September 25, 2025 • 25 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 (00:01):
Chapter nine of the Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Recording by Lucy Lefaro. The Lost
Continent by Edgar Rice Burrows, Chapter nine, Victory, she was
(00:21):
here a slave to these black conquerors. Once more I
started toward her, but better judgment held me back. I
could do nothing to help her other than by stealth.
Could I even accomplish aught by this means? I did
not know. It seemed beyond the pale of possibility. And
(00:42):
yet I should try. And you will not bend the
knee to me, continued Menelik. After she had spoken, Victory
shook her head in no most decided negation. You shall
be my first choice, then said the Emperor. I like
your spirit, for the breaking of it will add to
(01:03):
my pleasure in you. And never fear but that it
shall be broken this very night. Take her to my apartments,
and he motioned to an officer at his side. I
was surprised to see Victory follow the man off in
apparent quiet submission. I tried to follow, that I might
(01:26):
be near her against some opportunity to speak with her
or assist in her escape. But after I had followed
them from the throne room, through several other apartments, and
down a long corridor. I found my further progress barred
by a soldier who stood guard before a doorway through
(01:47):
which the officer conducted Victory. Almost immediately the officer reappeared
and started back in the direction of the throne room.
I had been hiding in a doorway after the guard
had turned me back, having taken refuge there while his
back was turned, and as the officer approached me, I
(02:08):
withdrew into the room beyond, which was in darkness. There
I remained for a long time, watching the sentry before
the door of the room in which Victory was a prisoner,
and awaiting some favorable circumstance which would give me entry
to her. I have not attempted to fully describe my
sensations at the moment are recognized Victory, because I can
(02:32):
assure you they were entirely indescribable. I should never have
imagined that the sight of any human being could affect
me as had this unexpected discovery of Victory in the
same room in which I was, while I had thought
of her for weeks either as dead or at best
hundreds of miles to the west, and as irretrievably lost
(02:55):
to me, as though she were in truth dead. I
was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her.
It was not enough merely to assist her or protect her.
I desired to touch her, to take her in my arms.
I was astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled me. It
(03:17):
was my incomprehensible feeling of elation, since I had again
seen her with a fate worse than death, staring her
in the face, and with the knowledge that I should
probably die defending her. Within the hour, I was still
happier than I had been for weeks, and all because
I had seen again, for a few brief minutes the
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figure of a little heathen maiden. I couldn't account for it,
and it angered me. I had never before felt any
such sensations in the presence of a woman, and I
had made love to some very beautiful ones in my time.
It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of
that doorway. In the ill lit corridor of the Palace
(04:03):
of Menelect the fourteenth a sickly gas jet cast a
sad parlor upon the black face of the sentry. The
fellow seemed rooted to the spot evidently he would never
leave or turn his back again. I had been in
hiding but a short time when I heard the sound
of distant cannon. The truce had ended and the battle
(04:26):
had been resumed. Very shortly thereafter, the earth shook to
the explosion of a shell within the city, and from
time to time thereafter other shells burst At no great
distance from the palace. The yellow Men were bombarding New
Gondar again. Presently, officers and slaves commenced to traverse the
(04:48):
corridor on matters pertaining to their duties, and then came
the Emperor, scowling and wrathful. He was followed by a
few personal attendants, whom he deceive. I missed at the
doorway of his apartments, the same doorway through which victory
had been taken. I chafed to follow him, but the
corridor was filled with people. At last, they betook themselves
(05:13):
to their own apartments, which lay upon either side of
the corridor. An officer and a slave entered the very
room in which I hid, forcing me to flatten myself
to one side in the darkness until they had passed.
Then the slave made a light, and I knew that
I must find another hiding place. Stepping boldly into the corridor,
(05:38):
I saw that it was now empty, save for the
single sentry before the Emperor's door. He glanced up as
I emerged from the room, the occupants of which had
not seen me. I walked straight toward the soldier. My
mind made up in an instant, I tried to simulate
an expression of cringing civility, and I must have succeeded,
(06:02):
for I entirely threw the man off his guard, so
that he permitted me to approach within reach of his
rifle before stopping me. Then it was too late for him.
Without a word or a warning, I snatched the piece
from his grasp and at the same time struck him
a terrific blow between the eyes with my clenched fist.
(06:24):
He staggered back in surprise, too dumbfounded even to cry out.
