +small apartment in which we had found sanctuary, and, with a +sigh of relief, I leaned for a moment against the panels of +the stout barrier that separated us from the ramping demons +without.</p> + +<p>Across the room, between two windows, stood a flat-topped +desk. A little pile of white and brown lay upon it close to +the opposite edge. After a moment of rest I crossed the +room to investigate. The white was the bleached human +bones—the skull, collar bones, arms, and a few of the upper +ribs of a man. The brown was the dust of a decayed military +cap and blouse. In a chair before the desk were other +bones, while more still strewed the floor beneath the desk +and about the chair. A man had died sitting there with his +face buried in his arms—two hundred years ago.</p> + +<p>Beneath the desk were a pair of spurred military boots, +green and rotten with decay. In them were the leg bones of +a man. Among the tiny bones of the hands was an ancient +fountain pen, as good, apparently, as the day it was made, +and a metal covered memoranda book, closed over the bones of +an index finger.</p> + +<p>It was a gruesome sight—a pitiful sight—this lone +inhabitant of mighty London.</p> + +<p>I picked up the metal covered memoranda book. Its pages +were rotten and stuck together. Only here and there was a +sentence or a part of a sentence legible. The first that I +could read was near the middle of the little volume:</p> + +<p>"His majesty left for Tunbridge Wells today, he . . . jesty +was stricken . . . terday. God give she does not die . . . +am military governor of Lon . . ."</p> + +<p>And farther on:</p> + +<p>"It is awful . . . hundred deaths today . . . worse than the +bombardm . . ."</p> + +<p>Nearer the end I picked out the following:</p> + +<p>"I promised his maj . . . e will find me here when he ret . +. . alone."</p> + +<p>The most legible passage was on the next page:</p> + +<p>"Thank God we drove them out. There is not a single . . . +man on British soil today; but at what awful cost. I tried +to persuade Sir Phillip to urge the people to remain. But +they are mad with fear of the Death, and rage at our +enemies. He tells me that the coast cities are packed . . . +waiting to be taken across. What will become of England, +with none left to rebuild her shattered cities!"</p> + +<p>And the last entry:</p> + +<p>". . . alone. Only the wild beasts . . . A lion is roaring +now beneath the palace windows. I think the people feared +the beasts even more than they did the Death. But they are +gone, all gone, and to what? How much better conditions +will they find on the continent? All gone—only I remain. I +promised his majesty, and when he returns he will find that +I was true to my trust, for I shall be awaiting him. God +save the King!"</p> + +<p>That was all. This brave and forever nameless officer died +nobly at his post—true to his country and his king. It was +the Death, no doubt, that took him.</p> + +<p>Some of the entries had been dated. From the few legible +letters and figures which remained I judge the end came some +time in August, 1937, but of that I am not at all certain.</p> + +<p>The diary has cleared up at least one mystery that had +puzzled me not a little, and now I am surprised that I had +not guessed its solution myself—the presence of African and +Asiatic beasts in England.</p> + +<p>Acclimated by years of confinement in the zoological +gardens, they were fitted to resume in England the wild +existence for which nature had intended them, and once free, +had evidently bred prolifically, in marked contrast to the +captive exotics of twentieth century Pan-America, which had +gradually become fewer until extinction occurred some time +during the twenty-first century.</p> + +<p>The palace, if such it was, lay not far from the banks of +the Thames. The room in which we were imprisoned overlooked +the river, and I determined to attempt to escape in this +direction.</p> + +<p>To descend through the palace was out of the question, but +outside we could discover no lions. The stems of the ivy +which clambered upward past the window of the room were as +large around as my arm. I knew that they would support our +weight, and as we could gain nothing by remaining longer in +the palace, I decided to descend by way of the ivy and +follow along down the river in the direction of the launch.</p> + +<p>Naturally I was much handicapped by the presence of the +girl. But I could not abandon her, though I had no idea +what I should do with her after rejoining my companions. +That she would prove a burden and an embarrassment I was +certain, but she had made it equally plain to me that she +would never return to her people to mate with Buckingham.</p> + +<p>I owed my life to her, and, all other considerations aside, +that was sufficient demand upon my gratitude and my honor to +necessitate my suffering every inconvenience in her service. +Too, she was queen of England. But, by far the most potent +argument in her favor, she was a woman in distress—and a +young and very beautiful one.</p> + +<p>And so, though I wished a thousand times that she was back +in her camp, I never let her guess it, but did all that lay +within my power to serve and protect her. I thank God now +that I did so.</p> + +<p>With the lions still padding back and forth beyond the +closed door, Victory and I crossed the room to one of the +windows. I had outlined my plan to her, and she had assured +me that she could descend the ivy without assistance. In +fact, she smiled a trifle at my question.</p> + +<p>Swinging myself outward, I began the descent, and had come +to within a few feet of the ground, being just opposite a +narrow window, when I was startled by a savage growl almost +in my ear, and then a great taloned paw darted from the +aperture to seize me, and I saw the snarling face of a lion +within the embrasure.</p> + +<p>Releasing my hold upon the ivy, I dropped the re-maining +distance to the ground, saved from laceration only because +the lion's paw struck the thick stem of ivy.</p> + +<p>The creature was making a frightful racket now, leaping back +and forth from the floor at the broad window ledge, tearing +at the masonry with his claws in vain attempts to reach me. +But the opening was too narrow, and the masonry too solid.</p> + +<p>Victory had commenced the descent, but I called to her to +stop just above the window, and, as the lion reappeared, +growling and snarling, I put a .33 bullet in his face, and +at the same moment Victory slipped quickly past him, +dropping into my upraised arms that were awaiting her.</p> + +<p>The roaring of the beasts that had discovered us, together +with the report of my rifle, had set the balance of the +fierce inmates of the palace into the most frightful uproar +I have ever heard.</p> + +<p>I feared that it would not be long before intelligence or +instinct would draw them from the interiors and set them +upon our trail, the river. Nor had we much more than +reached it when a lion bounded around the corner of the +edifice we had just quitted and stood looking about as +though in search of us.</p> + +<p>Following, came others, while Victory and I crouched in +hiding behind a clump of bushes close to the bank of the +river. The beasts sniffed about the ground for a while, but +they did not chance to go near the spot where we had stood +beneath the window that had given us escape.</p> + +<p>Presently a black-maned male raised his head, and, with +cocked ears and glaring eyes, gazed straight at the bush +behind which we lay. I could have sworn that he had +discovered us, and when he took a few short and stately +steps in our direction I raised my rifle and covered him. +But, after a long, tense moment he looked away, and turned +to glare in another direction.</p> + +<p>I breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Victory. I could +feel her body quiver as she lay pressed close to me, our +cheeks almost touching as we both peered through the same +small opening in the foliage.</p> + +<p>I turned to give her a reassuring smile as the lion +indicated that he had not seen us, and as I did so she, too, +turned her face toward mine, for the same purpose, +doubtless. Anyway, as our heads turned simultaneously, our +lips brushed together. A startled expression came into +Victory's eyes as she drew back in evident confusion.</p> + +<p>As for me, the strangest sensation that I have ever +experienced claimed me for an instant. A peculiar, tingling +thrill ran through my veins, and my head swam. I could not +account for it.</p> + +<p>Naturally, being a naval officer and consequently in the +best society of the federation, I have seen much of women. +With others, I have laughed at the assertions of the savants +that modern man is a cold and passionless creation in +comparison with the males of former ages—in a word, that +love, as the one grand passion, had ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>I do not know, now, but that they were more nearly right +than we have guessed, at least in so far as modern civilized +woman is concerned. I have kissed many women—young and +beautiful and middle aged and old, and many that I had no +business kissing—but never before had I experienced that +remarkable and altogether delightful thrill that followed +the accidental brushing of my lips against the lips of +Victory.</p> + +<p>The occurrence interested me, and I was tempted to +experiment further. But when I would have essayed it +another new and entirely unaccountable force restrained me. +For the first time in my life I felt embarrassment in the +presence of a woman.</p> + +<p>What further might have developed I cannot say, for at that +moment a perfect she-devil of a lioness, with keener eyes +than her lord and master, discovered us. She came trotting +toward our place of concealment, growling and baring her +yellow fangs.</p> + +<p>I waited for an instant, hoping that I might be mistaken, +and that she would turn off in some other direction. But +no—she increased her trot to a gallop, and then I fired at +her, but the bullet, though it struck her full in the +breast, didn't stop her.</p> + +<p>Screaming with pain and rage, the creature fairly flew +toward us. Behind her came other lions. Our case looked +hopeless. We were upon the brink of the river. There +seemed no avenue of escape, and I knew that even my modern +automatic rifle was inadequate in the face of so many of +these fierce beasts.</p> + +<p>To remain where we were would have been suicidal. We were +both standing now, Victory keeping her place bravely at my +side, when I reached the only decision open to me.</p> + +<p>Seizing the girl's hand, I turned, just as the lioness +crashed into the opposite side of the bushes, and, dragging +Victory after me, leaped over the edge of the bank into the +river.</p> + +<p>I did not know that lions are not fond of water, nor did I +know if Victory could swim, but death, immediate and +terrible, stared us in the face if we remained, and so I +took the chance.</p> + +<p>At this point the current ran close to the shore, so that we +were immediately in deep water, and, to my intense +satisfaction, Victory struck out with a strong, overhand +stroke and set all my fears on her account at rest.</p> + +<p>But my relief was short-lived. That lioness, as I have said +before, was a veritable devil. She stood for a moment +glaring at us, then like a shot she sprang into the river +and swam swiftly after us.</p> + +<p>Victory was a length ahead of me.</p> + +<p>"Swim for the other shore!" I called to her.</p> + +<p>I was much impeded by my rifle, having to swim with one hand +while I clung to my precious weapon with the other. The +girl had seen the lioness take to the water, and she had +also seen that I was swimming much more slowly than she, and +what did she do? She started to drop back to my side.