登陆注册
15299500000029

第29章 THROUGH THE CARRION CAVES(2)

Thuvan Dihn saw it, too, and it carried the same message of hope to us both.Only man could have placed that collar there, and as no race of Martians of which we knew aught ever had attempted to domesticate the ferocious apt, he must belong to a people of the north of whose very existence we were ignorant--possibly to the fabled yellow men of Barsoom; that once powerful race which was supposed to be extinct, though sometimes, by theorists, thought still to exist in the frozen north.

Simultaneously we started upon the trail of the great beast.

Woola was quickly made to understand our desires, so that it was unnecessary to attempt to keep in sight of the animal whose swift flight over the rough ground soon put him beyond our vision.

For the better part of two hours the trail paralleled the barrier, and then suddenly turned toward it through the roughest and seemingly most impassable country I ever had beheld.

Enormous granite boulders blocked the way on every hand; deep rifts in the ice threatened to engulf us at the least misstep;and from the north a slight breeze wafted to our nostrils an unspeakable stench that almost choked us.

For another two hours we were occupied in traversing a few hundred yards to the foot of the barrier.

1

From this repelling portal the horrid stench was emanating, and as Thuvan Dihn espied the place he halted with an exclamation of profound astonishment.

"By all my ancestors!" he ejaculated."That I should have lived to witness the reality of the fabled Carrion Caves!

If these indeed be they, we have found a way beyond the ice-barrier.

"The ancient chronicles of the first historians of Barsoom--so ancient that we have for ages considered them mythology--record the passing of the yellow men from the ravages of the green hordes that overran Barsoom as the drying up of the great oceans drove the dominant races from their strongholds.

"They tell of the wanderings of the remnants of this once powerful race, harassed at every step, until at last they found a way through the ice-barrier of the north to a fertile valley at the pole.

"At the opening to the subterranean passage that led to their haven of refuge a mighty battle was fought in which the yellow men were victorious, and within the caves that gave ingress to their new home they piled the bodies of the dead, both yellow and green, that the stench might warn away their enemies from further pursuit.

"And ever since that long-gone day have the dead of this fabled land been carried to the Carrion Caves, that in death and decay they might serve their country and warn away invading enemies.

Here, too, is brought, so the fable runs, all the waste stuff of the nation--everything that is subject to rot, and that can add to the foul stench that assails our nostrils.

"And death lurks at every step among rotting dead, for here the fierce apts lair, adding to the putrid accumulation with the fragments of their own prey which they cannot devour.It is a horrid avenue to our goal, but it is the only one.""You are sure, then, that we have found the way to the land of the yellow men?" I cried.

"As sure as may be," he replied; "having only ancient legend to support my belief.But see how closely, so far, each detail tallies with the world-old story of the hegira of the yellow race.

Yes, I am sure that we have discovered the way to their ancient hiding place.""If it be true, and let us pray that such may be the case," I said, "then here may we solve the mystery of the disappearance of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, and Mors Kajak, his son, for no other spot upon Barsoom has remained unexplored by the many expeditions and the countless spies that have been searching for them for nearly two years.The last word that came from them was that they sought Carthoris, my own brave son, beyond the ice-barrier."As we talked we had been approaching the entrance to the cave, and as we crossed the threshold I ceased to wonder that the ancient green enemies of the yellow men had been halted by the horrors of that awful way.

The bones of dead men lay man high upon the broad floor of the first cave, and over all was a putrid mush of decaying flesh, through which the apts had beaten a hideous trail toward the entrance to the second cave beyond.

The roof of this first apartment was low, like all that we traversed subsequently, so that the foul odors were confined and condensed to such an extent that they seemed to possess tangible substance.One was almost tempted to draw his short-sword and hew his way through in search of pure air beyond.

"Can man breathe this polluted air and live?"asked Thuvan Dihn, choking.

"Not for long, I imagine," I replied; "so let us make haste.

I will go first, and you bring up the rear, with Woola between.

Come," and with the words I dashed forward, across the fetid mass of putrefaction.

It was not until we had passed through seven caves of different sizes and varying but little in the power and quality of their stenches that we met with any physical opposition.Then, within the eighth cave, we came upon a lair of apts.

A full score of the mighty beasts were disposed about the chamber.

Some were sleeping, while others tore at the fresh-killed carcasses of new-brought prey, or fought among themselves in their love-making.

Here in the dim light of their subterranean home the value of their great eyes was apparent, for these inner caves are shrouded in perpetual gloom that is but little less than utter darkness.