And then I clubbed his rifle and felled him with
a single mighty blow. A moment later I had burst
into the room beyond it was empty. I gazed about,
mad with disappointment. Two doors opened from this to other rooms.
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I ran to the nearest and listened. Yes, voices were
coming from beyond, and one was a woman's level and
cold and filled with scorn. There was no terror in it.
It was Victori's. I turned the knob and pushed the
door inward, just in time to see Melick seize the
girl and drag her toward the far end of the apartment.
(07:10):
At the same instant, there was a deafening roar just
outside the palace. A shell had struck much nearer than
any of its predecessors. The noise of it drowned my
rapid rush across the room. But in her struggles, Victory
turned to Menelik about so that he saw me. She
was striking him in the face with her clenched fist,
(07:32):
and now he was choking her. At sight of me,
he gave voice to a roar of anger. What means
this slave? He cried, out of here, out of here, quick,
before I kill you. But for answer, I rushed upon him,
striking him with the butt of the rifle. He staggered back,
dropping Victory to the floor. And then he cried aloud
(07:55):
for the guard and came at me again and again.
I struck him, but his thick skull might have been
armor plate for all the damage I did it. He
tried to close with me, seizing the rifle, but I
was stronger than he, and, wrenching the weapon from his grasp,
tossed it aside and made for his throat with my
(08:15):
bare hands. I had not dared fire the weapon for
fear that its rapport would bring the large guard stationed
at the farther end of the corridor. We struggled about
the room, striking one another, knocking over furniture, and rolling
upon the floor. Menelek was a powerful man, and he
was fighting for his life. Continually. He kept calling for
(08:38):
the guard until I succeeded in getting a grip upon
his throat. But it was too late. His cries had
been heard, and suddenly the door burst open and a
score of armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment. Victory seized
the rifle from the floor and leapt between me and them.
I had the Black Emperor up upon his back, and
(09:01):
both my hands were at his throat, choking the life
from him. The rest happened in the fraction of a second.
There was a rending crash above us, then a deafening
explosion within the chamber. Smoke and powder fumes filled the room.
Half stunned, I rose from the lifeless body of my antagonist,
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just in time to see Victory staggered to her feet
and turned toward me. Slowly. The smoke cleared to reveal
the shattered remnants of the guard. A shell had fallen
through the palace roof and exploded just in the rear
of the detachment of guardsmen who were coming to the
rescue of their emperor. While neither Victory nor I were
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struck is a miracle. The room was a wreck, A
great jagged hole was torn in the ceiling, and the
wall toward the corridor had been blown entirely out. As
I rose, Victory had risen too and started toward me,
But when she saw the that I was uninjured, she
stopped and stood there in the center of the demolished apartment,
(10:05):
looking at me. Her expression was inscrutable. I could not
guess whether she was glad to see me or not. Victory,
I cried, thank God that you are safe, and I
approached her a greater gladness in my heart than I
had felt since the moment that I knew the cold
water must be swept beyond thirty. There was no answering
(10:27):
gladness in her eyes. Instead, she stamped her little foot
in anger. Why did it have to be you who
saved me? She exclaimed, I hate you hate me? I asked,
Why should you hate me? Victory? I do not hate you,
I I What was I about to say? I was
(10:52):
very close to her as a great light broke over me.
Why had I never realized it before? The truth accounted
for a great many here, thereto inexplicable moods that had
claimed me from time to time since first I had
seen Victory. Why should I hate you, she repeated, because
(11:13):
Snider told me. He told me that you had promised
me to him, but he did not get me. I
killed him as I should like to kill you. Snider lied,
I cried, and then I seized her and held her
in my arms and made her listen to me, though
she struggled and fought like a young lioness. I love you, Victory.
(11:36):
You must know that I love you, that I have
always loved you, and that I never could have made
so base a promise. She seized, her struggles just a trifle,
but still tried to push me from her. You called
me a barbarian, she said, Ah, so that was it
(11:56):
that still rankled. I crushed her to me. You could
not love a barbarian, she went on, but she had
ceased to struggle. But I do love a barbarian victory,
I cried, the dearest barbarian in the world. She raised
her eyes to mine, and then her smooth brown arms
(12:18):
encircled my neck and drew my lips down to hers.
I love you, I have loved you always, she said,
And then she buried her face upon my shoulder and sobbed.
I have been so unhappy, she said, but I could
not die while I thought that you might live. As
we stood there momentarily forgetful of all else than our
(12:41):
new found happiness, the ferocity of the bombardment increased until
scarce thirty seconds elapsed between the shells that reigned about
the palace. To remain long would be to invite certain death.
