04 - Lost Continent (Beyond Thirty) by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Originally published as Beyond Thirty, this gripping novel transports readers to the year 2137, where the haunting shadows of World War I have reshaped the world. In this dystopian future, Europe has spiraled into chaos and barbarism, while the Western Hemisphere remains an isolated sanctuary untouched by devastation. The title, Beyond Thirty, alludes to the mysterious line of longitude that the inhabitants of this sheltered region are strictly forbidden to cross. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter four of The Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Recording by Lucillafaro. The Lost Continent
by Edgar Rice Burrows, Chapter four. It was during the
morning of July sixth, two thousand, one hundred thirty seven,

(00:22):
that we entered the mouth of the Tams, 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 light ships, and the boys, and all those countless
attributes which went to make up the myriad life of

(00:45):
the ancient Tams 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 waterway
with the waters about our New York, or Rio, or
San Diego, or of Olparaiso. They had become what they

(01:09):
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. Militarists that i am,
I could find but a single word of explanation war,

(01:34):
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

(01:57):
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 side
of ancient London, I determined to land and bag a
couple of the animals. Assured that they would be timid

(02:18):
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

(02:42):
antlered head of the buck went suddenly into the air,
and then, as though in accordance with the 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

(03:02):
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 Phillis tigris.

(03:27):
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, gray black creature rearing its colossal shoulders twelve

(03:53):
or fourteen feet above the ground. Never in my life
had I seen such a beast, nor did I at
first 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

(04:13):
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 pacoderm that I quite forgot to shoot at

(04:35):
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,

(04:56):
from close behind 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

(05:19):
buck uttered cries of agony, his fellows broke and leapt
off in all directions. The elephant raised his trunk and,
trumpeting loudly, lumpered off through the wood, crushing down small
trees and trampling bushes in his mad flight, growling horribly.

(05:40):
A huge line 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 fear sighed demon, palpitating with
life and vigor, glossy of coat, alert, growling magnificent from

(06:05):
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 seemed to me less unwieldly than those now
in general use among us. And so it was with

(06:28):
sentiments not unmixed with awe that I stood gazing at
this regal beast. As above the carcass of his skill,
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

(06:51):
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

(07:12):
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

(07:34):
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,

(07:58):
as one of the mangy effortes at home, But only
for an instant. Then, with the most ferocious roar, and
without the slightest hesitancy or warning, he charged upon me.
He forsook the prey already dead beneath him for the
pleasure of the delectable titbit man. From the remorselessness with

(08:22):
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,

(08:42):
the ancient god of my ancestors, that I had replaced
the hard jacketed bullets in my weapon with soft nose projectiles.
For though this was my first experience with fairlie Leo,
I knew the moment that I faced that charge that
even my wonderfully perfect firearm would be as futile as

(09:02):
a pea shooter 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

(09:24):
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

(09:47):
exposed chest, or better yet, of breaking his shoulder or
fore leg 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

(10:11):
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

(10:34):
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

(10:58):
toward me. There was a dull thought 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 embedded 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 leapt behind the tree, and,

(11:21):
circling it, peered around to 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

(11:45):
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 tight
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

(12:07):
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

(12:28):
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,

(12:51):
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

(13:11):
was being pulled along by two of the men. They
came forward, wearily, 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,

(13:32):
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

(13:53):
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

(14:14):
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 carried his first blow with my forearm,

(14:37):
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

(14:58):
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,

(15:19):
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 near by tree, for I had seen
that with both their comrades down, the others were preparing
to launch their spears. With the girls safe behind the tree,

(15:40):
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,

(16:02):
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, leapt forward once
again to overwhelm me. It was now quite evident that

(16:26):
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

(16:50):
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

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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,

(17:33):
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

(17:57):
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 Grebritton.

(18:19):
What are you? I am 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.

(18:43):
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.

(19:05):
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

(19:28):
shook her head in negation. I do not care where
you come 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

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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 Great Britain.
They came upon the water, and under the water, and
even in the air. They came in great numbers, so

(20:12):
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

(20:33):
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

(20:54):
still there. But this also is in the legend, that
as we drove them 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

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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

(21:35):
those she described simply as the men from over there.
But what utter and appalling devastation the Great War must
have wrought, to have eraised 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

(21:56):
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 repopulate the land.

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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 Corteron, since my return to Pan America, has suggested

(22:37):
that 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

(23:00):
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

(23:23):
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,

(23:45):
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 feeble, minded and insane. My objections to this
that the present inhabitants of England are mentally fit, and

(24:08):
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

(24:28):
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 Carteran's theory, though I admit
that I am prejudiced. Naturally, one does not care to

(24:50):
believe that the object of his greatest affection is descended
from a gibbering idiot and a raving maniac. 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 by

(25:12):
paths of speculation which lead from the present day's story
of the Grebitans into the mysterious past of their forebears.
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 raw high thongs

(25:33):
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

(25:54):
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 Carteran's theory.
Yet it opens no new doors to the past, and

(26:18):
on the whole, rather adds too 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.

(26:40):
He killed Wetton a few days ago. My mother told
me once that Wetton 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 ruddiments civilized government, since they recognized

(27:03):
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

(27:26):
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

(27:48):
mighty buildings of stone and brick, broad avenues, parks, palaces,
and countless people, she but shook her head. Sadly. There
is no such place nearby, she said. Only the camp
of the Lions has places of stone where the beasts lay.

