Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-09

cannot understand. know that l am
| not mad, and ! am equally sure that you
| are not; but how in the world are we
to account for the strange hallucinetions
| that each of us seems to harbor relative
to the passage Of time since last we saw
| one another?
You are positive that months have
! gone by, while to me It seems equally
| certain that not more than an hour ago
/ sat beside you in the amphitheatre. Can
II he that both Of us are right and at the
same time both are wrong? First tell me
+ what time 1t is, and then maybe 1 can
solve our problem. DO you catch my
meaning?"
] did, and said so.
Yes" continued the old man, we are
both right To me, bent over my book
here. there has been no lapse Of time.
/ have done little or nothing to waste my
energies and SO have required neither
food nor sleep.
You, on the contrary, have walked and
fought and wasted strength and tissue
which must needs be rebuilt by nutri-
ment and food and so. having eaten and
slept many times since last you saw me
you naturally measure the lapse of time
largely by these acts. As n matter of
TACT, David | am rapidly coming to the
conviction that there is no such thing as
time
Surely there can be no time here
within Pellucidar, where there are no
means for measuring or recording time.
Why the Mahars themselves take no ac-
count of such thing as time. l find
here in all their literary works but
single tense. the present There seems to
be neither past nor future with them.
or course, 1t is impossible for our outer
earthly minds to grasp such condition,
but our recent experiences seem to dem
onstrate Its existence"
II was too big a subject for me. and 1
said So but Perry seemed to enjoy nothing
better than speculating on It, and after lis
tening with interest to my account of the
adventures through which had passed he
returned once more to the subject, which
he was enlarging upon with considerable
fiuency whom he was interrupted by the
entrance of a Sagoth.
Come" commanded the introduer
beckonlng to me. "The investigators
would speak with you"
"Good-by. Perry" l said. clasping tho |
old mans hand. There may be nothing
but the present and no such thing as time,
but feel that ] am about to take trip
into the hereafter, from which 1 shall
never return.
'If you and Chalk should manage to
escape / want you to promise me that
you will find Dian the Beautiful, and tell !
her that with my last words 1 asked her |
forgiveness for the unintentional affront l
put upon her, and that my one wish was
TO be spared long enough to right the |
wrong that had done her."
Tears came to Perrys eyes.
Il cannot believe but that you will re. |
turn. David" he said. at would be awful |
to think Of living out the balance of my |
life among these hateful and repulsive |
creatures without you. If you are taken
away | shall never escape, for l feel that |
am as we'll off here as l should be any.
where within this buried world. Goodby,
my boy; good-by!' -
Then his old voice faltered and broke,
and as he hid his face in his hands the
Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by
the shoulder and hustled me from the
a moment later 1 was standing before
n dozen Mahars-the official investigators
of Phutra. They asked me many Ques.
tions through Sagoth Interpreter.
1 answered them all truthfully. They
seemed particularly interested in my nc.
count of the outer earth and the strange |
vehicle which had brought Perry and me
to Pellucidar.
During this apparent silence they were
debating through the medium of their
strange, unspokcn language the merits of
my tale. At last the head of the tribunal
the result of their confer
ence to the officer in charge of the Sagoth
guard.
Come" he said to me. "you are SEN
fenced to the experimental pits for having
dared to insult the intelligence of the |
mighty ones with the ridiculous tale you
have had the temerity to unfold to them"
"Do you mean that they do not believe
ne?" | asked, totally astonished.
Believe you!" he laughed. do you
mean to say that you expected any one
% believe so impossible n lie?"
II was hopeless, and so 1 walked in ST
ence beside my guard down through dark
Corridors and runwnys toward my awful
loom. At low level we came upon n
lumber Of lighted chambers, In which we
aw many Mahars engaged in various
To one of these chambers
ny guard escorted me, and before leav-
ng they chained me to n side wall.
There were other humans similarly
haned. Upon a long table lay n victim
ven as l was ushered into the room. Sew
raj Mahars stood about the poor crea-
ure. holding him down so that he could
ot move. Another, grasping sharp
nfe with her three-toed forefoot, was
lying open the victims chest and abdo-
len.
No anesthetic had been administered,
nd the shrleks and groans of the tor
lred man were terrible to hear. !
This. indeed, was vivisection with n I
engeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me I
s l realized that soon my turn would
Dme
And to think that where there was no
lch thing as time, l might easily imagine n
lat my suffering was er ring for months I
efore death finally rele. sed me q
The Mahars had paid not the slightest I
ttention to me as l had been brought
ito the room. So deeply immersed were a
ley in their work that am sure they Z
ID not even know that the Sagoths had q
ltered with me. Il n
CONTINUED TOMORROW.