We could not escape the way that we had entered
the apartment, for not only was the corridor now choked
with debris, but beyond the corridor there were doubtless many
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members of the Emperor's household who would stop us. Upon
the opposite side of the room was another door, and
toward this I led the way. It opened into a
third apartment with windows overlooking and inner court. From one
of these windows, I surveyed the courtyard. Apparently it was empty,
and the rooms upon the opposite side were unlighted. Assisting
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victory to the open I followed, and together we crossed
the court, discovering upon the opposite side a number of
wide wooden doors set in the wall of the palace,
with small windows between. As we stood close behind one
of the doors, listening, a horse within neighed the stables.
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I whispered, and a moment later had pushed back a
door and entered from the city. About us we could
hear the din of great commotion, and quite close the
sounds of battle, the crack of thousands of rifles, the
yells of the soldiers, the horse commands of officers, and
the blare of bugles. The bombardment had ceased as suddenly
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as it had commenced. I judged that the enemy was
storming the city, for the sounds we heard were the
sounds of hand to hand combat. Within the stables, I
groped about until I had found saddles and bridles for
two horses, But afterwards, in the darkness I could find
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but a single mount. The doors of the opposite side
leading to the street were open, and we could see
great multitudes of men, women and children fleeing toward the west.
Soldiers afoot and mounted were joining the mad exodus. Now
and then a camel or an elephant would pass, bearing
some officer or dignitary to safety. It was evident that
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the city would fall at any moment, fact which was
amply proclaimed by the terror stricken haste of the fear
mad mob. Horse, camel and elephant tried helpless women and
children beneath their feet. A common soldier dragged a general
from his mount, and, leaping to the animal's back, fled
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down the packed street toward the west. A woman seized
a gun and brained a court dignitary whose horse had
trampled her child to death. Shrieks, curses, commands, supplications filled
the air. It was a frightful scene, one that will
be burned upon my memory forever. I had saddled and
bridled the single horse, which had evidently been overlooked by
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the royal household in its flight, and standing a little
back in the shadow of the stable's interior victory, and
I watched the surging throng without to have entered it
would have been to have courted greater danger than we
were already in. We decided to wait until the stress
of blacks the eis and for more than an hour
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we stood there, while the sounds of battle raged upon
the eastern side of the city, and the population flew
toward the west. More and more numerous became the uniform
soldiers among the fleeing throng, until toward the last the
street was packed with them. It was no orderly retreat,
but a route complete and terrible. The fighting were steadily
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approaching us now until the crack of rifles sounded in
the very street upon which we were looking. And then
came a handful of brave men, a little rear guard,
backing slowly toward the west, working their smoking rifles in
feverish haste as they fired volley after volley at the
foe we could not see, but these were pressed back
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and back until the first line of the enemy came
opposite our shelter. They were men of medium height, with
olive comple actions and arm and eyes in them I
recognized the descendants of the ancient Chinese race. They were
well uniformed and superbly armed, and they fought bravely and
(17:12):
under perfect discipline. So wrapt was I in the exciting
events transpiring in the street that I did not hear
the approach of a body of men from behind. It
was a party of the conquerors who had entered the
palace and were searching it. They came upon us so
unexpectedly that we were prisoners before we realized what had happened.
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That night we were held under a strong guard just
outside the eastern wall of the city, and the next
morning we started upon a long march toward the east.
Our captors were not unkind to us and treated the
women prisoners with respect. We marched for many days, so
many that I lost count of them, and at last
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we came to another city, a Chinese city, this time,
which stands upon the site of ancient Moscow. It is
only a small frontier city, but it is well built
and well kept. Here a large military force is maintained,
and here also is a terminus of the railroad that
(18:16):
crosses modern China to the Pacific. There was every evidence
of a high civilization in all that we saw within
the city, which, in connection with the humane treatment that
had been accorded all prisoners upon the long and tiresome
march encouraged me to hope that I might appeal to
some high officer here for the treatment which my rank
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and birth merited. We could converse with our captors only
through the medium of interpreters who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian,
but there were many of these, and shortly after we
reached the city, I persuaded one of them to carry
a verbal message to the officer who had commanded the
troops during the return from Ugonda, asking that I might
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be given a hearing by some high official. The reply
to my request was a summons to appear before the
officer to whom I had addressed my appeal. A sergeant
came for me, along with the interpreter, and I managed
to obtain his permission to let Victory accompany me. I
had never left her alone with the prisoners since we
(19:26):
had been captured. To my delight, I found that the
officer in whose presence we were conducted spoke Abyssinian fluently.
