September 24, 2025 • 13 mins
Dive into a thrilling adventure as David Innes, a mining heir, funds the creation of the iron mole, an innovative excavating vehicle crafted by his brilliant yet aging friend Abner Perry. During a daring test run, the vehicle goes awry, drilling 500 miles into the Earths crust and emerging into the mysterious inner world of Pellucidar. In this captivating realm, the Earth functions as a hollow shell, with Pellucidar as its vibrant internal surface, teeming with prehistoric creatures from every geological era. Here, the intelligent yet malevolent Mahars, a species of flying reptile, dominate the landscape, enslaving the primitive humans who inhabit it. Captured by the Mahars fierce Sagoth servants, Innes and Perry find themselves amidst other human captives, including the valiant Ghak, the clever Hooja, and the enchanting Dian. Join them on an exhilarating journey through a world of danger, intrigue, and unexpected alliances.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eleven of At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. At the
Earth's Core, Chapter eleven, Four Dead Mahars. A moment later,
I was standing before a dozen Mahars, the social investigators
(00:21):
of Phutra. They asked me many questions through a Sagoth interpreter.
I answered them all truthfully. They seemed particularly interested in
my account of the outer Earth and the strange vehicle
which had brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. I thought
that I had convinced them, and after they had sat
in silence for a long time following my examination, I
(00:42):
expected to be ordered returned to my quarters. During this
apparent silence, they were debating, through the medium of strange
unspoken language, the merits of my tale. At last, the
head of the tribunal communicated the result of their conference
to the officer in charge of the Sagoth guard. Come,
he said to me, you are sentenced to the experimental
(01:05):
pits for having dared to insult the intelligence of the
mighty ones with the ridiculous tale you have had the
temerity to unfold to them. Do you mean that they
do not believe me, I asked, totally astonished, believe you?
He laughed, Do you mean to say that you expected
any one to believe so impossible a lie? I was hopeless,
(01:27):
and so I walked in silence beside my guard down
through the dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom.
At a low level, we came upon a number of
lighted chambers in which we saw many Mahars engaged in
various occupations. To one of these chambers, my guard escorted me,
and before leaving, they chained me to a side wall.
(01:50):
There were other humans similarly chained. Upon a long table
lay a victim. Even as I was ushered into the room,
several mahars stood about the poor creeture, holding him down
so that he could not move. Another, grasping a sharp
knife with her three toed fore foot, was laying open
the victim's chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered,
(02:13):
and the shrieks and groans of the tortured man were
terrible to hear. This, indeed, was vivisection with a vengeance.
Cold sweat broke out upon me as I realized that
soon my turn would come, and to think that where
there was no such thing as time, I might easily
imagine that my suffering was enduring for months before death
(02:35):
finally released me. The Mahars had paid not the slightest
attention to me as I had been brought into the room.
So deeply immersed were they in their work that I
am sure they did not even know that the Sagoths
had entered with me. The door was close by, would
that I could reach it, but those heavy chains precluded
(02:57):
any such possibility. I looked about for some means of
escape from my bonds. Upon the floor between me and
the Mahars lay a tiny surgical instrument, which one of
them must have dropped. It looked not unlike a button hook,
but was much smaller, and its point was sharpened a
hundred times in my boyhood days. Had I picked locks
(03:17):
with a button hook, Could I but reach that little
bit of polished steel, I might yet effect at least
a temporary escape. Crawling to the limit of my chain,
I found that by reaching one hand as far out
as I could, my fingers still fell an inch short
of the coveted instrument. It was tantalizing stretch every fiber
(03:40):
of my being as I would I could not quite
make it. At last, I turned about and extended one
foot toward the object. My heart came to my throat.
I could just touch the thing. But suppose that in
my effort to drag it toward me, I should accidentally
shove it still farther away and thus entirely out of reach.