(28:09):
But there are no people in the camp of the
Lions who would dare go there. And she shuddered. The
Camp of the Lions are 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

(28:31):
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 southwest, is
the island of tigers, which is even worse than this
the land of the lions, For the tigers are more

(28:53):
numerous than the lions, and hungrier for human flesh. There
were tigers here long ago, but both the lions and
the men said upon them and drove them off. Where
did their savage beasts come from? I asked, Ah, she replied,
they have been here always. It is their country. Do

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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

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we not intruders in their country? Really? We live upon
good terms with them. Though I should not care to
meet one were there are 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

(30:01):
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 learnt that I am gone from the camp.
They watch over me very closely. And they will set

(30:22):
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,

(30:43):
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 any one who be friends me for
fear that I might become another's didn't you say that

(31:04):
Buckingham is already the king, I asked, he is. He
took my mother for his woman after he had killed Wetton.
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.

(31:25):
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

(31:49):
girl's importance in the community and for Buckingham's anxiety to
claim her. Though she told me that she did not
wished 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.

(32:13):
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

(32:37):
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 leapt upon me

(33:00):
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

(33:22):
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

(33:44):
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 truciantly before me. And who are you

(34:04):
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

(34:26):
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

(34:46):
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,

(35:08):
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 area surfaced domiciles.

(35:29):
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 disk in about their hips,
for it was summer and quite warm. The men, too,
were clothed in a single garment, usually the pelt of

(35:51):
some beast of prey. The hair of both men and
women was confined by a raw hide thong passing about
the forehead and tied behind. In this leathern band were
suck feathers, flowers, or the tails of small mammals, or
wore necklaces of the teeth or claws of wild beasts.

(36:12):
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

(36:34):
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,

(36:55):
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

(37:15):
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

(37:38):
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

(37:58):
large hut near the center of the camp. 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.

(38:21):
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 Wetton lived, you would
be well treated. But Buckingham has taken me now and

(38:42):
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 Wetton

(39:04):
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 for popular. If he dared

(39:27):
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
Grebritton was a mighty country. The old Queen's words had

(39:51):
a noticeable effect upon the mob of curious savages which
surrounded me. The moment they discovered that the 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

(40:12):
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

(40:33):
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

(40:53):
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. To
day I should be sitting in the place of honor
at the banquet board of one of London's most exclusive clubs,
fettered and lionized the actuality. Here I lay bound, hand

(41:19):
and foot, doubtless, almost upon the very sight 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 Snyder. Would they search for me? They could

(41:41):
never find me, I feared. Yet if they did, what
could they accomplish against this hart 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

(42:02):
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

(42:26):
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

(42:47):
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 strange 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

(43:11):
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.

(43:36):
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.

(43:58):
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

(44:20):
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?

(44:42):
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.

(45:03):
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 raw
high 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

(45:26):
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.

(45:48):
Presently a figure appeared, silhouetted against the lesser darkness beyond
the doorway. It crept inside the hut. Are you here?
Whispered the 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

(46:12):
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 girl's sobs increased, and she flung herself
upon the dirt floor of the hut, apparently overcome by grief.

(46:35):
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.

(46:57):
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.

(47:17):
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 raw hide, for Buckingham will
be after you soon. He must make an offering to

(47:39):
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 Wetton, that he might slay my
mother and take VICI. The thought was horrible, not solely

(48:03):
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

(48:24):
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

(48:45):
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.

(49:06):
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

(49:29):
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.

(49:49):
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 torch bearers who surrounded us. But the torches
were not to light the way, that was but incidental.

(50:11):
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

(50:37):
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

(51:00):
first pale heralding of dawn, we wretched our goal, an
open place in the midst of a tangled wild wood.
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 ark of masonry the entrance to

(51:24):
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 Grebritin, we fall on our knees to thee

(51:48):
this gift to bring greatest of kings, Art thou to thee.
We humbly bow peace to our camp. Alow God save
thee king. When the party rose, and dragging me to
the crumbling ark, made me fast to a huge corroded
copper ring which was dangling from an eyebolt embedded in

(52:10):
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

(52:32):
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

(52:54):
that the lions had failed to note that I had
been left for their breakfast, and had followed off after
their worshipers 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 wish
the ordeal over and the peace of oblivion upon me.

(53:15):
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

(53:37):
the next lion who chanced within sight or smell of
the crumbling arc. 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.

(53:58):
I try 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

(54:20):
after a night of pleasure or rest? Where was the
clang of tram car 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,

(54:43):
majestically and noiselessly. Upon his padded feet. The king of
beasts smoothed slowly toward the gates of London and toward me.
Was I afraid? I feared 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

(55:05):
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 half

(55:26):
way 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.

(55:46):
As I crammed 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

(56:09):
in her arms she clutched my rifle and revolver. A
long knife was in the doe skin belt that supported
the doe skin 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.

(56:33):
I cried to the girl as I bent and seized
my rifle, but she only stood there at my side,
her bed 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

(56:55):
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

(57:19):
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 sight 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

(57:42):
to my comrades. I will not return to the camp,
she replied. But what shall you do. 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

(58:05):
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,

(58:28):
But what in the world was I 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.

(58:50):
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

(59:12):
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,

(59:35):
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

(59:58):
in two days that lie are harmless before my weapons.
Then too, I can find my friend's easiest in this direction,
for the river Tams 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,

(01:00:21):
she answered simply, And so I turned and passed beneath
the Great Arch into the city of London. End of
chapter four.