He was astounded when I told him that I was
a Pan American. Unlike all others whom I had spoken
with since my arrival in Europe, he was well acquainted
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with ancient history was familiar with twentieth century conditions in
pan America, and after putting a half dozen questions to me,
was satisfied that I spoke the truth. When I told
him that Victory was Queen of England, he showed little surprise,
telling me that in their recent explorations in ancient Russia
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they had found many descendants of the old nobility and royalty.
He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, furnished
us with servants and with money, and in other ways
showed us every attention and kindness. He told me that
he would telegraph his emperor at once, and the result
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was that we were presently commanded to repair to pe
King and present ourselves before the ruler. We made the
journey in a comfortable railway carriage through a country which,
as we traveled farther toward the east, showed increasing evidence
of prosperity and wealth. At the imperial court, we were
received with great kindness, the Emperor being most inquisitive about
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the state of modern pan America. He told me that
while he personally deplored the existence of the strict regulations
which had raised a barrier between the East and the west.
He had felt, as had his predecessors, that recognition of
the wishes of the Great Pan American Federation would be
most conducive to the continued peace of the world. His
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empire includes all of Asia and the islands of the
Pacific as far west as one seventy five w The
Empire of Japan no longer exists, having been conquered and
absorbed by China over a hundred years ago. The Philippines
are well administered and constitute one of the most progressive
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colonies of the Chinese Empire. The Emperor told me that
the building of this great empire and the spreading of
enlightenment among its diversified and savage peoples, had required all
the best efforts of nearly two hundred years. Upon his
accession to the throne, he had found the labor well
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nigh perfected, and had turned his attention to the reclamation
of Europe. His ambition is to wrest it from the
hands of the Blacks, and then to attempt the work
of elevating its fallen peoples to the high estate from
which the Great War precipitated them. I asked him who
(22:23):
was victorious in that war? And he shook his head
sadly as he replied, pat America perhaps, and China with
the blacks of Abyssinia. He said, those who did not
fight were the only ones to reap any of the
rewards that are supposed to belong to victory. The combatants
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reaped nought but annihilation. You have seen better than any man.
You must realize that there was no victory for any
nation embroiled in that frightful war. When did it end?
I asked him again. He shook his head. It has
not ended yet. There has never been a formal peace
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declared in Europe. After a while there were none left
to make peace, and the rude tribes which sprang from
the survivors continued to fight among themselves because they knew
no better condition of society. War raised the works of man,
War and pestilence raised man. God give that there shall
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never be such another war. You all know how Porphyrio
Johnson returned to pan America with John Alvarez in chains.
How Alvarez's trial raised a popular demonstration that the government
could not ignore his eloquent appeal not for himself but
for me is historic, as are its results. You know
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how a fleet was sent across the Atlantic to search
for me, How the restrictions against crossing thirty to one
hundred seventy five were removed forever, and how the officers
were brought to Pe King, arriving upon the very day
that Victory and I were married at the Imperial Court.
My return to pan America was very different from anything
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I could possibly have imagined a year before. Instead of
being received as a trader to my country, I was
acclaimed a hero. It was good to get back again,
good to witness the kindly treatment that was accorded my
dear Victory. And when I learned that del Cart and
Taylor had been found at the mouth of the Rhine
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and were already back in pan America, my joy was unalloyed.
And now we are going back, Victory and I, with
the men and the munitions and power to reclaim England
for her Queen again, I shall cross thirty, but under
what altered conditions? A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated,
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with enlightened China on the east and enlightened pan America
on the west, the two great peace powers, whom God
has preserved to regenerate, chastened and forgiven Europe I have
been through much, I have suffered much, but I have
won two great Laurel wreaths beyond thirty. One is the
(25:20):
opportunity to rescue Europe from barbarism. The other is a
little barbarian. And the greater of these is victory. End
of chapter nine, End of the Lost Continent by Edgar
Rice Burroughs. Recording by Lucy LaFaro, Australia,
Chapter nine of the Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Recording by Lucy Lefaro. The Lost
Continent by Edgar Rice Burrows, Chapter nine, Victory, she was
(00:21):
here a slave to these black conquerors. Once more I
started toward her, but better judgment held me back. I
could do nothing to help her other than by stealth.