</p> + +<p>"Go on!" I cried. "Make for the other shore, and then +follow down until you find my friends. Tell them that I +sent you, and with orders that they are to protect you. Go +on! Go on!"</p> + +<p>But she only waited until we were again swimming side by +side, and I saw that she had drawn her long knife, and was +holding it between her teeth.</p> + +<p>"Do as I tell you!" I said to her sharply, but she shook her +head.</p> + +<p>The lioness was overhauling us rapidly. She was swimming +silently, her chin just touching the water, but blood was +streaming from between her lips. It was evident that her +lungs were pierced.</p> + +<p>She was almost upon me. I saw that in a moment she would +take me under her forepaws, or seize me in those great jaws. +I felt that my time had come, but I meant to die fighting. +And so I turned, and, treading water, raised my rifle above +my head and awaited her.</p> + +<p>Victory, animated by a bravery no less ferocious than that +of the dumb beast assailing us, swam straight for me. It +all happened so swiftly that I cannot recall the details of +the kaleidoscopic action which ensued. I knew that I rose +high out of the water, and, with clubbed rifle, dealt the +animal a terrific blow upon the skull, that I saw Victory, +her long blade flashing in her hand, close, striking, upon +the beast, that a great paw fell upon her shoulder, and that +I was swept beneath the surface of the water like a straw +before the prow of a freighter.</p> + +<p>Still clinging to my rifle, I rose again, to see the lioness +struggling in her death throes but an arm's length from me. +Scarcely had I risen than the beast turned upon her side, +struggled frantically for an instant, and then sank.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>6</h2> + + +<p>Victory was nowhere in sight. Alone, I floated upon the +bosom of the Thames. In that brief instant I believe that I +suffered more mental anguish than I have crowded into all +the balance of my life before or since. A few hours before, +I had been wishing that I might be rid of her, and now that +she was gone I would have given my life to have her back +again.</p> + +<p>Wearily I turned to swim about the spot where she had +disappeared, hoping that she might rise once at least, and I +would be given the opportunity to save her, and, as I +turned, the water boiled before my face and her head shot up +before me. I was on the point of striking out to seize her, +when a happy smile illumined her features.</p> + +<p>"You are not dead!" she cried. "I have been searching the +bottom for you. I was sure that the blow she gave you must +have disabled you," and she glanced about for the lioness.</p> + +<p>"She has gone?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Dead," I replied.</p> + +<p>"The blow you struck her with the thing you call rifle +stunned her," she explained, "and then I swam in close +enough to get my knife into her heart."</p> + +<p>Ah, such a girl! I could not but wonder what one of our own +Pan-American women would have done under like circumstances. +But then, of course, they have not been trained by stern +necessity to cope with the emergencies and dangers of savage +primeval life.</p> + +<p>Along the bank we had just quitted, a score of lions paced +to and fro, growling menacingly. We could not return, and +we struck out for the opposite shore. I am a strong +swimmer, and had no doubt as to my ability to cross the +river, but I was not so sure about Victory, so I swam close +behind her, to be ready to give her assistance should she +need it.</p> + +<p>She did not, however, reaching the opposite bank as fresh, +apparently, as when she entered the water. Victory is a +wonder. Each day that we were together brought new proofs +of it. Nor was it her courage or vitality only which amazed +me. She had a head on those shapely shoulders of hers, and +dignity! My, but she could be regal when she chose!</p> + +<p>She told me that the lions were fewer upon this side of the +river, but that there were many wolves, running in great +packs later in the year. Now they were north somewhere, and +we should have little to fear from them, though we might +meet with a few.</p> + +<p>My first concern was to take my weapons apart and dry them, +which was rather difficult in the face of the fact that +every rag about me was drenched. But finally, thanks to the +sun and much rubbing, I succeeded, though I had no oil to +lubricate them.</p> + +<p>We ate some wild berries and roots that Victory found, and +then we set off again down the river, keeping an eye open +for game on one side and the launch on the other, for I +thought that Delcarte, who would be the natural leader +during my absence, might run up the Thames in search of me.</p> + +<p>The balance of that day we sought in vain for game or for +the launch, and when night came we lay down, our stomachs +empty, to sleep beneath the stars. We were entirely +unprotected from attack from wild beasts, and for this +reason I remained awake most of the night, on guard. But +nothing approached us, though I could hear the lions roaring +across the river, and once I thought I heard the howl of a +beast north of us—it might have been a wolf.</p> + +<p>Altogether, it was a most unpleasant night, and I determined +then that if we were forced to sleep out again that I should +provide some sort of shelter which would protect us from +attack while we slept.</p> + +<p>Toward morning I dozed, and the sun was well up when Victory +aroused me by gently shaking my shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Antelope!" she whispered in my ear, and, as I raised my +head, she pointed up-river. Crawling to my knees, I looked +in the direction she indicated, to see a buck standing upon +a little knoll some two hundred yards from us. There was +good cover between the animal and me, and so, though I might +have hit him at two hundred yards, I preferred to crawl +closer to him and make sure of the meat we both so craved.</p> + +<p>I had covered about fifty yards of the distance, and the +beast was still feeding peacefully, so I thought that I +would make even surer of a hit by going ahead another fifty +yards, when the animal suddenly raised his head and looked +away, up-river. His whole attitude proclaimed that he was +startled by something beyond him that I could not see.</p> + +<p>Realizing that he might break and run and that I should then +probably miss him entirely, I raised my rifle to my +shoulder. But even as I did so the animal leaped into the +air, and simultaneously there was a sound of a shot from +beyond the knoll.</p> + +<p>For an instant I was dumbfounded. Had the report come from +down-river, I should have instantly thought that one of my +own men had fired. But coming from up-river it puzzled me +considerably. Who could there be with firearms in primitive +England other than we of the Coldwater?</p> + +<p>Victory was directly behind me, and I motioned for her to +lie down, as I did, behind the bush from which I had been +upon the point of firing at the antelope. We could see that +the buck was quite dead, and from our hiding place we waited +to discover the identity of his slayer when the latter +should approach and claim his kill.</p> + +<p>We had not long to wait, and when I saw the head and +shoulders of a man appear above the crest of the knoll, I +sprang to my feet, with a heartfelt cry of joy, for it was +Delcarte.</p> + +<p>At the sound of my voice, Delcarte half raised his rifle in +readiness for the attack of an enemy, but a moment later he +recognized me, and was coming rapidly to meet us. Behind +him was Snider. They both were astounded to see me upon the +north bank of the river, and much more so at the sight of my +companion.</p> + +<p>Then I introduced them to Victory, and told them that she +was queen of England. They thought, at first, that I was +joking. But when I had recounted my adventures and they +realized that I was in earnest, they believed me.</p> + +<p>They told me that they had followed me inshore when I had +not returned from the hunt, that they had met the men of the +elephant country, and had had a short and one-sided battle +with the fellows. And that afterward they had returned to +the launch with a prisoner, from whom they had learned that +I had probably been captured by the men of the lion country.</p> + +<p>With the prisoner as a guide they had set off up-river in +search of me, but had been much delayed by motor trouble, +and had finally camped after dark a half mile above the spot +where Victory and I had spent the night. They must have +passed us in the dark, and why I did not hear the sound of +the propeller I do not know, unless it passed me at a time +when the lions were making an unusually earsplitting din +upon the opposite side.</p> + +<p>Taking the antelope with us, we all returned to the launch, +where we found Taylor as delighted to see me alive again as +Delcarte had been. I cannot say truthfully that Snider +evinced much enthusiasm at my rescue.</p> + +<p>Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel, and the +distilling of them had, with the motor trouble, accounted +for their delay in setting out after me.</p> + +<p>The prisoner that Delcarte and Snider had taken was a +powerful young fellow from the elephant country. +Notwithstanding the fact that they had all assured him to +the contrary, he still could not believe that we would not +kill him.</p> + +<p>He assured us that his name was Thirty-six, and, as he could +not count above ten, I am sure that he had no conception of +the correct meaning of the word, and that it may have been +handed down to him either from the military number of an +ancestor who had served in the English ranks during the +Great War, or that originally it was the number of some +famous regiment with which a forbear fought.</p> + +<p>Now that we were reunited, we held a council to determine +what course we should pursue in the immediate future. +Snider was still for setting out to sea and returning to +Pan-America, but the better judgment of Delcarte and Taylor +ridiculed the suggestion—we should not have lived a +fortnight.</p> + +<p>To remain in England, constantly menaced by wild beasts and +men equally as wild, seemed about as bad. I suggested that +we cross the Channel and ascertain if we could not discover +a more enlightened and civilized people upon the continent. +I was sure that some trace of the ancient culture and +greatness of Europe must remain. Germany, probably, would +be much as it was during the twentieth century, for, in +common with most Pan-Americans, I was positive that Germany +had been victorious in the Great War.</p> + +<p>Snider demurred at the suggestion. He said that it was bad +enough to have come this far. He did not want to make it +worse by going to the continent. The outcome of it was that +I finally lost my patience, and told him that from then on +he would do what I thought best—that I proposed to assume +command of the party, and that they might all consider +themselves under my orders, as much so as though we were +still aboard the Coldwater and in Pan-American waters.</p> + +<p>Delcarte and Taylor immediately assured me that they had not +for an instant assumed anything different, and that they +were as ready to follow and obey me here as they would be +upon the other side of thirty.</p> + +<p>Snider said nothing, but he wore a sullen scowl. And I +wished then, as I had before, and as I did to a much greater +extent later, that fate had not decreed that he should have +chanced to be a member of the launch's party upon that +memorable day when last we quitted the Coldwater.