September 25, 2025 • 26 mins
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)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter six of the Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burrows,
Chapter six. Victory was nowhere in sight alone. I floated
upon the bosom of the Thames. In that brief instant,
I believed that I suffered more mental anguish than I
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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
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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 illuminated 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
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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.
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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
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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.
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She did, not, however, reaching the opposite bank as fresh
apparently as when she entered the water. Victory is a wonder.
Every 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,
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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
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first concern was to take my webs 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
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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 tams 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
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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 hand of a beast
north of us, it might have been a wolf. Altogether,
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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,
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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
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crawl closer to him and make sure of the meat
we both so craved. I had covered about fifty yard
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 upriver. His
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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,
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and simultaneously there was a sound of a shot from
beyond the knoll. For an instant I was dumbfounded. Had
the report come from downriver, I should have instantly thought
that one of my own men had fired, But coming
from upriver, it puzzled me considerably. Who could there be
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with firearms in primitive England other than we of the
cold water. 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
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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 heart felt cry
of joy, for it was del cart at the sound
of my voice. Del Cart half raised his rifle in
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readiness for the attack of an enemy, but a moment
later he recognized me and was coming rapidly to meet us.
Behind him was Snyder. 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
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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 in shore when I
had not returned from the hunt, that they had met
the men of the Elephant Country and had had a
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short and one sighted battle with the fellows, and that
afterwards 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
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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 spitting din
upon the opposite side. Taking the antelope with us, we
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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 Snyder evinced much enthusiasm at
my rescue. Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel,
and the distilling of them had with the mode of trouble,
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accounted for their delay in setting out after me. The
prisoner that delcart and Snyder 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
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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
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that originally it was the number of some famous regiment
with which a four bare fort. Now that we were reunited,
we held a council to determine what course we should
pursue in the immediate future. Snyder was still for setting
out to sea and returning to Pan America, but the
better judgment of Delcart and Taylor ridiculed the suggestion. We
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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 crossed the
channel and ascertain if we could not discover a more
enlightened and civilized people upon the continent. I was sure
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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. Snyder demurred at the suggestion. He
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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
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might all consider themselves under my orders, as much so
as though we were still abhorred the cold Water and
in Pan American waters. Delka 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
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me here as they would be upon the other side
of thirty Snyder said nothing, but he wore a sullen scowl.
And I wish then, as I had before, and as
I did to a much greater extent later, that fate
had not decreed that he should have chance to be
a member of the Launcher's party. Upon that memorable day
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when last we quitted the Cold Water. 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 Britain, she said. And if Buckingham
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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.
We spoke of killing Buckingham with no greater concern than
one might Evans in the contemplated destruction of a sheep.
Yet she was neither cruel nor vindictive. In fact, Victory
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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
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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,
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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 Snyder,
the little party appeared in the best of spirits, laughing
and joking, or interestedly discussing the possibilities which the future
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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
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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 Finally she looked up at me, her
strong white teeth gleaming behind her smiling lips. Should you
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take that thing you call razor, she said, and cut
the hair from the face of thirty six and exchanged
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 wolf skin,
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give you a knife and a spear, and set you
down in the woods of grebritin of what service, would
your civilization be to you? Delka and Taylor smiled at
her reply, but thirty six and Snyder laughed uproarously. I
was not surprised at thirty six, but I thought that
Snyder laughed louder than the occasion warranted. As a matter
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of fact, Snyder, it seemed to me, was taking advantage
of every opportunity, however slight to show insubordinate and I
determined then that at the first real breach of discipline,
I should take action that would remind Snyder. Even after
that I was still his commanding officer, I could not
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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 now 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
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when Snyder 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. Snyder was too, taking
full advantage of his opportunity. Often he leaned toward the
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girl to whisper in her ear, and he laughed much,
which was unusual with Snyder. 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
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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 sight 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'd found the same howling wilderness about
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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
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induced a mental depression that was in no way dissipated
by the continued familiarity between Victory and Snyder. 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
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did or what she did not do, or that I
could so lower myself as to feel personal enmity toward
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,
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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
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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
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not enjoying the expiration 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
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think that she regretted her friendliness with Snyder, 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
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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
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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 de gravity with
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her beauteous mantle of verdure. Splendid trees reared their stately
tops where splendid cathedral once had reared their domes, and
sweet wildflowers 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
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zebras grazed her. 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 lated messages of death, of hate, of destruction,
against the works of man and God alike. We were
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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 antelopes and the
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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 Snyder and thirty six to guard Victory and the launch,
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del Carte, 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
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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 Grebritons, a shaggy, unkempt savage clothed in
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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 song
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about his neck. His feet were encased in hie 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
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man raised my hopes once more that elsewhere we might
find men in a high estate 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
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Delkhat 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
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body of a man lying upon the bank. Running toward it,
I saw that it was thirty six. As I stopped
and raised the Gribittan'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.
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Delka 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,
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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
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the others, and then del Cart shattered it by a
single movement of the hand. He drew aside the lion's
skin that covered half of the Grebitton'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
right Snyder, I exclaimed. Delcart nodded. At about the same
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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,
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and again he fell back, Exhausted. For several long minutes,
he lay as one dead. Then, in an almost inaudible whisper,
he spoke Snyder. He paused, tried to speak again, raised
his hand and pointed downriver. They went back, and then
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he shuddered convulsively and died. None of us voiced his belief,
but I think they were all like Victory and Senyda
had stolen the launch and deserted us. End of Chapter
six
Chapter six of the Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burrows,
Chapter six. Victory was nowhere in sight alone. I floated
upon the bosom of the Thames. In that brief instant,
I believed that I suffered more mental anguish than I
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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
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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 illuminated 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
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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.
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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
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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.