Could I even accomplish aught by this means? I did
not know. It seemed beyond the pale of possibility. And
(00:42):
yet I should try. And you will not bend the
knee to me, continued Menelik. After she had spoken, Victory
shook her head in no most decided negation. You shall
be my first choice, then said the Emperor. I like
your spirit, for the breaking of it will add to
(01:03):
my pleasure in you. And never fear but that it
shall be broken this very night. Take her to my apartments,
and he motioned to an officer at his side. I
was surprised to see Victory follow the man off in
apparent quiet submission. I tried to follow, that I might
(01:26):
be near her against some opportunity to speak with her
or assist in her escape. But after I had followed
them from the throne room, through several other apartments, and
down a long corridor. I found my further progress barred
by a soldier who stood guard before a doorway through
(01:47):
which the officer conducted Victory. Almost immediately the officer reappeared
and started back in the direction of the throne room.
I had been hiding in a doorway after the guard
had turned me back, having taken refuge there while his
back was turned, and as the officer approached me, I
(02:08):
withdrew into the room beyond, which was in darkness. There
I remained for a long time, watching the sentry before
the door of the room in which Victory was a prisoner,
and awaiting some favorable circumstance which would give me entry
to her. I have not attempted to fully describe my
sensations at the moment are recognized Victory, because I can
(02:32):
assure you they were entirely indescribable. I should never have
imagined that the sight of any human being could affect
me as had this unexpected discovery of Victory in the
same room in which I was, while I had thought
of her for weeks either as dead or at best
hundreds of miles to the west, and as irretrievably lost
(02:55):
to me, as though she were in truth dead. I
was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her.
It was not enough merely to assist her or protect her.
I desired to touch her, to take her in my arms.
I was astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled me. It
(03:17):
was my incomprehensible feeling of elation, since I had again
seen her with a fate worse than death, staring her
in the face, and with the knowledge that I should
probably die defending her. Within the hour, I was still
happier than I had been for weeks, and all because
I had seen again, for a few brief minutes the
(03:39):
figure of a little heathen maiden. I couldn't account for it,
and it angered me. I had never before felt any
such sensations in the presence of a woman, and I
had made love to some very beautiful ones in my time.
It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of
that doorway. In the ill lit corridor of the Palace
(04:03):
of Menelect the fourteenth a sickly gas jet cast a
sad parlor upon the black face of the sentry. The
fellow seemed rooted to the spot evidently he would never
leave or turn his back again. I had been in
hiding but a short time when I heard the sound
of distant cannon. The truce had ended and the battle
(04:26):
had been resumed. Very shortly thereafter, the earth shook to
the explosion of a shell within the city, and from
time to time thereafter other shells burst At no great
distance from the palace. The yellow Men were bombarding New
Gondar again. Presently, officers and slaves commenced to traverse the
(04:48):
corridor on matters pertaining to their duties, and then came
the Emperor, scowling and wrathful. He was followed by a
few personal attendants, whom he deceive. I missed at the
doorway of his apartments, the same doorway through which victory
had been taken. I chafed to follow him, but the
corridor was filled with people. At last, they betook themselves
(05:13):
to their own apartments, which lay upon either side of
the corridor. An officer and a slave entered the very
room in which I hid, forcing me to flatten myself
to one side in the darkness until they had passed.
Then the slave made a light, and I knew that
I must find another hiding place. Stepping boldly into the corridor,
(05:38):
I saw that it was now empty, save for the
single sentry before the Emperor's door. He glanced up as
I emerged from the room, the occupants of which had
not seen me. I walked straight toward the soldier. My
mind made up in an instant, I tried to simulate
an expression of cringing civility, and I must have succeeded,
(06:02):
for I entirely threw the man off his guard, so
that he permitted me to approach within reach of his
rifle before stopping me. Then it was too late for him.
Without a word or a warning, I snatched the piece
from his grasp and at the same time struck him
a terrific blow between the eyes with my clenched fist.
(06:24):
He staggered back in surprise, too dumbfounded even to cry out.
And then I clubbed his rifle and felled him with
a single mighty blow. A moment later I had burst
into the room beyond it was empty. I gazed about,
mad with disappointment. Two doors opened from this to other rooms.
(06:47):
I ran to the nearest and listened. Yes, voices were
coming from beyond, and one was a woman's level and
cold and filled with scorn. There was no terror in it.