</p> + +<p>Victory, who was given a voice in our councils, was all for +going to the continent, or anywhere else, in fact, where she +might see new sights and experience new adventures.</p> + +<p>"Afterward we can come back to Grabritin," she said, "and if +Buckingham is not dead and we can catch him away from his +men and kill him, then I can return to my people, and we can +all live in peace and happiness."</p> + +<p>She spoke of killing Buckingham with no greater concern than +one might evince in the contemplated destruction of a sheep; +yet she was neither cruel nor vindictive. In fact, Victory +is a very sweet and womanly woman. But human life is of +small account beyond thirty—a legacy from the bloody days +when thousands of men perished in the trenches between the +rising and the setting of a sun, when they laid them +lengthwise in these same trenches and sprinkled dirt over +them, when the Germans corded their corpses like wood and +set fire to them, when women and children and old men were +butchered, and great passenger ships were torpedoed without +warning.</p> + +<p>Thirty-six, finally assured that we did not intend slaying +him, was as keen to accompany us as was Victory.</p> + +<p>The crossing to the continent was uneventful, its monotony +being relieved, however, by the childish delight of Victory +and Thirty-six in the novel experience of riding safely upon +the bosom of the water, and of being so far from land.</p> + +<p>With the possible exception of Snider, the little party +appeared in the best of spirits, laughing and joking, or +interestedly discussing the possibilities which the future +held for us: what we should find upon the continent, and +whether the inhabitants would be civilized or barbarian +peoples.</p> + +<p>Victory asked me to explain the difference between the two, +and when I had tried to do so as clearly as possible, she +broke into a gay little laugh.</p> + +<p>"Oh," she cried, "then I am a barbarian!"</p> + +<p>I could not but laugh, too, as I admitted that she was, +indeed, a barbarian. She was not offended, taking the +matter as a huge joke. But some time thereafter she sat in +silence, apparently deep in thought. Finally she looked up +at me, her strong white teeth gleaming behind her smiling +lips.</p> + +<p>"Should you take that thing you call 'razor,'" she said, +"and cut the hair from the face of Thirty-six, and exchange +garments with him, you would be the barbarian and Thirty-six +the civilized man. There is no other difference between +you, except your weapons. Clothe you in a wolfskin, give +you a knife and a spear, and set you down in the woods of +Grabritin—of what service would your civilization be to +you?"</p> + +<p>Delcarte and Taylor smiled at her reply, but Thirty-six and +Snider laughed uproariously. I was not surprised at Thirty- +six, but I thought that Snider laughed louder than the +occasion warranted. As a matter of fact, Snider, it seemed +to me, was taking advantage of every opportunity, however +slight, to show insubordination, and I determined then that +at the first real breach of discipline I should take action +that would remind Snider, ever after, that I was still his +commanding officer.</p> + +<p>I could not help but notice that his eyes were much upon +Victory, and I did not like it, for I knew the type of man +he was. But as it would not be necessary ever to leave the +girl alone with him I felt no apprehension for her safety.</p> + +<p>After the incident of the discussion of barbarians I thought +that Victory's manner toward me changed perceptibly. She +held aloof from me, and when Snider took his turn at the +wheel, sat beside him, upon the pretext that she wished to +learn how to steer the launch. I wondered if she had +guessed the man's antipathy for me, and was seeking his +company solely for the purpose of piquing me.</p> + +<p>Snider was, too, taking full advantage of his opportunity. +Often he leaned toward the girl to whisper in her ear, and +he laughed much, which was unusual with Snider.</p> + +<p>Of course, it was nothing at all to me; yet, for some +unaccountable reason, the sight of the two of them sitting +there so close to one another and seeming to be enjoying +each other's society to such a degree irritated me +tremendously, and put me in such a bad humor that I took no +pleasure whatsoever in the last few hours of the crossing.</p> + +<p>We aimed to land near the site of ancient Ostend. But when +we neared the coast we discovered no indication of any human +habitations whatever, let alone a city. After we had +landed, we found the same howling wilderness about us that +we had discovered on the British Isle. There was no +slightest indication that civilized man had ever set a foot +upon that portion of the continent of Europe.</p> + +<p>Although I had feared as much, since our experience in +England, I could not but own to a feeling of marked +disappointment, and to the gravest fears of the future, +which induced a mental depression that was in no way +dissipated by the continued familiarity between Victory and +Snider.</p> + +<p>I was angry with myself that I permitted that matter to +affect me as it had. I did not wish to admit to myself that +I was angry with this uncultured little savage, that it made +the slightest difference to me what she did or what she did +not do, or that I could so lower myself as to feel personal +enmity towards a common sailor. And yet, to be honest, I +was doing both.</p> + +<p>Finding nothing to detain us about the spot where Ostend +once had stood, we set out up the coast in search of the +mouth of the River Rhine, which I purposed ascending in +search of civilized man. It was my intention to explore the +Rhine as far up as the launch would take us. If we found no +civilization there we would return to the North Sea, +continue up the coast to the Elbe, and follow that river and +the canals of Berlin. Here, at least, I was sure that we +should find what we sought—and, if not, then all Europe had +reverted to barbarism.</p> + +<p>The weather remained fine, and we made excellent progress, +but everywhere along the Rhine we met with the same +disappointment—no sign of civilized man, in fact, no sign +of man at all.</p> + +<p>I was not enjoying the exploration of modern Europe as I had +anticipated—I was unhappy. Victory seemed changed, too. I +had enjoyed her company at first, but since the trip across +the Channel I had held aloof from her.</p> + +<p>Her chin was in the air most of the time, and yet I rather +think that she regretted her friendliness with Snider, for I +noticed that she avoided him entirely. He, on the contrary, +emboldened by her former friendliness, sought every +opportunity to be near her. I should have liked nothing +better than a reasonably good excuse to punch his head; yet, +paradoxically, I was ashamed of myself for harboring him any +ill will. I realized that there was something the matter +with me, but I did not know what it was.</p> + +<p>Matters remained thus for several days, and we continued our +journey up the Rhine. At Cologne, I had hoped to find some +reassuring indications, but there was no Cologne. And as +there had been no other cities along the river up to that +point, the devastation was infinitely greater than time +alone could have wrought. Great guns, bombs, and mines must +have leveled every building that man had raised, and then +nature, unhindered, had covered the ghastly evidence of +human depravity with her beauteous mantle of verdure. +Splendid trees reared their stately tops where splendid +cathedrals once had reared their domes, and sweet wild +flowers blossomed in simple serenity in soil that once was +drenched with human blood.</p> + +<p>Nature had reclaimed what man had once stolen from her and +defiled. A herd of zebras grazed where once the German +kaiser may have reviewed his troops. An antelope rested +peacefully in a bed of daisies where, perhaps, two hundred +years ago a big gun belched its terror-laden messages of +death, of hate, of destruction against the works of man and +God alike.</p> + +<p>We were in need of fresh meat, yet I hesitated to shatter +the quiet and peaceful serenity of the view with the crack +of a rifle and the death of one of those beautiful creatures +before us. But it had to be done—we must eat. I left the +work to Delcarte, however, and in a moment we had two +antelope and the landscape to ourselves.</p> + +<p>After eating, we boarded the launch and continued up the +river. For two days we passed through a primeval +wilderness. In the afternoon of the second day we landed +upon the west bank of the river, and, leaving Snider and +Thirty-six to guard Victory and the launch, Delcarte, +Taylor, and I set out after game.</p> + +<p>We tramped away from the river for upwards of an hour before +discovering anything, and then only a small red deer, which +Taylor brought down with a neat shot of two hundred yards. +It was getting too late to proceed farther, so we rigged a +sling, and the two men carried the deer back toward the +launch while I walked a hundred yards ahead, in the hope of +bagging something further for our larder.</p> + +<p>We had covered about half the distance to the river, when I +suddenly came face to face with a man. He was as primitive +and uncouth in appearance as the Grabritins—a shaggy, +unkempt savage, clothed in a shirt of skin cured with the +head on, the latter surmounting his own head to form a +bonnet, and giving to him a most fearful and ferocious +aspect.</p> + +<p>The fellow was armed with a long spear and a club, the +latter dangling down his back from a leathern thong about +his neck. His feet were incased in hide sandals.</p> + +<p>At sight of me, he halted for an instant, then turned and +dove into the forest, and, though I called reassuringly to +him in English he did not return nor did I again see him.</p> + +<p>The sight of the wild man raised my hopes once more that +elsewhere we might find men in a higher state of +civilization—it was the society of civilized man that I +craved—and so, with a lighter heart, I continued on toward +the river and the launch.</p> + +<p>I was still some distance ahead of Delcarte and Taylor, when +I came in sight of the Rhine again. But I came to the +water's edge before I noticed that anything was amiss with +the party we had left there a few hours before.</p> + +<p>My first intimation of disaster was the absence of the +launch from its former moorings. And then, a moment later—I discovered the body of a man lying upon the bank. Running +toward it, I saw that it was Thirty-six, and as I stopped +and raised the Grabritin's head in my arms, I heard a faint +moan break from his lips. He was not dead, but that he was +badly injured was all too evident.</p> + +<p>Delcarte and Taylor came up a moment later, and the three of +us worked over the fellow, hoping to revive him that he +might tell us what had happened, and what had become of the +others. My first thought was prompted by the sight I had +recently had of the savage native. The little party had +evidently been surprised, and in the attack Thirty-six had +been wounded and the others taken prisoners. The thought +was almost like a physical blow in the face—it stunned me. +Victory in the hands of these abysmal brutes! It was +frightful. I almost shook poor Thirty-six in my efforts to +revive him.</p> + +<p>I explained my theory to the others, and then Delcarte +shattered it by a single movement of the hand. He drew +aside the lion's skin that covered half of the Grabritin's +breast, revealing a neat, round hole in Thirty-six's chest—a hole that could have been made by no other weapon than a +rifle.