(04:01):
Cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore. Slowly
and cautiously, I made the effort. My toes dropped upon
the cold metal. Gradually I worked it toward me until
I felt that it was within reach of my hand,
and a moment later I had turned about and the
precious thing was in my grasp. Assiduously, I fell to
(04:22):
work upon the mahar lock that held my chain. It
was pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and
a moment later I was free. The mahars were now
evidently completing their work at the table. One already turned
away and was examining other victims, evidently with the intention
of selecting the next subject. Those at the table had
(04:45):
their backs toward me. But for the creature walking toward us,
I might have escaped that moment. Slowly, the thing approached
me when its attention was attracted by a huge slave
chained a few yards to my right. Here the reptile
stopped and commenced to go over the poor devil carefully,
And as it did so, its back turned toward me
(05:05):
for an instant, And in that instant I gave two
mighty leaps that carried me out of the chamber into
the corridor beyond, down which I raced with all the
speed I could command. Where I was or whither I
was going, I knew not. My only thought was to
place as much distance as possible between me and that
frightful chamber of torture. Presently I reduced my speed to
(05:29):
a brisk walk, and, later, realizing the danger of running
into some new predicament were I not careful, I moved
still more slowly and cautiously. After a time I came
to a passage that seemed, in some mysterious way familiar
to me, And presently, chancing to glance within the chamber
which led from the corridor, I saw three mahars curled
(05:51):
up in slumber upon a bed of skins. I could
have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the
same corridor and the same mahars that I had intended
to have lead so important a role in our escape
from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, for
the reptiles still slept. My one great danger now lay
(06:11):
in returning to the upper levels in search of Perry
and Ghek. But there was nothing else to be done,
and so I hastened upward. When I came to the
frequented portions of the building, I found a large burden
of skins in a corner, and these I lifted to
my head, carrying them in such a way that inns
and corners fell down about my shoulders, completely hiding my face.
(06:33):
Thus disguised, I found Perry and Ghak together in the
chamber where we had been wont to eat and sleep.
Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say,
though of course they had known nothing of the fate
that had been meted out to me by my judges.
It was decided that no time should now be lost
before attempting to put our plan of escape to the test,
(06:55):
as I could not hope to remain hidden from the
Sagoths long, nor could I forever carry that bale of
skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion however, it
seemed likely that it would carry me once more safely
through the crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels,
and so I set out with Perry and Ghak. The
stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking me. Together,
(07:20):
we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the
main floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak
halted to await me. The buildings are cut out of
the solid limestone formation. There is nothing at all remarkable
about their architecture. The rooms are sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular,
and again oval in shape. The corridors which connect them
(07:42):
are narrow and not always straight. The chambers are lighted
by diffused sunlight reflected through tubes similar to those by
which the avenues are lighted. The lower the tiers of chambers,
the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely unlighted. The
Maharska see quite well in semi darkness. Down to the
(08:03):
main floor, we encountered many mahars Sagoths and slaves, but
no attention was paid to us, as we became a
part of the domestic life of the building. There was
but a single entrance leading from the palace into the avenue,
and this was well guarded by sagoths. This doorway alone
were we forbidden to pass. It is true that we
(08:25):
were not supposed to enter the deeper corridors and apartments,
except on special occasions when we were instructed to do so.
But as we were considered a lower order without intelligence,
there was little reason to fear that we could accomplish
any harm by doing so, and so we were not
hindered as we entered the corridor which led below. Wrapped
(08:46):
in a skin, I carried three swords and the two bows,
and the arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. As
many slaves bore skin wrapped burdens to and fro. My
load attracted no comment. Where I left go and Perry,
there were no other creatures in sight, and so I
withdrew one sword from the package, and, leaving the balance
(09:06):
of the weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the
lower levels. Having come to the apartment in which the
three mahars slept, I entered silently on tiptoe, forgetting that
the creatures were without the sense of hearing. With a
quick thrust through the heart, I disposed of the first,
but My second thrust was not so fortunate, so that
(09:27):
before I could kill the next of my victims, it
had hurled itself against the third, who sprang quickly up,
facing me with wide, distended jaws. But fighting is not
the occupation which the race of Mahars loves, And when
the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of
its companions, and that my sword was red with their blood,
it made a dash to escape me. But I was
(09:50):
too quick for it, and so half hopping, half flying,
it scurried down another corridor, with me close upon its heels.
Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and
in all probability, my instant death. This thought lent wings
to my feet, but even at my best I could
do more than hold my own with the leaping thing
(10:11):
before me. Of a sudden it turned into an apartment
on the right of the corridor, and an instant later,
as I rushed in, I found myself facing two of
the Mahars. The one who had been there when we
entered had been occupied with a number of metal vessels
into which had been put powders and liquids. As I
judged from the array of flasks standing about upon the
(10:33):
bench where it had been working. In an instant I
realized what I had stumbled upon. It was the very
room for the finding of which Perry had given me
minute directions. It was the buried chamber in which was
hidden the great secret of the race of Mahars. And
on the bench beside the flasks lay the skin bound
book which held the only copy of the thing I
(10:56):
was to have sought. After dispatching the three Mahars in
their sleep, there was no exit from the room other
than the doorway in which I now stood. Facing the
two frightful reptiles cornered. I knew that they would fight
like demons, and they were well equipped to fight. If
fight they must. Together, they launched themselves upon me, and
(11:16):
though I ran one of them through the heart on
the instant, the other fastened its gleaming fangs about my
sword arm above the elbow, and then, with their sharp talons,
commenced to rake me about the body, evidently intent upon
disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope
that I might release my arm from that powerful, viselike
grip which seemed to be severing my arm from my body.
(11:40):
The pain I suffered was intense, but it only served
to spur me to greater efforts to overcome my antagonist.
Back and forth across the floor we struggled, the mahar
dealing me terrific cutting blows with her fore feet, while
I attempted to protect my body with my left hand,
at the same time watching for an upper tunity to
(12:00):
transfer my blade from my now useless sword hand to
its rapidly weakening mate. At last, I was successful, and
with what seemed to me my last ounce of strength,
I ran the blade through the ugly body of my foe.
Soundless as it had fought, it died, and though weak
from pain and loss of blood, it was with an
(12:21):
emotion of triumphant pride that I stepped across its convulsively
stiffening corpse to snatch up the most potent secret of
a world. A single glance assured me it was the
very thing that Perry had described to me. And as
I grasped it, did I think of what it meant
to the human race of Pellucidar? Did there flash through
my mind the thought that countless generations of my own kind,
(12:44):
yet unborn, would have reason to worship me for the
thing that I had accomplished for them, I did not.
I thought of a beautiful oval face gazing out of
limpid eyes through a waving mass of jet black hair.
I thought of red, red lips, God made for kissing,
and of a sudden apropos of nothing. Standing there alone
(13:06):
in the secret chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, I
realized that I loved Dian. The beautiful end of chapter
eleven
Chapter eleven of At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. At the
Earth's Core, Chapter eleven, Four Dead Mahars. A moment later,
I was standing before a dozen Mahars, the social investigators
(00:21):
of Phutra. They asked me many questions through a Sagoth interpreter.
I answered them all truthfully. They seemed particularly interested in
my account of the outer Earth and the strange vehicle
which had brought Perry and me to Pellucidar. I thought
that I had convinced them, and after they had sat
in silence for a long time following my examination, I
(00:42):
expected to be ordered returned to my quarters. During this
apparent silence, they were debating, through the medium of strange
unspoken language, the merits of my tale. At last, the
head of the tribunal communicated the result of their conference
to the officer in charge of the Sagoth guard. Come,
he said to me, you are sentenced to the experimental
(01:05):
pits for having dared to insult the intelligence of the
mighty ones with the ridiculous tale you have had the
temerity to unfold to them. Do you mean that they
do not believe me, I asked, totally astonished, believe you?
He laughed, Do you mean to say that you expected
any one to believe so impossible a lie? I was hopeless,
(01:27):
and so I walked in silence beside my guard down
through the dark corridors and runways toward my awful doom.
At a low level, we came upon a number of
lighted chambers in which we saw many Mahars engaged in
various occupations. To one of these chambers, my guard escorted me,
and before leaving, they chained me to a side wall.
(01:50):
There were other humans similarly chained. Upon a long table
lay a victim. Even as I was ushered into the room,
several mahars stood about the poor creeture, holding him down
so that he could not move. Another, grasping a sharp
knife with her three toed fore foot, was laying open
the victim's chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered,
(02:13):
and the shrieks and groans of the tortured man were
terrible to hear. This, indeed, was vivisection with a vengeance.