It was Victori's. I turned the knob and pushed the
door inward, just in time to see Melick seize the
girl and drag her toward the far end of the apartment.
(07:10):
At the same instant, there was a deafening roar just
outside the palace. A shell had struck much nearer than
any of its predecessors. The noise of it drowned my
rapid rush across the room. But in her struggles, Victory
turned to Menelik about so that he saw me. She
was striking him in the face with her clenched fist,
(07:32):
and now he was choking her. At sight of me,
he gave voice to a roar of anger. What means
this slave? He cried, out of here, out of here, quick,
before I kill you. But for answer, I rushed upon him,
striking him with the butt of the rifle. He staggered back,
dropping Victory to the floor. And then he cried aloud
(07:55):
for the guard and came at me again and again.
I struck him, but his thick skull might have been
armor plate for all the damage I did it. He
tried to close with me, seizing the rifle, but I
was stronger than he, and, wrenching the weapon from his grasp,
tossed it aside and made for his throat with my
(08:15):
bare hands. I had not dared fire the weapon for
fear that its rapport would bring the large guard stationed
at the farther end of the corridor. We struggled about
the room, striking one another, knocking over furniture, and rolling
upon the floor. Menelek was a powerful man, and he
was fighting for his life. Continually. He kept calling for
(08:38):
the guard until I succeeded in getting a grip upon
his throat. But it was too late. His cries had
been heard, and suddenly the door burst open and a
score of armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment. Victory seized
the rifle from the floor and leapt between me and them.
I had the Black Emperor up upon his back, and
(09:01):
both my hands were at his throat, choking the life
from him. The rest happened in the fraction of a second.
There was a rending crash above us, then a deafening
explosion within the chamber. Smoke and powder fumes filled the room.
Half stunned, I rose from the lifeless body of my antagonist,
(09:22):
just in time to see Victory staggered to her feet
and turned toward me. Slowly. The smoke cleared to reveal
the shattered remnants of the guard. A shell had fallen
through the palace roof and exploded just in the rear
of the detachment of guardsmen who were coming to the
rescue of their emperor. While neither Victory nor I were
(09:43):
struck is a miracle. The room was a wreck, A
great jagged hole was torn in the ceiling, and the
wall toward the corridor had been blown entirely out. As
I rose, Victory had risen too and started toward me,
But when she saw the that I was uninjured, she
stopped and stood there in the center of the demolished apartment,
(10:05):
looking at me. Her expression was inscrutable. I could not
guess whether she was glad to see me or not. Victory,
I cried, thank God that you are safe, and I
approached her a greater gladness in my heart than I
had felt since the moment that I knew the cold
water must be swept beyond thirty. There was no answering
(10:27):
gladness in her eyes. Instead, she stamped her little foot
in anger. Why did it have to be you who
saved me? She exclaimed, I hate you hate me? I asked,
Why should you hate me? Victory? I do not hate you,
I I What was I about to say? I was
(10:52):
very close to her as a great light broke over me.
Why had I never realized it before? The truth accounted
for a great many here, thereto inexplicable moods that had
claimed me from time to time since first I had
seen Victory. Why should I hate you, she repeated, because
(11:13):
Snider told me. He told me that you had promised
me to him, but he did not get me. I
killed him as I should like to kill you. Snider lied,
I cried, and then I seized her and held her
in my arms and made her listen to me, though
she struggled and fought like a young lioness. I love you, Victory.
(11:36):
You must know that I love you, that I have
always loved you, and that I never could have made
so base a promise. She seized, her struggles just a trifle,
but still tried to push me from her. You called
me a barbarian, she said, Ah, so that was it
(11:56):
that still rankled. I crushed her to me. You could
not love a barbarian, she went on, but she had
ceased to struggle. But I do love a barbarian victory,
I cried, the dearest barbarian in the world. She raised
her eyes to mine, and then her smooth brown arms
(12:18):
encircled my neck and drew my lips down to hers.
I love you, I have loved you always, she said,
And then she buried her face upon my shoulder and sobbed.
I have been so unhappy, she said, but I could
not die while I thought that you might live. As
we stood there momentarily forgetful of all else than our
(12:41):
new found happiness, the ferocity of the bombardment increased until
scarce thirty seconds elapsed between the shells that reigned about
the palace. To remain long would be to invite certain death.