</p> + +<p>"Snider!" I exclaimed. Delcarte nodded. At about the same +time the eyelids of the wounded man fluttered, and raised. +He looked up at us, and very slowly the light of +consciousness returned to his eyes.</p> + +<p>"What happened, Thirty-six?" I asked him.</p> + +<p>He tried to reply, but the effort caused him to cough, +bringing about a hemorrhage of the lungs and again he fell +back exhausted. For several long minutes he lay as one +dead, then in an almost inaudible whisper he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Snider—" He paused, tried to speak again, raised a hand, +and pointed down-river. "They—went—back," and then he +shuddered convulsively and died.</p> + +<p>None of us voiced his belief. But I think they were all +alike: Victory and Snider had stolen the launch, and +deserted us.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>7</h2> + + +<p>We stood there, grouped about the body of the dead +Grabritin, looking futilely down the river to where it made +an abrupt curve to the west, a quarter of a mile below us, +and was lost to sight, as though we expected to see the +truant returning to us with our precious launch—the thing +that meant life or death to us in this unfriendly, savage +world.</p> + +<p>I felt, rather than saw, Taylor turn his eyes slowly toward +my profile, and, as mine swung to meet them, the expression +upon his face recalled me to my duty and responsibility as +an officer.</p> + +<p>The utter hopelessness that was reflected in his face must +have been the counterpart of what I myself felt, but in that +brief instant I determined to hide my own misgivings that I +might bolster up the courage of the others.</p> + +<p>"We are lost!" was written as plainly upon Taylor's face as +though his features were the printed words upon an open +book. He was thinking of the launch, and of the launch +alone. Was I? I tried to think that I was. But a greater +grief than the loss of the launch could have engendered in +me, filled my heart—a sullen, gnawing misery which I tried +to deny—which I refused to admit—but which persisted in +obsessing me until my heart rose and filled my throat, and I +could not speak when I would have uttered words of +reassurance to my companions.</p> + +<p>And then rage came to my relief—rage against the vile +traitor who had deserted three of his fellow countrymen in +so frightful a position. I tried to feel an equal rage +against the woman, but somehow I could not, and kept +searching for excuses for her—her youth, her inexperience, +her savagery.</p> + +<p>My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness. I +smiled, and told Taylor not to look so glum.</p> + +<p>"We will follow them," I said, "and the chances are that we +shall overtake them. They will not travel as rapidly as +Snider probably hopes. He will be forced to halt for fuel +and for food, and the launch must follow the windings of the +river; we can take short cuts while they are traversing the +detour. I have my map—thank God! I always carry it upon my +person—and with that and the compass we will have an +advantage over them."</p> + +<p>My words seemed to cheer them both, and they were for +starting off at once in pursuit. There was no reason why we +should delay, and we set forth down the river. As we +tramped along, we discussed a question that was uppermost in +the mind of each—what we should do with Snider when we had +captured him, for with the action of pursuit had come the +optimistic conviction that we should succeed. As a matter +of fact, we had to succeed. The very thought of remaining +in this utter wilderness for the rest of our lives was +impossible.</p> + +<p>We arrived at nothing very definite in the matter of +Snider's punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him, +Delcarte insisting that he should be hanged, while I, +although fully conscious of the gravity of his offense, +could not bring myself to give the death penalty.</p> + +<p>I fell to wondering what charm Victory had found in such a +man as Snider, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for +her and trying to defend her indefensible act. She was +nothing to me. Aside from the natural gratitude I felt for +her since she had saved my life, I owed her nothing. She +was a half-naked little savage—I, a gentleman, and an +officer in the world's greatest navy. There could be no +close bonds of interest between us.</p> + +<p>This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing as +the former, but, though I tried to turn my mind to other +things, it persisted in returning to the vision of an oval +face, sun-tanned; of smiling lips, revealing white and even +teeth; of brave eyes that harbored no shadow of guile; and +of a tumbling mass of wavy hair that crowned the loveliest +picture on which my eyes had ever rested.</p> + +<p>Every time this vision presented itself I felt myself turn +cold with rage and hate against Snider. I could forgive the +launch, but if he had wronged her he should die—he should +die at my own hands; in this I was determined.</p> + +<p>For two days we followed the river northward, cutting off +where we could, but confined for the most part to the game +trails that paralleled the stream. One afternoon, we cut +across a narrow neck of land that saved us many miles, where +the river wound to the west and back again.</p> + +<p>Here we decided to halt, for we had had a hard day of it, +and, if the truth were known, I think that we had all given +up hope of overtaking the launch other than by the merest +accident.</p> + +<p>We had shot a deer just before our halt, and, as Taylor and +Delcarte were preparing it, I walked down to the water to +fill our canteens. I had just finished, and was +straightening up, when something floating around a bend +above me caught my eye. For a moment I could not believe +the testimony of my own senses. It was a boat.</p> + +<p>I shouted to Delcarte and Taylor, who came running to my +side.</p> + +<p>"The launch!" cried Delcarte; and, indeed, it was the +launch, floating down-river from above us. Where had it +been? How had we passed it? And how were we to reach it +now, should Snider and the girl discover us?</p> + +<p>"It's drifting," said Taylor. "I see no one in it."</p> + +<p>I was stripping off my clothes, and Delcarte soon followed +my example. I told Taylor to remain on shore with the +clothing and rifles. He might also serve us better there, +since it would give him an opportunity to take a shot at +Snider should the man discover us and show himself.</p> + +<p>With powerful strokes we swam out in the path of the +oncoming launch. Being a stronger swimmer than Delcarte, I +soon was far in the lead, reaching the center of the channel +just as the launch bore down upon me. It was drifting +broadside on. I seized the gunwale and raised myself +quickly, so that my chin topped the side. I expected a blow +the moment that I came within the view of the occupants, but +no blow fell.</p> + +<p>Snider lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat alone. +Even before I had clambered in and stooped above him I knew +that he was dead. Without examining him further, I ran +forward to the control board and pressed the starting +button. To my relief, the mechanism responded—the launch +was uninjured. Coming about, I picked up Delcarte. He was +astounded at the sight that met his eyes, and immediately +fell to examining Snider's body for signs of life or an +explanation of the manner in which he met his death.</p> + +<p>The fellow had been dead for hours—he was cold and still. +But Delcarte's search was not without results, for above +Snider's heart was a wound, a slit about an inch in length—such a slit as a sharp knife would make, and in the dead +fingers of one hand was clutched a strand of long brown +hair—Victory's hair was brown.</p> + +<p>They say that dead men tell no tales, but Snider told the +story of his end as clearly as though the dead lips had +parted and poured forth the truth. The beast had attacked +the girl, and she had defended her honor.</p> + +<p>We buried Snider beside the Rhine, and no stone marks his +last resting place. Beasts do not require headstones.</p> + +<p>Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose upstream. +When I had told Delcarte and Taylor that I intended +searching for the girl, neither had demurred.</p> + +<p>"We had her wrong in our thoughts," said Delcarte, "and the +least that we can do in expiation is to find and rescue +her."</p> + +<p>We called her name aloud every few minutes as we motored up +the river, but, though we returned all the way to our former +camping place, we did not find her. I then decided to +retrace our journey, letting Taylor handle the launch, while +Delcarte and I, upon opposite sides of the river, searched +for some sign of the spot where Victory had landed.</p> + +<p>We found nothing until we had reached a point a few miles +above the spot where I had first seen the launch drifting +down toward us, and there I discovered the remnants of a +recent camp fire.</p> + +<p>That Victory carried flint and steel I was aware, and that +it was she who built the fire I was positive. But which way +had she gone since she stopped here?</p> + +<p>Would she go on down the river, that she might thus bring +herself nearer her own Grabritin, or would she have sought +to search for us upstream, where she had seen us last?</p> + +<p>I had hailed Taylor, and sent him across the river to take +in Delcarte, that the two might join me and discuss my +discovery and our future plans.</p> + +<p>While waiting for them, I stood looking out over the river, +my back toward the woods that stretched away to the east +behind me. Delcarte was just stepping into the launch upon +the opposite side of the stream, when, without the least +warning, I was violently seized by both arms and about the +waist—three or four men were upon me at once; my rifle was +snatched from my hands and my revolver from my belt.</p> + +<p>I struggled for an instant, but finding my efforts of no +avail, I ceased them, and turned my head to have a look at +my assailants. At the same time several others of them +walked around in front of me, and, to my astonishment, I +found myself looking upon uniformed soldiery, armed with +rifles, revolvers, and sabers, but with faces as black as +coal.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>8</h2> + + +<p>Delcarte and Taylor were now in mid-stream, coming toward +us, and I called to them to keep aloof until I knew whether +the intentions of my captors were friendly or otherwise. My +good men wanted to come on and annihilate the blacks. But +there were upward of a hundred of the latter, all well +armed, and so I commanded Delcarte to keep out of harm's +way, and stay where he was till I needed him.</p> + +<p>A young officer called and beckoned to them. But they +refused to come, and so he gave orders that resulted in my +hands being secured at my back, after which the company +marched away, straight toward the east.</p> + +<p>I noticed that the men wore spurs, which seemed strange to +me. But when, late in the afternoon, we arrived at their +encampment, I discovered that my captors were cavalrymen.</p> + +<p>In the center of a plain stood a log fort, with a block- +house at each of its four corners. As we approached, I saw +a herd of cavalry horses grazing under guard outside the +walls of the post. They were small, stocky horses, but the +telltale saddle galls proclaimed their calling. The flag +flying from a tall staff inside the palisade was one which I +had never before seen nor heard of.