07 - 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 seven of the Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burrows,
Chapter seven. We stood there, grouped about the body of
the dead Ga Briton, looking futilely down the river to
where it made an abrupt curve to the west, a

(00:23):
quarter of a mile below us, and was lost to sight.
As though we expected to see the truant returning to
us with our precious launch, the thing that meant life
or death to us in this unfriendly, savage world. I
felt rather than sore. Taylor turned his eyes slowly toward
my profile, and as mine swung to meet them, the

(00:48):
expression upon his face recalled me to my duty and
responsibility as an officer. The utter hopelessness that was reflected
in his face must have been the counterpart of what
I myself felt, But in that brief instant, I determined
to hide my own misgivings that I might bolster up

(01:09):
the courage of the others. We are lost was written
as plainly upon Taylor's face, as though his features were
the printed words upon an open book. He was thinking
of the launch, and of the launch alone, was I
I tried to think that I was. But a greater

(01:30):
grief than the loss of the launch could have engendered
in me filled my heart a sullen, gnawing misery which
I tried to deny, which I refused to admit, but
which persisted in obsessing me, until my heart rose and
filled my throat, and I could not speak when I
would have uttered words of reassurance to my companions. And

(01:54):
then rage came to my relief. Rage against the vile
traitor who had desire irted three of his fellow countrymen
in so frightful a position. I tried to feel an
equal rage against the woman, but somehow I could not,
and kept searching for excuses for her, her youth, her inexperience,

(02:15):
her savagery. My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness.
I smiled and told Taylor not to look so glum.
We will follow them, I said, And the chances are
that we shall overtake them. They will not travel as
rapidly as Snider probably hopes. He will be forced to

(02:35):
halt for fuel and for food, and the launch must
follow the windings of the river. We can take short
cuts while they are traversing the detour. I have my
map thank God, I always carry it upon my person,
and with that and the compass, we will have an
advantage over them. My words seemed to cheer them both,

(02:57):
and they were for starting off at once. In suit,
there was no reason why we should delay, and we
set forth down the river. As we tramped along, we
discussed a question that was uppermost in the mind of
each what we should do with Snyder when we had
captured him. For with the action of pursuit had come

(03:19):
the optimistic conviction that we should succeed. As a matter
of fact, we had to succeed. The very thought of
remaining in this utter wilderness for the rest of our
lives was impossible. We arrived at nothing very definite in
the matter of Snider's punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him,

(03:39):
Delcart insisting that he should be hanged, while I, although
fully conscious of the gravity of his offense, could not
bring myself to give the death penalty. I fell to
wondering what charm Victory had found in such a man
as Snyder, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for
her and trying to defend her indefensible act. She was

(04:03):
nothing to me aside from the natural gratitude I felt
for her. Since she had saved my life, I owed
her nothing. She was a half naked, little savage. I
a gentleman and an officer in the world's greatest navy.
There could be no close bonds of interest between us.

(04:24):
This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing
as the former. But though I tried to turn my
mind to other things, it persisted in returning to the
vision of an oval face sun tanned, of smiling lips
revealing white and even teeth, of brave eyes that harbored

(04:45):
no shadow of guile, and of a tumbling mass of
wavy hair. The crowned the loveliest picture on which my
eyes had ever rested. Every time this vision presents itself,
I felt myself turned cold with rage and hate against Snyder.

(05:06):
I could forgive the launch, but if he had wronged her,
he should die. He should die at my own hands.
In this I was determined. For two days, we followed
the river northward, cutting off where we could, but confined
for the most part to the game trails that paralleled

(05:27):
the stream. One afternoon, we cut across a narrow neck
of land that saved us many miles, where the river
wound to the west and back again. Here we decided
to halt, for we had had a hard day of it,
and if the truth were known, I think that we
had all given up hope of overtaking the launch. Other

(05:48):
than by the merest accident. We had shot a deer
just before our halt, and as Taylor and delcart were
preparing it, I walked down to the water to fill
our canteens. I had just finished and was straightening up
when something floating around a bend above me caught my eye.
For a moment I could not believe the testimony of

(06:10):
my own senses. It was a boat. I shouted to
Delcarte and Taylor, who came running to my side. The launch,
cried delcart And indeed it was the launch, floating down
river from above us. Where had it been? How had
we passed it? And how were we to reach it? Now?