We could not escape the way that we had entered
the apartment, for not only was the corridor now choked
with debris, but beyond the corridor there were doubtless many
(13:04):
members of the Emperor's household who would stop us. Upon
the opposite side of the room was another door, and
toward this I led the way. It opened into a
third apartment with windows overlooking and inner court. From one
of these windows, I surveyed the courtyard. Apparently it was empty,
and the rooms upon the opposite side were unlighted. Assisting
(13:29):
victory to the open I followed, and together we crossed
the court, discovering upon the opposite side a number of
wide wooden doors set in the wall of the palace,
with small windows between. As we stood close behind one
of the doors, listening, a horse within neighed the stables.
(13:49):
I whispered, and a moment later had pushed back a
door and entered from the city. About us we could
hear the din of great commotion, and quite close the
sounds of battle, the crack of thousands of rifles, the
yells of the soldiers, the horse commands of officers, and
the blare of bugles. The bombardment had ceased as suddenly
(14:13):
as it had commenced. I judged that the enemy was
storming the city, for the sounds we heard were the
sounds of hand to hand combat. Within the stables, I
groped about until I had found saddles and bridles for
two horses, But afterwards, in the darkness I could find
(14:33):
but a single mount. The doors of the opposite side
leading to the street were open, and we could see
great multitudes of men, women and children fleeing toward the west.
Soldiers afoot and mounted were joining the mad exodus. Now
and then a camel or an elephant would pass, bearing
some officer or dignitary to safety. It was evident that
(14:57):
the city would fall at any moment, fact which was
amply proclaimed by the terror stricken haste of the fear
mad mob. Horse, camel and elephant tried helpless women and
children beneath their feet. A common soldier dragged a general
from his mount, and, leaping to the animal's back, fled
(15:17):
down the packed street toward the west. A woman seized
a gun and brained a court dignitary whose horse had
trampled her child to death. Shrieks, curses, commands, supplications filled
the air. It was a frightful scene, one that will
be burned upon my memory forever. I had saddled and
bridled the single horse, which had evidently been overlooked by
(15:41):
the royal household in its flight, and standing a little
back in the shadow of the stable's interior victory, and
I watched the surging throng without to have entered it
would have been to have courted greater danger than we
were already in. We decided to wait until the stress
of blacks the eis and for more than an hour
(16:02):
we stood there, while the sounds of battle raged upon
the eastern side of the city, and the population flew
toward the west. More and more numerous became the uniform
soldiers among the fleeing throng, until toward the last the
street was packed with them. It was no orderly retreat,
but a route complete and terrible. The fighting were steadily
(16:27):
approaching us now until the crack of rifles sounded in
the very street upon which we were looking. And then
came a handful of brave men, a little rear guard,
backing slowly toward the west, working their smoking rifles in
feverish haste as they fired volley after volley at the
foe we could not see, but these were pressed back
(16:51):
and back until the first line of the enemy came
opposite our shelter. They were men of medium height, with
olive comple actions and arm and eyes in them I
recognized the descendants of the ancient Chinese race. They were
well uniformed and superbly armed, and they fought bravely and
(17:12):
under perfect discipline. So wrapt was I in the exciting
events transpiring in the street that I did not hear
the approach of a body of men from behind. It
was a party of the conquerors who had entered the
palace and were searching it. They came upon us so
unexpectedly that we were prisoners before we realized what had happened.
(17:35):
That night we were held under a strong guard just
outside the eastern wall of the city, and the next
morning we started upon a long march toward the east.
Our captors were not unkind to us and treated the
women prisoners with respect. We marched for many days, so
many that I lost count of them, and at last
(17:56):
we came to another city, a Chinese city, this time,
which stands upon the site of ancient Moscow. It is
only a small frontier city, but it is well built
and well kept. Here a large military force is maintained,
and here also is a terminus of the railroad that
(18:16):
crosses modern China to the Pacific. There was every evidence
of a high civilization in all that we saw within
the city, which, in connection with the humane treatment that
had been accorded all prisoners upon the long and tiresome
march encouraged me to hope that I might appeal to
some high officer here for the treatment which my rank
(18:40):
and birth merited. We could converse with our captors only
through the medium of interpreters who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian,
but there were many of these, and shortly after we
reached the city, I persuaded one of them to carry
a verbal message to the officer who had commanded the
troops during the return from Ugonda, asking that I might
(19:04):
be given a hearing by some high official. The reply
to my request was a summons to appear before the
officer to whom I had addressed my appeal. A sergeant
came for me, along with the interpreter, and I managed
to obtain his permission to let Victory accompany me. I
had never left her alone with the prisoners since we
(19:26):
had been captured. To my delight, I found that the
officer in whose presence we were conducted spoke Abyssinian fluently.