</p> + +<p>We marched directly into the compound, where the company was +dismissed, with the exception of a guard of four privates, +who escorted me in the wake of the young officer. The +latter led us across a small parade ground, where a battery +of light field guns was parked, and toward a log building, +in front of which rose the flagstaff.</p> + +<p>I was escorted within the building into the presence of an +old negro, a fine looking man, with a dignified and military +bearing. He was a colonel, I was to learn later, and to him +I owe the very humane treatment that was accorded me while I +remained his prisoner.</p> + +<p>He listened to the report of his junior, and then turned to +question me, but with no better results than the former had +accomplished. Then he summoned an orderly, and gave some +instructions. The soldier saluted, and left the room, +returning in about five minutes with a hairy old white man—just such a savage, primeval-looking fellow as I had +discovered in the woods the day that Snider had disappeared +with the launch.</p> + +<p>The colonel evidently expected to use the fellow as +interpreter, but when the savage addressed me it was in a +language as foreign to me as was that of the blacks. At +last the old officer gave it up, and, shaking his head, gave +instructions for my removal.</p> + +<p>From his office I was led to a guardhouse, in which I found +about fifty half-naked whites, clad in the skins of wild +beasts. I tried to converse with them, but not one of them +could understand Pan-American, nor could I make head or tail +of their jargon.</p> + +<p>For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from +morning until night at odd jobs about the headquarters +building of the commanding officer. The other prisoners +worked harder than I did, and I owe my better treatment +solely to the kindliness and discrimination of the old +colonel.</p> + +<p>What had become of Victory, of Delcarte, of Taylor I could +not know; nor did it seem likely that I should ever learn. +I was most depressed. But I whiled away my time in +performing the duties given me to the best of my ability and +attempting to learn the language of my captors.</p> + +<p>Who they were or where they came from was a mystery to me. +That they were the outpost of some pow-erful black nation +seemed likely, yet where the seat of that nation lay I could +not guess.</p> + +<p>They looked upon the whites as their inferiors, and treated +us accordingly. They had a literature of their own, and +many of the men, even the common soldiers, were omnivorous +readers. Every two weeks a dust-covered trooper would trot +his jaded mount into the post and deliver a bulging sack of +mail at headquarters. The next day he would be away again +upon a fresh horse toward the south, carrying the soldiers' +letters to friends in the far off land of mystery from +whence they all had come.</p> + +<p>Troops, sometimes mounted and sometimes afoot, left the post +daily for what I assumed to be patrol duty. I judged the +little force of a thousand men were detailed here to +maintain the authority of a distant government in a +conquered country. Later, I learned that my surmise was +correct, and this was but one of a great chain of similar +posts that dotted the new frontier of the black nation into +whose hands I had fallen.</p> + +<p>Slowly I learned their tongue, so that I could understand +what was said before me, and make myself understood. I had +seen from the first that I was being treated as a slave—that all whites that fell into the hands of the blacks were +thus treated.</p> + +<p>Almost daily new prisoners were brought in, and about three +weeks after I was brought in to the post a troop of cavalry +came from the south to relieve one of the troops stationed +there. There was great jubilation in the encampment after +the arrival of the newcomers, old friendships were renewed +and new ones made. But the happiest men were those of the +troop that was to be relieved.</p> + +<p>The next morning they started away, and as they were forced +upon the parade ground we prisoners were marched from our +quarters and lined up before them. A couple of long chains +were brought, with rings in the links every few feet. At +first I could not guess the purpose of these chains. But I +was soon to learn.</p> + +<p>A couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck +of a powerful white slave, and one by one the rest of us +were herded to our places, and the work of shackling us neck +to neck commenced.</p> + +<p>The colonel stood watching the procedure. Presently his +eyes fell upon me, and he spoke to a young officer at his +side. The latter stepped toward me and motioned me to +follow him. I did so, and was led back to the colonel.</p> + +<p>By this time I could understand a few words of their strange +language, and when the colonel asked me if I would prefer to +remain at the post as his body servant, I signified my +willingness as emphatically as possible, for I had seen +enough of the brutality of the common soldiers toward their +white slaves to have no desire to start out upon a march of +unknown length, chained by the neck, and driven on by the +great whips that a score of the soldiers carried to +accelerate the speed of their charges.</p> + +<p>About three hundred prisoners who had been housed in six +prisons at the post marched out of the gates that morning, +toward what fate and what future I could not guess. Neither +had the poor devils themselves more than the most vague +conception of what lay in store for them, except that they +were going elsewhere to continue in the slavery that they +had known since their capture by their black conquerors—a +slavery that was to continue until death released them.</p> + +<p>My position was altered at the post. From working about the +headquarters office, I was transferred to the colonel's +living quarters. I had greater freedom, and no longer slept +in one of the prisons, but had a little room to myself off +the kitchen of the colonel's log house.</p> + +<p>My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly +learned the language of my captors, and much concerning them +that had been a mystery to me before. His name was Abu +Belik. He was a colonel in the cavalry of Abyssinia, a +country of which I do not remember ever hearing, but which +Colonel Belik assured me is the oldest civilized country in +the world.</p> + +<p>Colonel Belik was born in Adis Abeba, the capital of the +empire, and until recently had been in command of the +emperor's palace guard. Jealousy and the ambition and +intrigue of another officer had lost him the favor of his +emperor, and he had been detailed to this frontier post as a +mark of his sovereign's displeasure.</p> + +<p>Some fifty years before, the young emperor, Menelek XIV, was +ambitious. He knew that a great world lay across the waters +far to the north of his capital. Once he had crossed the +desert and looked out upon the blue sea that was the +northern boundary of his dominions.</p> + +<p>There lay another world to conquer. Menelek busied himself +with the building of a great fleet, though his people were +not a maritime race. His army crossed into Europe. It met +with little resistance, and for fifty years his soldiers had +been pushing his boundaries farther and farther toward the +north.</p> + +<p>"The yellow men from the east and north are contesting our +rights here now," said the colonel, "but we shall win—we +shall conquer the world, carrying Christianity to all the +benighted heathen of Europe, and Asia as well."</p> + +<p>"You are a Christian people?" I asked.</p> + +<p>He looked at me in surprise, nodding his head affirmatively.</p> + +<p>"I am a Christian," I said. "My people are the most +powerful on earth."</p> + +<p>He smiled, and shook his head indulgently, as a father to a +child who sets up his childish judgment against that of his +elders.</p> + +<p>Then I set out to prove my point. I told him of our cities, +of our army, of our great navy. He came right back at me +asking for figures, and when he was done I had to admit that +only in our navy were we numerically superior.</p> + +<p>Menelek XIV is the undisputed ruler of all the continent of +Africa, of all of ancient Europe except the British Isles, +Scandinavia, and eastern Russia, and has large possessions +and prosperous colonies in what once were Arabia and Turkey +in Asia.</p> + +<p>He has a standing army of ten million men, and his people +possess slaves—white slaves—to the number of ten or +fifteen million.</p> + +<p>Colonel Belik was much surprised, however, upon his part to +learn of the great nation which lay across the ocean, and +when he found that I was a naval officer, he was inclined to +accord me even greater consideration than formerly. It was +difficult for him to believe my assertion that there were +but few blacks in my country, and that these occupied a +lower social plane than the whites.</p> + +<p>Just the reverse is true in Colonel Belik's land. He +considered whites inferior beings, creatures of a lower +order, and assuring me that even the few white freemen of +Abyssinia were never accorded anything approximating a +position of social equality with the blacks. They live in +the poorer districts of the cities, in little white +colonies, and a black who marries a white is socially +ostracized.</p> + +<p>The arms and ammunition of the Abyssinians are greatly +inferior to ours, yet they are tremendously effective +against the ill-armed barbarians of Europe. Their rifles +are of a type similar to the magazine rifles of twentieth +century Pan-America, but carrying only five cartridges in +the magazine, in addition to the one in the chamber. They +are of extraordinary length, even those of the cavalry, and +are of extreme accuracy.</p> + +<p>The Abyssinians themselves are a fine looking race of black +men—tall, muscular, with fine teeth, and regular features, +which incline distinctly toward Semitic mold—I refer to the +full-blooded natives of Abyssinia. They are the patricians—the aristocracy. The army is officered almost exclusively +by them. Among the soldiery a lower type of negro +predominates, with thicker lips and broader, flatter noses. +These men are recruited, so the colonel told me, from among +the conquered tribes of Africa. They are good soldiers—brave and loyal. They can read and write, and they are +endowed with a self-confidence and pride which, from my +readings of the words of ancient African explorers, must +have been wanting in their earliest progenitors. On the +whole, it is apparent that the black race has thrived far +better in the past two centuries under men of its own color +than it had under the domination of whites during all +previous history.</p> + +<p>I had been a prisoner at the little frontier post for over a +month, when orders came to Colonel Belik to hasten to the +eastern frontier with the major portion of his command, +leaving only one troop to garrison the fort. As his body +servant, I accompanied him mounted upon a fiery little +Abyssinian pony.</p> + +<p>We marched rapidly for ten days through the heart of the +ancient German empire, halting when night found us in +proximity to water. Often we passed small posts similar to +that at which the colonel's regiment had been quartered, +finding in each instance that only a single company or troop +remained for defence, the balance having been withdrawn +toward the northeast, in the same direction in which we were +moving.</p> + +<p>Naturally, the colonel had not confided to me the nature of +his orders. But the rapidity of our march and the fact that +all available troops were being hastened toward the +northeast assured me that a matter of vital importance to +the dominion of Menelek XIV in that part of Europe was +threatening or had already broken.