Pellucidar

ns of my compass. I no longer heard the be

n as a landsman by a fog at sea, and that no sooner does a fog envelop them than they make the

ult footing. My own predicament weighed less heavily upo

am naturally sanguine, I imagine that the bereavement which had befallen me had cast

through which I wandered was distressing. Hope thrives best in

takes root upon the brink of the grave, and blossoms in the jaws of death. Now it flourished bravely up

could see nothing beyond my nose. Even

of my bearskin coat. I seemed t

pped going had I known positively that death lay two paces before my nose. In the first place, it was too cold to

cale a considerable height that had carried me from the glacier entirely. I was sur

wind that blew about me I guessed that

space. Wildly I turned and clutched at the

g to clutch or stay my fall, and a moment later so g

like a projectile from a cannon into clear daylight. My speed was so great that I could see nothing about me

y on to a broad, smooth, snow-covered plateau. Across this I hurtled with slowly

d beyond these a broad expanse of water. In the nearer foreground I discer

that had impelled me to cling tenaciously to m

e thing; nor was it long before I came to a sudden stop in soft snow, upon which the

. As I scrambled to my feet to meet it, I dropped

as P

he relief I felt at seeing him again safe and

oy! God has been good to an old

same point as that at which I had stepped over it a short time later. Chance

side of the Mountains of the Clouds that w

green trees and warm jungles. I

d, pointing toward it

clung to his rifle during his mad descent of the icy

the snow from our clothing, we set off at a great rate down

e had had to encounter upon the opposite side of the divide

beneath the wondrous trees of the primeval forest in an atmosphere of w

ugh small trees to build a rude protection from

f measuring time within Pellucidar, there can be no such thing as time here, and

d in the building of our shelter, first stripping the leaves and branches fro

sun marked midday when we closed our eyes; it was still in the same posit

is question of elapsed

woke me. Ptarmigan and wild boar fell before my revolver within a dozen moments of m

did not eat the entire boar, we made a very large

friend, Ja the Mezop. We each thought that by following the little stream downward, we should

after the hardships we had endured among the peaks of the Mountains of the Clouds-we came upon a broad flood that

st we saw it roll its mighty volume into the vast waters of the sea. Far out acros

e to a solution of our p

s now the foremost question in

thought-kernel that what man has done, man can do, and it doesn't c

ibes of Pellucidar. He said that some one, without any knowledge of the fact that such a thing might be concocted, had once stum

stuff, and had gone about the village of the Sarians exhibiting it to every one who would listen to him, and explaining what its purpose was and what t

built a fire, after placing the powder at a safe distance, and then touched a glo

r a high explosive, Perry had stumbled upon a fire-extinguisher

at we construct a dugout, but Perry convinced me that we must build something

ot forget, David, that you are emperor of Pellucidar. As such you may not with

s for the emperor to cruise in a canoe, than it was for th

ime ministers to give their personal attention to the building of imperial navies; "and this," he said,

r less of a joke to me that I should be addressed as majesty and all the rest of it

l fealty to one another and to me. Among them were many powerful though sa

apons. I had trained them in military discipline and in so much of the art of war as I had gl

kingdoms. We had warned tribes beyond these boundaries that they must not

d our rights to empire, and very rapidly were we being recognized and heralded a

in, and though I must need smile at my imperial honors, I none the les

out her. When I voiced them to Perry, he reminded me gently that my people for many generations had bee

t inasmuch as I already knew that his father had been a minister in a back-wo

extremely well with the meager tools and assistance at his command. We had only two short axes and

straight and fully ten feet high-"for the purpose," explained Perry, "of adding

elin-fire-the lofty sides made an admirable shelter. Inside she reminded me of nothi

Perry had designed her more for moral effect upon an enemy, I think, than for any real

erable draft; but, as the enemy couldn't have seen it, Perry decided to do away w

ides were far too high to permit the use of sweeps, and when Perry suggested that we pole her, I remonstrated on the grounds that it would be a m

When once the idea took hold Perry was most enthusiastic abou

ct which the appearance of this strange and mighty craft would have upon the nativ

worry me a great deal, for I was confident that we should never be called

above high tide. Her keel we had laid upon several rollers cut from small trees, the ends of th

on setting every shred of "canvas." I told him that I didn't know much about it, but I was sure that at laun

he Perry in honor both of her designer and that other great naval genius of another world, Captai

e names of kingdoms of the federation; armored cruisers the names of kings; cruisers the names of cities, and so on

d break something over the bow as she floated out upon the bosom of the river, but I told

rds had hurt him; but I noticed that he didn't offer to get in

hit it she was going at a reckless speed, for we had laid our tracks quite down to the water, greased them, and at intervals

r momentum carried her well out into the stream, until she came to a sudden halt at the end of the lo

capsized. Perry was overwhelmed. I didn't upbra

didn't have the heart to reproach him, even were

with this rope, and we'll drag her up as far as we can; and then when the t

here on her side in the mud, quite a pitiable object for the premier battle-ship o

and masts, righted her, and filled her about a quarter full of rock ballast. If she di

d that tide come slowly in. The tides of Pellucidar don't amount to much by comparison with o

l rise out of the mud and float slowly upstream with the tide. As the w

a single short mast and light sail, fastened planking down over the ballast to form a deck, worked her out into midstream

he gunwale. The second deck was four feet above this. In it was a large, commodious hatch, leading to the lower deck. The sides of the ship rose

earch of my friend Ja, we knew that we might meet with

hed anchor. Slowly we drifted do

a with all their horrid, slimy cousins whose names were as the names of aunts and uncl

ey to which we had looked forward for so long,