He was astounded when I told him that I was
a Pan American. Unlike all others whom I had spoken
with since my arrival in Europe, he was well acquainted
(19:47):
with ancient history was familiar with twentieth century conditions in
pan America, and after putting a half dozen questions to me,
was satisfied that I spoke the truth. When I told
him that Victory was Queen of England, he showed little surprise,
telling me that in their recent explorations in ancient Russia
(20:08):
they had found many descendants of the old nobility and royalty.
He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, furnished
us with servants and with money, and in other ways
showed us every attention and kindness. He told me that
he would telegraph his emperor at once, and the result
(20:30):
was that we were presently commanded to repair to pe
King and present ourselves before the ruler. We made the
journey in a comfortable railway carriage through a country which,
as we traveled farther toward the east, showed increasing evidence
of prosperity and wealth. At the imperial court, we were
received with great kindness, the Emperor being most inquisitive about
(20:53):
the state of modern pan America. He told me that
while he personally deplored the existence of the strict regulations
which had raised a barrier between the East and the west.
He had felt, as had his predecessors, that recognition of
the wishes of the Great Pan American Federation would be
most conducive to the continued peace of the world. His
(21:18):
empire includes all of Asia and the islands of the
Pacific as far west as one seventy five w The
Empire of Japan no longer exists, having been conquered and
absorbed by China over a hundred years ago. The Philippines
are well administered and constitute one of the most progressive
(21:41):
colonies of the Chinese Empire. The Emperor told me that
the building of this great empire and the spreading of
enlightenment among its diversified and savage peoples, had required all
the best efforts of nearly two hundred years. Upon his
accession to the throne, he had found the labor well
(22:02):
nigh perfected, and had turned his attention to the reclamation
of Europe. His ambition is to wrest it from the
hands of the Blacks, and then to attempt the work
of elevating its fallen peoples to the high estate from
which the Great War precipitated them. I asked him who
(22:23):
was victorious in that war? And he shook his head
sadly as he replied, pat America perhaps, and China with
the blacks of Abyssinia. He said, those who did not
fight were the only ones to reap any of the
rewards that are supposed to belong to victory. The combatants
(22:44):
reaped nought but annihilation. You have seen better than any man.
You must realize that there was no victory for any
nation embroiled in that frightful war. When did it end?
I asked him again. He shook his head. It has
not ended yet. There has never been a formal peace
(23:05):
declared in Europe. After a while there were none left
to make peace, and the rude tribes which sprang from
the survivors continued to fight among themselves because they knew
no better condition of society. War raised the works of man,
War and pestilence raised man. God give that there shall
(23:27):
never be such another war. You all know how Porphyrio
Johnson returned to pan America with John Alvarez in chains.
How Alvarez's trial raised a popular demonstration that the government
could not ignore his eloquent appeal not for himself but
for me is historic, as are its results. You know
(23:51):
how a fleet was sent across the Atlantic to search
for me, How the restrictions against crossing thirty to one
hundred seventy five were removed forever, and how the officers
were brought to Pe King, arriving upon the very day
that Victory and I were married at the Imperial Court.
My return to pan America was very different from anything
(24:13):
I could possibly have imagined a year before. Instead of
being received as a trader to my country, I was
acclaimed a hero. It was good to get back again,
good to witness the kindly treatment that was accorded my
dear Victory. And when I learned that del Cart and
Taylor had been found at the mouth of the Rhine
(24:34):
and were already back in pan America, my joy was unalloyed.
And now we are going back, Victory and I, with
the men and the munitions and power to reclaim England
for her Queen again, I shall cross thirty, but under
what altered conditions? A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated,
(24:58):
with enlightened China on the east and enlightened pan America
on the west, the two great peace powers, whom God
has preserved to regenerate, chastened and forgiven Europe I have
been through much, I have suffered much, but I have
won two great Laurel wreaths beyond thirty. One is the
(25:20):
opportunity to rescue Europe from barbarism. The other is a
little barbarian. And the greater of these is victory. End
of chapter nine, End of the Lost Continent by Edgar
Rice Burroughs. Recording by Lucy LaFaro, Australia,
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