</p> + +<p>I could not believe that a simple rising of the savage +tribes of whites would necessitate the mobilizing of such a +force as we presently met with converging from the south +into our trail. There were large bodies of cavalry and +infantry, endless streams of artillery wagons and guns, and +countless horse-drawn covered vehicles laden with camp +equipage, munitions, and provisions.</p> + +<p>Here, for the first time, I saw camels, great caravans of +them, bearing all sorts of heavy burdens, and miles upon +miles of elephants doing similar service. It was a scene of +wondrous and barbaric splendor, for the men and beasts from +the south were gaily caparisoned in rich colors, in marked +contrast to the gray uniformed forces of the frontier, with +which I had been familiar.</p> + +<p>The rumor reached us that Menelek himself was coming, and +the pitch of excitement to which this announcement raised +the troops was little short of miraculous—at least, to one +of my race and nationality whose rulers for centuries had +been but ordinary men, holding office at the will of the +people for a few brief years.</p> + +<p>As I witnessed it, I could not but speculate upon the moral +effect upon his troops of a sovereign's presence in the +midst of battle. All else being equal in war between the +troops of a republic and an empire, could not this +exhilarated mental state, amounting almost to hysteria on +the part of the imperial troops, weigh heavily against the +soldiers of a president? I wonder.</p> + +<p>But if the emperor chanced to be absent? What then? Again I +wonder.</p> + +<p>On the eleventh day we reached our destination—a walled +frontier city of about twenty thousand. We passed some +lakes, and crossed some old canals before entering the +gates. Within, beside the frame buildings, were many built +of ancient brick and well-cut stone. These, I was told, +were of material taken from the ruins of the ancient city +which, once, had stood upon the site of the present town.</p> + +<p>The name of the town, translated from the Abyssinian, is New +Gondar. It stands, I am convinced, upon the ruins of +ancient Berlin, the one time capital of the old German +empire, but except for the old building material used in the +new town there is no sign of the former city.</p> + +<p>The day after we arrived, the town was gaily decorated with +flags, streamers, gorgeous rugs, and banners, for the rumor +had proved true—the emperor was coming.</p> + +<p>Colonel Belik had accorded me the greatest liberty, +permitting me to go where I pleased, after my few duties had +been performed. As a result of his kindness, I spent much +time wandering about New Gondar, talking with the +inhabitants, and exploring the city of black men.</p> + +<p>As I had been given a semi-military uniform which bore +insignia indicating that I was an officer's body servant, +even the blacks treated me with a species of respect, though +I could see by their manner that I was really as the dirt +beneath their feet. They answered my questions civilly +enough, but they would not enter into conversation with me. +It was from other slaves that I learned the gossip of the +city.</p> + +<p>Troops were pouring in from the west and south, and pouring +out toward the east. I asked an old slave who was sweeping +the dirt into little piles in the gutters of the street +where the soldiers were going. He looked at me in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why, to fight the yellow men, of course," he said. "They +have crossed the border, and are marching toward New +Gondar."</p> + +<p>"Who will win?" I asked.</p> + +<p>He shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows?" he said. "I hope +it will be the yellow men, but Menelek is powerful—it will +take many yellow men to defeat him."</p> + +<p>Crowds were gathering along the sidewalks to view the +emperor's entry into the city. I took my place among them, +although I hate crowds, and I am glad that I did, for I +witnessed such a spectacle of barbaric splendor as no other +Pan-American has ever looked upon.</p> + +<p>Down the broad main thoroughfare, which may once have been +the historic Unter den Linden, came a brilliant cortege. At +the head rode a regiment of red-coated hussars—enormous +men, black as night. There were troops of riflemen mounted +on camels. The emperor rode in a golden howdah upon the +back of a huge elephant so covered with rich hangings and +embellished with scintillating gems that scarce more than +the beast's eyes and feet were visible.</p> + +<p>Menelek was a rather gross-looking man, well past middle +age, but he carried himself with an air of dignity befitting +one descended in unbroken line from the Prophet—as was his +claim.</p> + +<p>His eyes were bright but crafty, and his features denoted +both sensuality and cruelness. In his youth he may have +been a rather fine looking black, but when I saw him his +appearance was revolting—to me, at least.</p> + +<p>Following the emperor came regiment after regiment from the +various branches of the service, among them batteries of +field guns mounted on elephants.</p> + +<p>In the center of the troops following the imperial elephant +marched a great caravan of slaves. The old street sweeper +at my elbow told me that these were the gifts brought in +from the far outlying districts by the commanding officers +of the frontier posts. The majority of them were women, +destined, I was told, for the harems of the emperor and his +favorites. It made my old companion clench his fists to see +those poor white women marching past to their horrid fates, +and, though I shared his sentiments, I was as powerless to +alter their destinies as he.</p> + +<p>For a week the troops kept pouring in and out of New Gondar—in, always, from the south and west, but always toward the +east. Each new contingent brought its gifts to the emperor. +From the south they brought rugs and ornaments and jewels; +from the west, slaves; for the commanding officers of the +western frontier posts had naught else to bring.</p> + +<p>From the number of women they brought, I judged that they +knew the weakness of their imperial master.</p> + +<p>And then soldiers commenced coming in from the east, but not +with the gay assurance of those who came from the south and +west—no, these others came in covered wagons, blood-soaked +and suffering. They came at first in little parties of +eight or ten, and then they came in fifties, in hundreds, +and one day a thousand maimed and dying men were carted into +New Gondar.</p> + +<p>It was then that Menelek XIV became uneasy. For fifty years +his armies had conquered wherever they had marched. At +first he had led them in person, lately his presence within +a hundred miles of the battle line had been sufficient for +large engagements—for minor ones only the knowledge that +they were fighting for the glory of their sovereign was +necessary to win victories.</p> + +<p>One morning, New Gondar was awakened by the booming of +cannon. It was the first intimation that the townspeople +had received that the enemy was forcing the imperial troops +back upon the city. Dust covered couriers galloped in from +the front. Fresh troops hastened from the city, and about +noon Menelek rode out surrounded by his staff.</p> + +<p>For three days thereafter we could hear the cannonading and +the spitting of the small arms, for the battle line was +scarce two leagues from New Gondar. The city was filled +with wounded. Just outside, soldiers were engaged in +throwing up earthworks. It was evident to the least +enlightened that Menelek expected further reverses.</p> + +<p>And then the imperial troops fell back upon these new +defenses, or, rather, they were forced back by the enemy. +Shells commenced to fall within the city. Menelek returned +and took up his headquarters in the stone building that was +called the palace. That night came a lull in the +hostilities—a truce had been arranged.</p> + +<p>Colonel Belik summoned me about seven o'clock to dress him +for a function at the palace. In the midst of death and +defeat the emperor was about to give a great banquet to his +officers. I was to accompany my master and wait upon him—I, Jefferson Turck, lieutenant in the Pan-American navy!</p> + +<p>In the privacy of the colonel's quarters I had become +accustomed to my menial duties, lightened as they were by +the natural kindliness of my master, but the thought of +appearing in public as a common slave revolted every fine +instinct within me. Yet there was nothing for it but to +obey.</p> + +<p>I cannot, even now, bring myself to a narration of the +humiliation which I experienced that night as I stood behind +my black master in silent servility, now pouring his wine, +now cutting up his meats for him, now fanning him with a +large, plumed fan of feathers.</p> + +<p>As fond as I had grown of him, I could have thrust a knife +into him, so keenly did I feel the affront that had been put +upon me. But at last the long banquet was concluded. The +tables were removed. The emperor ascended a dais at one end +of the room and seated himself upon a throne, and the +entertainment commenced. It was only what ancient history +might have led me to expect—musicians, dancing girls, +jugglers, and the like.</p> + +<p>Near midnight, the master of ceremonies announced that the +slave women who had been presented to the emperor since his +arrival in New Gondar would be exhibited, that the royal +host would select such as he wished, after which he would +present the balance of them to his guests. Ah, what royal +generosity!</p> + +<p>A small door at one side of the room opened, and the poor +creatures filed in and were ranged in a long line before the +throne. Their backs were toward me. I saw only an +occasional profile as now and then a bolder spirit among +them turned to survey the apartment and the gorgeous +assemblage of officers in their brilliant dress uniforms. +They were profiles of young girls, and pretty, but horror +was indelibly stamped upon them all. I shuddered as I +contemplated their sad fate, and turned my eyes away.</p> + +<p>I heard the master of ceremonies command them to prostrate +themselves before the emperor, and the sounds as they went +upon their knees before him, touching their foreheads to the +floor. Then came the official's voice again, in sharp and +peremptory command.</p> + +<p>"Down, slave!" he cried. "Make obeisance to your +sovereign!"</p> + +<p>I looked up, attracted by the tone of the man's voice, to +see a single, straight, slim figure standing erect in the +center of the line of prostrate girls, her arms folded +across her breast and little chin in the air. Her back was +toward me—I could not see her face, though I should like to +see the countenance of this savage young lioness, standing +there defiant among that herd of terrified sheep.</p> + +<p>"Down! Down!" shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a +step toward her and half drawing his sword.</p> + +<p>My blood boiled. To stand there, inactive, while a negro +struck down that brave girl of my own race! Instinctively I +took a forward step to place myself in the man's path. But +at the same instant Menelek raised his hand in a gesture +that halted the officer. The emperor seemed interested, but +in no way angered at the girl's attitude.</p> + +<p>"Let us inquire," he said in a smooth, pleasant voice, "why +this young woman refuses to do homage to her sovereign," and +he put the question himself directly to her.</p> + +<p>She answered him in Abyssinian, but brokenly and with an +accent that betrayed how recently she had acquired her +slight knowledge of the tongue.