Cold sweat broke out upon me as I realized that
soon my turn would come, and to think that where
there was no such thing as time, I might easily
imagine that my suffering was enduring for months before death
(02:35):
finally released me. The Mahars had paid not the slightest
attention to me as I had been brought into the room.
So deeply immersed were they in their work that I
am sure they did not even know that the Sagoths
had entered with me. The door was close by, would
that I could reach it, but those heavy chains precluded
(02:57):
any such possibility. I looked about for some means of
escape from my bonds. Upon the floor between me and
the Mahars lay a tiny surgical instrument, which one of
them must have dropped. It looked not unlike a button hook,
but was much smaller, and its point was sharpened a
hundred times in my boyhood days. Had I picked locks
(03:17):
with a button hook, Could I but reach that little
bit of polished steel, I might yet effect at least
a temporary escape. Crawling to the limit of my chain,
I found that by reaching one hand as far out
as I could, my fingers still fell an inch short
of the coveted instrument. It was tantalizing stretch every fiber
(03:40):
of my being as I would I could not quite
make it. At last, I turned about and extended one
foot toward the object. My heart came to my throat.
I could just touch the thing. But suppose that in
my effort to drag it toward me, I should accidentally
shove it still farther away and thus entirely out of reach.
(04:01):
Cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore. Slowly
and cautiously, I made the effort. My toes dropped upon
the cold metal. Gradually I worked it toward me until
I felt that it was within reach of my hand,
and a moment later I had turned about and the
precious thing was in my grasp. Assiduously, I fell to
(04:22):
work upon the mahar lock that held my chain. It
was pitifully simple. A child might have picked it, and
a moment later I was free. The mahars were now
evidently completing their work at the table. One already turned
away and was examining other victims, evidently with the intention
of selecting the next subject. Those at the table had
(04:45):
their backs toward me. But for the creature walking toward us,
I might have escaped that moment. Slowly, the thing approached
me when its attention was attracted by a huge slave
chained a few yards to my right. Here the reptile
stopped and commenced to go over the poor devil carefully,
And as it did so, its back turned toward me
(05:05):
for an instant, And in that instant I gave two
mighty leaps that carried me out of the chamber into
the corridor beyond, down which I raced with all the
speed I could command. Where I was or whither I
was going, I knew not. My only thought was to
place as much distance as possible between me and that
frightful chamber of torture. Presently I reduced my speed to
(05:29):
a brisk walk, and, later, realizing the danger of running
into some new predicament were I not careful, I moved
still more slowly and cautiously. After a time I came
to a passage that seemed, in some mysterious way familiar
to me, And presently, chancing to glance within the chamber
which led from the corridor, I saw three mahars curled
(05:51):
up in slumber upon a bed of skins. I could
have shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the
same corridor and the same mahars that I had intended
to have lead so important a role in our escape
from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, for
the reptiles still slept. My one great danger now lay
(06:11):
in returning to the upper levels in search of Perry
and Ghek. But there was nothing else to be done,
and so I hastened upward. When I came to the
frequented portions of the building, I found a large burden
of skins in a corner, and these I lifted to
my head, carrying them in such a way that inns
and corners fell down about my shoulders, completely hiding my face.
(06:33):
Thus disguised, I found Perry and Ghak together in the
chamber where we had been wont to eat and sleep.
Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say,
though of course they had known nothing of the fate
that had been meted out to me by my judges.
It was decided that no time should now be lost
before attempting to put our plan of escape to the test,
(06:55):
as I could not hope to remain hidden from the
Sagoths long, nor could I forever carry that bale of
skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion however, it
seemed likely that it would carry me once more safely
through the crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels,
and so I set out with Perry and Ghak. The
stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking me. Together,
(07:20):
we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the
main floor of the buildings, and here Perry and Ghak
halted to await me. The buildings are cut out of
the solid limestone formation. There is nothing at all remarkable
about their architecture. The rooms are sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular,
and again oval in shape. The corridors which connect them
(07:42):
are narrow and not always straight. The chambers are lighted
by diffused sunlight reflected through tubes similar to those by
which the avenues are lighted. The lower the tiers of chambers,
the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely unlighted. The
Maharska see quite well in semi darkness. Down to the
(08:03):
main floor, we encountered many mahars Sagoths and slaves, but
no attention was paid to us, as we became a
part of the domestic life of the building. There was
but a single entrance leading from the palace into the avenue,
and this was well guarded by sagoths. This doorway alone
were we forbidden to pass. It is true that we
(08:25):
were not supposed to enter the deeper corridors and apartments,
except on special occasions when we were instructed to do so.
