Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-08


ped fruit to illustrate how impossible II
would be for body to fall of the earth
under any circumstances.
He listened so intently that ! thought
I had made an impression and started the
train Of thought that would lead MIN TO
partial understanding Of the truth. But
| was mistaken.
Your own Illustration" he said finally.
/ proves the falsity of your theory
He dropped n fruit from his hand to
the ground
see" he said. without support even
this tiny fruit falls until 1t strikes some
thing that stops IT, If Pcllucidar were
not supported upon the flaming sea II, too.
would fall as the fruit falls-you have
proved II yourselfw
lie had me that time you could see 1t
in his eye.
It seemed a hopeless job. and l gave 1t
up, temporarily. at least for when l con.
templatcd the necessary explanation OF
our solar system and the universe, re-
allied how futile 1t would be to attempt
to picture to ia or any other Pellucida.
rlan the sun, the moon. the planets ana
the countless stars. Those born within
the inner world could no more conceive OF
such things than can we OF the outer crust
reduce to factors appreciable to our mite
minds such terms as space and eternity
We'll Ja" | laughed, whether we
he with our feet up or down, here we are,
and the question of greatest Importance
Is not so much where we came from as
where we are going now.
For my part | wish that you could
guide me to phutra, where | may give
myself up TO the Mahars once more, that
my friends and | may work out the plan
of escape which the Sngoths Interrupted
when they gathered us together and drove
us to the arena to witness the punishment
of the slaves who killed the guardsman.
.t.t. lnh - ln
arena, for by this time my friends and
1 might have made good our csSare,
whereas this delay may mean the
wrecklng of all our plans, which depend.
ed for their consummation upon the con.
tinued sleep Of the three Mahars who lay
in the pit beneath the building In which
we were confined"
you would return to captivity" cried
ia in astonishment.
my friends are there" replied-"the
only friends l have in Pellucidar except
yourself. What else may 1 do under the
clrcumstances?'
He thought for moment in silence.
Then he shook his head sorrowfully.
ut is what brave man and good
friend should do" he said Yet It
seems most foolish, for the MaharS VIII
certainly condemn you to death for run
ming away, and so you will be accomplish
ing nothing for your friends by returning,
n prisoner returning to the Mahars of his
own free will There are but few who
escape them, though some do, and these
would rather die than be recaptured."
81 see no other way, Ja," said, though
| can assure you that | would rather go
to Sheol after Perry than to Phutra.
However Perry is much too pious to
make the probability at all great that |
shall ever be called upon to rescue him
from the former locality"
ia asked me what Sheol was, and when
l explained as best could he said: You
are speaking of Molop Az, the flaming
sea upon which Pellucidar floats. All the
dead who are buried in the ground go
there.
piece by piece they are carried down
to Molop Az by the little demons who
dwell there. We know this because when
graves are opened we find that the bodies
have been partially or entirely borne off.
THAT is why we of Anoroc place our
dead in high trees where the birds may
find them and bear them bit by bit to
the Dead World above, the land of Awful
Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place
his body in the ground that 1t may go
to Molop Az"
AS we talked we had been walking up
the canyon down which l had come to the
great ocean and the sthic. ia did his
Phutra, but when he saw that I had de-
termined to do so he consented to guide
me to n point from which l could see
the plain of Phutra.
To my surprise the distance was but
short from the beach where l had again
met ia. 1t was evident that I had spent
much time following the windngs of n
tortuous canyon, while just beyond the
ridge lay the city Of Phutra near to which
I haVn
AS we topped the ridge and saw the
granite gate towers dottlng the lowered
plain at our feet ia made a final effort
TO persuade me to abandon my mad pur-
pose and return with him to Anoroc, but
l was firm in my resolve, and at last
he bid me good-by, assured in his own
mind that he was looking upon me for
the last time. / wonder If he was right
/ was sorry to part with him, for l
had come to like him very much indeed
With his hidden city upon the island of
Anoroc as a base, and his savage war
riOrs as escort, Perry and l could have
accomplished much in the line of eXplora-
ton, and l hoped that were we successful
in our effort TO escape we might return
to Anoroc later.
There was, however, one great thing to
be accomplished first-at least it was the
great thing to me-the finding of Dian
the Beautiful.
l wanted 10 make amends FOR the af-
front / had put upon her in my igno-
rance. and I wanted to- Well wanted
to see her again, and to be with her
Down the hillside / made my way into
the gorgeous field of flowers, and then
across the rolling land toward the shad-
owless columns that guard the ways to
buried Phutra At a quarter mile from
the nearest entrance l was discovered by
the Sagoth guard. and in an instant four
Of the gorilla-like men were dashing
toward me-
CONTINIrEn TONIORRnW