</p> + +<p>"I go on my knees to no one," she said. "I have no +sovereign. I myself am sovereign in my own country."</p> + +<p>Menelek, at her words, leaned back in his throne and laughed +uproariously. Following his example, which seemed always +the correct procedure, the assembled guests vied with one +another in an effort to laugh more noisily than the emperor.</p> + +<p>The girl but tilted her chin a bit higher in the air—even +her back proclaimed her utter contempt for her captors. +Finally Menelek restored quiet by the simple expedient of a +frown, whereupon each loyal guest exchanged his mirthful +mien for an emulative scowl.</p> + +<p>"And who," asked Menelek, "are you, and by what name is your +country called?"</p> + +<p>"I am Victory, Queen of Grabritin," replied the girl so +quickly and so unexpectedly that I gasped in astonishment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>9</h2> + + +<p>Victory! She was here, a slave to these black conquerors. +Once more I started toward her, but better judgment held me +back—I could do nothing to help her other than by stealth. +Could I even accomplish aught by this means? I did not +know. It seemed beyond the pale of possibility, and yet I +should try.</p> + +<p>"And you will not bend the knee to me?" continued Menelek, +after she had spoken. Victory shook her head in a most +decided negation.</p> + +<p>"You shall be my first choice, then," said the emperor. "I +like your spirit, for the breaking of it will add to my +pleasure in you, and never fear but that it shall be broken—this very night. Take her to my apartments," and he +motioned to an officer at his side</p> + +<p>I was surprised to see Victory follow the man off in +apparent quiet submission. I tried to follow, that I might +be near her against some opportunity to speak with her or +assist in her escape. But, after I had followed them from +the throne room, through several other apartments, and down +a long corridor, I found my further progress barred by a +soldier who stood guard before a doorway through which the +officer conducted Victory.</p> + +<p>Almost immediately the officer reappeared and started back +in the direction of the throne room. I had been hiding in a +doorway after the guard had turned me back, having taken +refuge there while his back was turned, and, as the officer +approached me, I withdrew into the room beyond, which was in +darkness. There I remained for a long time, watching the +sentry before the door of the room in which Victory was a +prisoner, and awaiting some favorable circumstance which +would give me entry to her.</p> + +<p>I have not attempted to fully describe my sensations at the +moment I recognized Victory, because, I can assure you, they +were entirely indescribable. I should never have imagined +that the sight of any human being could affect me as had +this unexpected discovery of Victory in the same room in +which I was, while I had thought of her for weeks either as +dead, or at best hundreds of miles to the west, and as +irretrievably lost to me as though she were, in truth, dead.</p> + +<p>I was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her. It +was not enough merely to assist her, or protect her—I +desired to touch her—to take her in my arms. I was +astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled me—it was my +incomprehensible feeling of elation since I had again seen +her. With a fate worse than death staring her in the face, +and with the knowledge that I should probably die defending +her within the hour, I was still happier than I had been for +weeks—and all because I had seen again for a few brief +minutes the figure of a little heathen maiden. I couldn't +account for it, and it angered me; I had never before felt +any such sensations in the presence of a woman, and I had +made love to some very beautiful ones in my time.</p> + +<p>It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of that doorway, +in the ill-lit corridor of the palace of Menelek XIV. A +sickly gas jet cast a sad pallor upon the black face of the +sentry. The fellow seemed rooted to the spot. Evidently he +would never leave, or turn his back again.</p> + +<p>I had been in hiding but a short time when I heard the sound +of distant cannon. The truce had ended, and the battle had +been resumed. Very shortly thereafter the earth shook to +the explosion of a shell within the city, and from time to +time thereafter other shells burst at no great distance from +the palace. The yellow men were bombarding New Gondar +again.</p> + +<p>Presently officers and slaves commenced to traverse the +corridor on matters pertaining to their duties, and then +came the emperor, scowling and wrathful. He was followed by +a few personal attendants, whom he dismissed at the doorway +to his apartments—the same doorway through which Victory +had been taken. I chafed to follow him, but the corridor +was filled with people. At last they betook themselves to +their own apartments, which lay upon either side of the +corridor.</p> + +<p>An officer and a slave entered the very room in which I hid, +forcing me to flatten myself to one side in the darkness +until they had passed. Then the slave made a light, and I +knew that I must find another hiding place.</p> + +<p>Stepping boldly into the corridor, I saw that it was now +empty save for the single sentry before the emperor's door. +He glanced up as I emerged from the room, the occupants of +which had not seen me. I walked straight toward the +soldier, my mind made up in an instant. I tried to simulate +an expression of cringing servility, and I must have +succeeded, for I entirely threw the man off his guard, so +that he permitted me to approach within reach of his rifle +before stopping me. Then it was too late—for him.</p> + +<p>Without a word or a warning, I snatched the piece from his +grasp, and, at the same time struck him a terrific blow +between the eyes with my clenched fist. He staggered back +in surprise, too dumbfounded even to cry out, and then I +clubbed his rifle and felled him with a single mighty blow.</p> + +<p>A moment later, I had burst into the room beyond. It was +empty!</p> + +<p>I gazed about, mad with disappointment. Two doors opened +from this to other rooms. I ran to the nearer and listened. +Yes, voices were coming from beyond and one was a woman's, +level and cold and filled with scorn. There was no terror +in it. It was Victory's.</p> + +<p>I turned the knob and pushed the door inward just in time to +see Menelek seize the girl and drag her toward the far end +of the apartment. At the same instant there was a deafening +roar just outside the palace—a shell had struck much nearer +than any of its predecessors. The noise of it drowned my +rapid rush across the room.</p> + +<p>But in her struggles, Victory turned Menelek about so that +he saw me. She was striking him in the face with her +clenched fist, and now he was choking her.</p> + +<p>At sight of me, he gave voice to a roar of anger.</p> + +<p>"What means this, slave?" he cried. "Out of here! Out of +here! Quick, before I kill you!"</p> + +<p>But for answer I rushed upon him, striking him with the butt +of the rifle. He staggered back, dropping Victory to the +floor, and then he cried aloud for the guard, and came at +me. Again and again I struck him; but his thick skull might +have been armor plate, for all the damage I did it.</p> + +<p>He tried to close with me, seizing the rifle, but I was +stronger than he, and, wrenching the weapon from his grasp, +tossed it aside and made for his throat with my bare hands. +I had not dared fire the weapon for fear that its report +would bring the larger guard stationed at the farther end of +the corridor.</p> + +<p>We struggled about the room, striking one another, knocking +over furniture, and rolling upon the floor. Menelek was a +powerful man, and he was fighting for his life. Continually +he kept calling for the guard, until I succeeded in getting +a grip upon his throat; but it was too late. His cries had +been heard, and suddenly the door burst open, and a score of +armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment.</p> + +<p>Victory seized the rifle from the floor and leaped between +me and them. I had the black emperor upon his back, and +both my hands were at his throat, choking the life from him.</p> + +<p>The rest happened in the fraction of a second. There was a +rending crash above us, then a deafening explosion within +the chamber. Smoke and powder fumes filled the room. Half +stunned, I rose from the lifeless body of my antagonist just +in time to see Victory stagger to her feet and turn toward +me. Slowly the smoke cleared to reveal the shattered +remnants of the guard. A shell had fallen through the +palace roof and exploded just in the rear of the detachment +of guardsmen who were coming to the rescue of their emperor. +Why neither Victory nor I were struck is a miracle. The +room was a wreck. A great, jagged hole was torn in the +ceiling, and the wall toward the corridor had been blown +entirely out.</p> + +<p>As I rose, Victory had risen, too, and started toward me. +But when she saw that I was uninjured she stopped, and stood +there in the center of the demolished apartment looking at +me. Her expression was inscrutable—I could not guess +whether she was glad to see me, or not.</p> + +<p>"Victory!" I cried. "Thank God that you are safe!" And I +approached her, a greater gladness in my heart than I had +felt since the moment that I knew the Coldwater must be +swept beyond thirty.</p> + +<p>There was no answering gladness in her eyes. Instead, she +stamped her little foot in anger.</p> + +<p>"Why did it have to be you who saved me!" she exclaimed. "I +hate you!"</p> + +<p>"Hate me?" I asked. "Why should you hate me, Victory? I do +not hate you. I—I—" What was I about to say? I was very +close to her as a great light broke over me. Why had I +never realized it before? The truth accounted for a great +many hitherto inexplicable moods that had claimed me from +time to time since first I had seen Victory.</p> + +<p>"Why should I hate you?" she repeated. "Because Snider told +me—he told me that you had promised me to him, but he did +not get me. I killed him, as I should like to kill you!"</p> + +<p>"Snider lied!" I cried. And then I seized her and held her +in my arms, and made her listen to me, though she struggled +and fought like a young lioness. "I love you, Victory. You +must know that I love you—that I have always loved you, and +that I never could have made so base a promise."</p> + +<p>She ceased her struggles, just a trifle, but still tried to +push me from her. "You called me a barbarian!" she said.</p> + +<p>Ah, so that was it! That still rankled. I crushed her to +me.</p> + +<p>"You could not love a barbarian," she went on, but she had +ceased to struggle.</p> + +<p>"But I do love a barbarian, Victory!" I cried, "the dearest +barbarian in the world."</p> + +<p>She raised her eyes to mine, and then her smooth, brown arms +encircled my neck and drew my lips down to hers.</p> + +<p>"I love you—I have loved you always!" she said, and then +she buried her face upon my shoulder and sobbed. "I have +been so unhappy," she said, "but I could not die while I +thought that you might live."</p> + +<p>As we stood there, momentarily forgetful of all else than +our new found happiness, the ferocity of the bombardment +increased until scarce thirty seconds elapsed between the +shells that rained about the palace.</p> + +<p>To remain long would be to invite certain death. We could +not escape the way that we had entered the apartment, for +not only was the corridor now choked with debris, but beyond +the corridor there were doubtless many members of the +emperor's household who would stop us.