But as we were considered a lower order without intelligence,
there was little reason to fear that we could accomplish
any harm by doing so, and so we were not
hindered as we entered the corridor which led below. Wrapped
(08:46):
in a skin, I carried three swords and the two bows,
and the arrows which Perry and I had fashioned. As
many slaves bore skin wrapped burdens to and fro. My
load attracted no comment. Where I left go and Perry,
there were no other creatures in sight, and so I
withdrew one sword from the package, and, leaving the balance
(09:06):
of the weapons with Perry, started on alone toward the
lower levels. Having come to the apartment in which the
three mahars slept, I entered silently on tiptoe, forgetting that
the creatures were without the sense of hearing. With a
quick thrust through the heart, I disposed of the first,
but My second thrust was not so fortunate, so that
(09:27):
before I could kill the next of my victims, it
had hurled itself against the third, who sprang quickly up,
facing me with wide, distended jaws. But fighting is not
the occupation which the race of Mahars loves, And when
the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of
its companions, and that my sword was red with their blood,
it made a dash to escape me. But I was
(09:50):
too quick for it, and so half hopping, half flying,
it scurried down another corridor, with me close upon its heels.
Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and
in all probability, my instant death. This thought lent wings
to my feet, but even at my best I could
do more than hold my own with the leaping thing
(10:11):
before me. Of a sudden it turned into an apartment
on the right of the corridor, and an instant later,
as I rushed in, I found myself facing two of
the Mahars. The one who had been there when we
entered had been occupied with a number of metal vessels
into which had been put powders and liquids. As I
judged from the array of flasks standing about upon the
(10:33):
bench where it had been working. In an instant I
realized what I had stumbled upon. It was the very
room for the finding of which Perry had given me
minute directions. It was the buried chamber in which was
hidden the great secret of the race of Mahars. And
on the bench beside the flasks lay the skin bound
book which held the only copy of the thing I
(10:56):
was to have sought. After dispatching the three Mahars in
their sleep, there was no exit from the room other
than the doorway in which I now stood. Facing the
two frightful reptiles cornered. I knew that they would fight
like demons, and they were well equipped to fight. If
fight they must. Together, they launched themselves upon me, and
(11:16):
though I ran one of them through the heart on
the instant, the other fastened its gleaming fangs about my
sword arm above the elbow, and then, with their sharp talons,
commenced to rake me about the body, evidently intent upon
disemboweling me. I saw that it was useless to hope
that I might release my arm from that powerful, viselike
grip which seemed to be severing my arm from my body.
(11:40):
The pain I suffered was intense, but it only served
to spur me to greater efforts to overcome my antagonist.
Back and forth across the floor we struggled, the mahar
dealing me terrific cutting blows with her fore feet, while
I attempted to protect my body with my left hand,
at the same time watching for an upper tunity to
(12:00):
transfer my blade from my now useless sword hand to
its rapidly weakening mate. At last, I was successful, and
with what seemed to me my last ounce of strength,
I ran the blade through the ugly body of my foe.
Soundless as it had fought, it died, and though weak
from pain and loss of blood, it was with an
(12:21):
emotion of triumphant pride that I stepped across its convulsively
stiffening corpse to snatch up the most potent secret of
a world. A single glance assured me it was the
very thing that Perry had described to me. And as
I grasped it, did I think of what it meant
to the human race of Pellucidar? Did there flash through
my mind the thought that countless generations of my own kind,
(12:44):
yet unborn, would have reason to worship me for the
thing that I had accomplished for them, I did not.
I thought of a beautiful oval face gazing out of
limpid eyes through a waving mass of jet black hair.
I thought of red, red lips, God made for kissing,
and of a sudden apropos of nothing. Standing there alone
(13:06):
in the secret chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, I
realized that I loved Dian. The beautiful end of chapter
eleven
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