(06:32):
Should Snyder and the girl discover us? It's drifting, said Taylor.
I see no one in it. I was stripping off
my clothes, and Delcarte soon followed my example. I told
Taylor to remain on shore with the clothing and rifles.
He might also serve us better there, since it would
give him an opportunity to take a shot at Snyder,

(06:53):
should the man discover us and show himself with powerful strokes.
We swam out the path of the oncoming launch. Being
a stronger swimmer than Delcart, I was soon far in
the lead, reaching the center of the channel. Just as
the launch bore down upon me. It was drifting broadside on.
I seized the gunwale and raised myself quickly so that

(07:16):
my chin topped the side. I expected a blow the
moment that I came within the view of the occupants,
but no blow fell. Snyder lay upon his back in
the bottom of the boat alone. Even before I had
clambered in and stooped above him, I knew that he
was dead. Without examining him further, I ran forward to

(07:36):
the control board and pressed the starting button. To my relief,
the mechanism responded. The launch was uninjured. Coming about, I
picked up Delcart. He was astounded at the sight that
met his eyes, and immediately fell to examining Snyder's body
for signs of life or an explanation of the manner

(07:58):
in which he met his death. The fellow had been
dead for hours. He was cold and still, but Delcart's
search was not without results. For above Snider's heart was
a wound, a slit about an inch in length, such
a slit as a sharp knife would make. And in
the dead fingers of one hand was clutched a strand

(08:21):
of long brown hair. Victory's hair was brown. They say
the dead men tell no tales, But Snider told the
story of his end as clearly as though the dead
lips had parted and poured forth the truth. The beast
had attacked the girl, and she had defended her honor.

(08:42):
We bare it Snider beside the rhine, and no stone
marks his last resting place. Beasts did not require headstones.
Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose
up stream. When I told del Cart and Taylor that
I intended searching for the girl, neither had demurred. We

(09:02):
had her wrong in our thoughts, said Delcart, And the
least that we can do in expiation is to find
and rescue her. We called her name aloud every few
minutes as we motored up the river, but though we
returned all the way to our former camping place, we
did not find her. I then decided to retrace our journey,

(09:26):
letting Taylor handle the launch while del cart and I,
upon opposite sides of the river, searched for some sign
of the spot where Victory had landed. We found nothing
until we had reached a point a few miles above
the spot where I had first seen the launch drifting
down toward us, And there I discovered the remnants of
a recent camp fire that Victory carried flint. And still

(09:50):
I was aware, and that it was she who built
the fire, I was positive. But which way had she gone?
Since she stopped here? Would she go on down the
river that she might thus bring herself nearer her own
gre Britain? Or would she have sought to search for
us up stream where she had seen us last? I

(10:11):
had hail Taylor and sent him across the river to
take in Delcarte, that the two might join me and
discuss my discovery and our future plans. While waiting for them,
I stood looking out over the river, my back toward
the woods that stretched away from the east behind me.
Del cart was just stepping into the launch upon the

(10:31):
opposite side of the stream, when, without the least warning,
I was violently seized by both arms, and about the
waist three or four men were upon me at once.
My rifle was snatched from my hands and my revolver
from my belt. I struggled for an instant, but finding

(10:52):
my efforts of no avail, I ceased them and turned
my head to have a look at my assailants. At
the same time, several others of them walked around in
front of me, and to my astonishment, I found myself
looking upon uniformed soldiery, armed with rifles, revolvers, and sabers,

(11:14):
but with faces as black as coal. End of Chapter
seven