</p> + +<p>Upon the opposite side of the room was another door, and +toward this I led the way. It opened into a third apartment +with windows overlooking an inner court. From one of these +windows I surveyed the courtyard. Apparently it was empty, +and the rooms upon the opposite side were unlighted.</p> + +<p>Assisting Victory to the open, I followed, and together we +crossed the court, discovering upon the opposite side a +number of wide, wooden doors set in the wall of the palace, +with small windows between. As we stood close behind one of +the doors, listening, a horse within neighed.</p> + +<p>"The stables!" I whispered, and, a moment later, had pushed +back a door and entered. From the city about us we could +hear the din of great commotion, and quite close the sounds +of battle—the crack of thousands of rifles, the yells of +the soldiers, the hoarse commands of officers, and the blare +of bugles.</p> + +<p>The bombardment had ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. +I judged that the enemy was storming the city, for the +sounds we heard were the sounds of hand-to-hand combat.</p> + +<p>Within the stables I groped about until I had found saddles +and bridles for two horses. But afterward, in the darkness, +I could find but a single mount. The doors of the opposite +side, leading to the street, were open, and we could see +great multitudes of men, women, and children fleeing toward +the west. Soldiers, afoot and mounted, were joining the mad +exodus. Now and then a camel or an elephant would pass +bearing some officer or dignitary to safety. It was evident +that the city would fall at any moment—a fact which was +amply proclaimed by the terror-stricken haste of the fear- +mad mob.</p> + +<p>Horse, camel, and elephant trod helpless women and children +beneath their feet. A common soldier dragged a general from +his mount, and, leaping to the animal's back, fled down the +packed street toward the west. A woman seized a gun and +brained a court dignitary, whose horse had trampled her +child to death. Shrieks, curses, commands, supplications +filled the air. It was a frightful scene—one that will be +burned upon my memory forever.</p> + +<p>I had saddled and bridled the single horse which had +evidently been overlooked by the royal household in its +flight, and, standing a little back in the shadow of the +stable's interior, Victory and I watched the surging throng +without.</p> + +<p>To have entered it would have been to have courted greater +danger than we were already in. We decided to wait until +the stress of blacks thinned, and for more than an hour we +stood there while the sounds of battle raged upon the +eastern side of the city and the population flew toward the +west. More and more numerous became the uniformed soldiers +among the fleeing throng, until, toward the last, the street +was packed with them. It was no orderly retreat, but a +rout, complete and terrible.</p> + +<p>The fighting was steadily approaching us now, until the +crack of rifles sounded in the very street upon which we +were looking. And then came a handful of brave men—a +little rear guard backing slowly toward the west, working +their smoking rifles in feverish haste as they fired volley +after volley at the foe we could not see.</p> + +<p>But these were pressed back and back until the first line of +the enemy came opposite our shelter. They were men of +medium height, with olive complexions and almond eyes. In +them I recognized the descendants of the ancient Chinese +race.</p> + +<p>They were well uniformed and superbly armed, and they fought +bravely and under perfect discipline. So rapt was I in the +exciting events transpiring in the street that I did not +hear the approach of a body of men from behind. It was a +party of the conquerors who had entered the palace and were +searching it.</p> + +<p>They came upon us so unexpectedly that we were prisoners +before we realized what had happened. That night we were +held under a strong guard just outside the eastern wall of +the city, and the next morning were started upon a long +march toward the east.</p> + +<p>Our captors were not unkind to us, and treated the women +prisoners with respect. We marched for many days—so many +that I lost count of them—and at last we came to another +city—a Chinese city this time—which stands upon the site +of ancient Moscow.</p> + +<p>It is only a small frontier city, but it is well built and +well kept. Here a large military force is maintained, and +here also, is a terminus of the railroad that crosses modern +China to the Pacific.</p> + +<p>There was every evidence of a high civilization in all that +we saw within the city, which, in connection with the humane +treatment that had been accorded all prisoners upon the long +and tiresome march, encouraged me to hope that I might +appeal to some high officer here for the treatment which my +rank and birth merited.</p> + +<p>We could converse with our captors only through the medium +of interpreters who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian. But +there were many of these, and shortly after we reached the +city I persuaded one of them to carry a verbal message to +the officer who had commanded the troops during the return +from New Gondar, asking that I might be given a hearing by +some high official.</p> + +<p>The reply to my request was a summons to appear before the +officer to whom I had addressed my appeal. A sergeant came +for me along with the interpreter, and I managed to obtain +his permission to let Victory accompany me—I had never left +her alone with the prisoners since we had been captured.</p> + +<p>To my delight I found that the officer into whose presence +we were conducted spoke Abyssinian fluently. He was +astounded when I told him that I was a Pan-American. Unlike +all others whom I had spoken with since my arrival in +Europe, he was well acquainted with ancient history—was +familiar with twentieth century conditions in Pan-America, +and after putting a half dozen questions to me was satisfied +that I spoke the truth.</p> + +<p>When I told him that Victory was Queen of England he showed +little surprise, telling me that in their recent +explorations in ancient Russia they had found many +descendants of the old nobility and royalty.</p> + +<p>He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, +furnished us with servants and with money, and in other ways +showed us every attention and kindness.</p> + +<p>He told me that he would telegraph his emperor at once, and +the result was that we were presently commanded to repair to +Peking and present ourselves before the ruler.</p> + +<p>We made the journey in a comfortable railway carriage, +through a country which, as we traveled farther toward the +east, showed increasing evidence of prosperity and wealth.</p> + +<p>At the imperial court we were received with great kindness, +the emperor being most inquisitive about the state of modern +Pan-America. He told me that while he personally deplored +the existence of the strict regulations which had raised a +barrier between the east and the west, he had felt, as had +his predecessors, that recognition of the wishes of the +great Pan-American federation would be most conducive to the +continued peace of the world.</p> + +<p>His empire includes all of Asia, and the islands of the +Pacific as far east as 175dW. The empire of Japan no longer +exists, having been conquered and absorbed by China over a +hundred years ago. The Philippines are well administered, +and constitute one of the most progressive colonies of the +Chinese empire.</p> + +<p>The emperor told me that the building of this great empire +and the spreading of enlightenment among its diversified and +savage peoples had required all the best efforts of nearly +two hundred years. Upon his accession to the throne he had +found the labor well nigh perfected and had turned his +attention to the reclamation of Europe.</p> + +<p>His ambition is to wrest it from the hands of the blacks, +and then to attempt the work of elevating its fallen peoples +to the high estate from which the Great War precipitated +them.</p> + +<p>I asked him who was victorious in that war, and he shook his +head sadly as he replied:</p> + +<p>"Pan-America, perhaps, and China, with the blacks of +Abyssinia," he said. "Those who did not fight were the only +ones to reap any of the rewards that are supposed to belong +to victory. The combatants reaped naught but annihilation. +You have seen—better than any man you must realize that +there was no victory for any nation embroiled in that +frightful war."</p> + +<p>"When did it end?" I asked him.</p> + +<p>Again he shook his head. "It has not ended yet. There has +never been a formal peace declared in Europe. After a while +there were none left to make peace, and the rude tribes +which sprang from the survivors continued to fight among +themselves because they knew no better condition of society. +War razed the works of man—war and pestilence razed man. +God give that there shall never be such another war!"</p> + +<p>You all know how Porfirio Johnson returned to Pan-America +with John Alvarez in chains; how Alvarez's trial raised a +popular demonstration that the government could not ignore. +His eloquent appeal—not for himself, but for me—is +historic, as are its results. You know how a fleet was sent +across the Atlantic to search for me, how the restrictions +against crossing thirty to one hundred seventy-five were +removed forever, and how the officers were brought to +Peking, arriving upon the very day that Victory and I were +married at the imperial court.</p> + +<p>My return to Pan-America was very different from anything I +could possibly have imagined a year before. Instead of +being received as a traitor to my country, I was acclaimed a +hero. It was good to get back again, good to witness the +kindly treatment that was accorded my dear Victory, and when +I learned that Delcarte and Taylor had been found at the +mouth of the Rhine and were already back in Pan-America my +joy was unalloyed.</p> + +<p>And now we are going back, Victory and I, with the men and +the munitions and power to reclaim England for her queen. +Again I shall cross thirty, but under what altered +conditions!</p> + +<p>A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated, with enlightened +China on the east and enlightened Pan-America on the west—the two great peace powers whom God has preserved to +regenerate chastened and forgiven Europe. I have been +through much—I have suffered much, but I have won two great +laurel wreaths beyond thirty. One is the opportunity to +rescue Europe from barbarism, the other is a little +barbarian, and the greater of these is—Victory.</p> + + +<pre> +End of Project Gutenberg etext of The Lost Continent by +Edgar Rice Burroughs +</pre> + + + + + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/lcont10h.zip b/old/lcont10h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..86789b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lcont10h.zip diff --git a/old/lcont10l.lit b/old/lcont10l.lit Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4804586 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lcont10l.lit diff --git a/old/lcont10l.zip b/old/lcont10l.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1696325 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lcont10l.zip diff --git a/old/lcont10p.prc b/old/lcont10p.prc Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe0304e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lcont10p.prc diff --git a/old/lcont10p.zip b/old/lcont10p.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e8f624 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lcont10p.zip |