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She did, not, however, reaching the opposite bank as fresh
apparently as when she entered the water. Victory is a wonder.
Every 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,
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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
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first concern was to take my webs 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
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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 tams 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
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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 hand of a beast
north of us, it might have been a wolf. Altogether,
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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,
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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
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crawl closer to him and make sure of the meat
we both so craved. I had covered about fifty yard
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 upriver. His
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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,
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and simultaneously there was a sound of a shot from
beyond the knoll. For an instant I was dumbfounded. Had
the report come from downriver, I should have instantly thought
that one of my own men had fired, But coming
from upriver, it puzzled me considerably. Who could there be
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with firearms in primitive England other than we of the
cold water. 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
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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 heart felt cry
of joy, for it was del cart at the sound
of my voice. Del Cart half raised his rifle in
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readiness for the attack of an enemy, but a moment
later he recognized me and was coming rapidly to meet us.
Behind him was Snyder. 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
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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 in shore when I
had not returned from the hunt, that they had met
the men of the Elephant Country and had had a
(07:26):
short and one sighted battle with the fellows, and that
afterwards 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
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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 spitting din
upon the opposite side. Taking the antelope with us, we
(08:10):
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 Snyder evinced much enthusiasm at
my rescue. Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel,
and the distilling of them had with the mode of trouble,
(08:32):
accounted for their delay in setting out after me. The
prisoner that delcart and Snyder 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
(08:54):
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
(09:15):
that originally it was the number of some famous regiment
with which a four bare fort. Now that we were reunited,
we held a council to determine what course we should
pursue in the immediate future. Snyder was still for setting
out to sea and returning to Pan America, but the
better judgment of Delcart and Taylor ridiculed the suggestion. We
(09:39):
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 crossed the
channel and ascertain if we could not discover a more
enlightened and civilized people upon the continent. I was sure
(10:01):
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. Snyder demurred at the suggestion. He
(10:23):
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
(10:44):
might all consider themselves under my orders, as much so
as though we were still abhorred the cold Water and
in Pan American waters. Delka 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
(11:05):
me here as they would be upon the other side
of thirty Snyder said nothing, but he wore a sullen scowl.
And I wish then, as I had before, and as
I did to a much greater extent later, that fate
had not decreed that he should have chance to be
a member of the Launcher's party. Upon that memorable day
(11:29):
when last we quitted the Cold Water. 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 Britain, she said. And if Buckingham
(11:50):
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.
We spoke of killing Buckingham with no greater concern than
one might Evans in the contemplated destruction of a sheep.
Yet she was neither cruel nor vindictive. In fact, Victory
(12:14):
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
(12:36):
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,
(12:58):
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 Snyder,
the little party appeared in the best of spirits, laughing
and joking, or interestedly discussing the possibilities which the future
(13:22):
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
(13:46):
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 Finally she looked up at me, her
strong white teeth gleaming behind her smiling lips. Should you
(14:08):
take that thing you call razor, she said, and cut
the hair from the face of thirty six and exchanged
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 wolf skin,
(14:28):
give you a knife and a spear, and set you
down in the woods of grebritin of what service, would
your civilization be to you? Delka and Taylor smiled at
her reply, but thirty six and Snyder laughed uproarously. I
was not surprised at thirty six, but I thought that
Snyder laughed louder than the occasion warranted. As a matter
(14:51):
of fact, Snyder, it seemed to me, was taking advantage
of every opportunity, however slight to show insubordinate and I
determined then that at the first real breach of discipline,
I should take action that would remind Snyder. Even after
that I was still his commanding officer, I could not
(15:13):
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 now 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
(15:37):
when Snyder 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. Snyder was too, taking
full advantage of his opportunity. Often he leaned toward the
(15:59):
girl to whisper in her ear, and he laughed much,
which was unusual with Snyder. 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
(16:21):
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 sight 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'd found the same howling wilderness about
(16:43):
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
(17:06):
induced a mental depression that was in no way dissipated
by the continued familiarity between Victory and Snyder. 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
(17:28):
did or what she did not do, or that I
could so lower myself as to feel personal enmity toward
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,
(17:51):
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
(18:13):
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
(18:36):
not enjoying the expiration 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
(18:57):
think that she regretted her friendliness with Snyder, 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
(19:17):
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
(19:38):
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 de gravity with
(20:01):
her beauteous mantle of verdure. Splendid trees reared their stately
tops where splendid cathedral once had reared their domes, and
sweet wildflowers 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
(20:24):
zebras grazed her. 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 lated messages of death, of hate, of destruction,
against the works of man and God alike. We were
(20:46):
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 antelopes and the
(21:09):
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 Snyder and thirty six to guard Victory and the launch,
(21:30):
del Carte, 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
(21:51):
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 Grebritons, a shaggy, unkempt savage clothed in
(22:14):
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 song
(22:35):
about his neck. His feet were encased in hie 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
(22:55):
man raised my hopes once more that elsewhere we might
find men in a high estate 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
(23:16):
Delkhat 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
(23:38):
body of a man lying upon the bank. Running toward it,
I saw that it was thirty six. As I stopped
and raised the Gribittan'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.
(23:59):
Delka 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,
(24:19):
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
(24:40):
the others, and then del Cart shattered it by a
single movement of the hand. He drew aside the lion's
skin that covered half of the Grebitton'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
right Snyder, I exclaimed. Delcart nodded. At about the same
(25:06):
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,
(25:28):
and again he fell back, Exhausted. For several long minutes,
he lay as one dead. Then, in an almost inaudible whisper,
he spoke Snyder. He paused, tried to speak again, raised
his hand and pointed downriver. They went back, and then
(25:51):
he shuddered convulsively and died. None of us voiced his belief,
but I think they were all like Victory and Senyda
had stolen the launch and deserted us. End of Chapter
six
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