To attempt to pass through the midst of that fierce herd seemed, even to me, the height of folly, and so I proposed to Thuvan Dihn that he return to the outer world with Woola, that the two might find their way to civilization and come again with a sufficient force to overcome not only the apts, but any further obstacles that might lie between us and our goal.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 虚舟普度禅师语录

    虚舟普度禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 人品是个大问题

    人品是个大问题

    《中国小小说名家档案》百部小小说名家出版工程,旨在打造文体,推崇作家,推出精品。集结杨晓敏、许行、聂鑫森、孙方友、孙春平、刘国芳、谢志强、陈毓、周海亮、海飞、曾颖等当代小小说最华丽的作家阵容和最具经典意味的力作新作,由100名小小说名家一人一册单行本(共100册)组成,兼容不同年龄不同区域不同流派不同内容不同风格,是当代文学史上第一个小小说的系统出版工程,是广大读者特别是青少年读者认识社会人生、充实人文精神,提升文化素养,增强写作能力的最佳读本。
  • 绝代帝女

    绝代帝女

    她是一国公主,深得圣眷,万民爱戴。她有一个爱她入骨未婚夫,有一个恨她入骨亲弟弟。一段痛彻心扉的背叛,一场意料之中的刺杀,她侥幸存活,心却再不如从前那般干净纯洁。她原以为换了一个身份,就可以过上安稳平静的生活,却总在午夜梦回,梦到那把寒剑,那张狰狞的面孔。她被一双无形的手推向迷雾重重的深渊,记不清她到底是谁,发生过什么。直到有一天,她遇到了他,一个爱她胜过爱自己的男人。她死灰的心再次复燃,却不知,这又是一张涂满了罂粟的网......一个人能活多久?久到爱变成恨,再渐渐变得麻木。不论当初有多热烈,如今也淡了……
  • 源气纵横

    源气纵横

    手挥风霜酷暑,足踏万顷荆棘,用青春澎湃的热血书写一段故事这是关于一个叫林枫的故事
  • 异界魔恋之封邪录

    异界魔恋之封邪录

    本少天生性张狂,掌炽阳,握玄枪。雄霸天下,一气破穹苍,王者归来五域时,弑魔王,定河疆。逆转乾坤激千浪,风云扬,魔冰降。问鼎宇内,谁敢共称皇,独居帝位拥佳丽,斗星芒,战八荒。
  • 红酥手之小阁零落

    红酥手之小阁零落

    那时候,她站在弦玉国的白雪上,出尘脱俗,而今,却是孤身一人,纠缠在云浮国的城池间,她有家仇要报,也有国耻要雪,然而,隐姓埋名数载,等待着她的竟然是一场百转千回撕心裂肺的的爱情……
  • 花千骨之画骨从生

    花千骨之画骨从生

    花千骨转世到皇宫里,和姐妹们一起去了长留山。白子画重新收花千骨为徒弟。并结为夫妻生下孩子和以后的故事
  • EXO之血色世界

    EXO之血色世界

    这个世界,只有强者才是王道,但强者的世界,又蕴含多少血色,每个人的绝路,会展现不一样的转变,转变使我进入了,深渊!!!!PS:本文写的是关于EXO,狼族,血族,杀手。是我的一个妹妹让我代为上传的,希望大家可以喜欢她的作品。同意,我会第一时间为大家更新,谢谢各位读者或行星饭们!!
  • 何处有香丘

    何处有香丘

    她,一个温灵如玉的女子。他,一个坚韧如玉的男子。他从滚滚潮头上救了她一命,以为可以给她一生的幸福。“屏儿,你想做你郭大哥哥的媳妇吗?”“郭大哥哥,我不能帮你解决这些危险和辛苦,但是希望我不要成为你的负担。”“天不绝人愿,故使侬见郎。”但是,世上很多事情,捉弄人的,是命。她的一生,注定不能为了自己而活。“家国恨,浪去莫逐澜。布裙织就盘龙锦,荆钗簪得宫花还。琵琶又重弹。”梦中的谶语,究竟暗示了什么?
  • 霸道龙君快放手

    霸道龙君快放手

    她前世是龙王敖广的宠姬,为赎罪而自愿轮回。今生因能在水中畅游且能用琴声引人灵魂,成为臭名昭著的水妖女七公主,后被皇帝送给嗜血著称的武神泽王当和亲王妃。传闻他曾娶过两任夫人,但是都被他吸血而死,尹萱表示怕怕。她师傅说:“若不想死,那就用琴声引出23人灵魂,便能破你23岁将死于非命的轮回。”尹萱坚定回答:“徒弟一定会努力比您晚死!”没多久,她就发现了一个惊天大秘密。武神泽王竟然月月都要悄然忍受脱皮之苦,而且嘴里全是鲜血,模样恐怖至极!尹萱跪在自己师傅面前,没种的恳求:“师傅,徒儿现在就想死于非命,那泽王太恐怖了……”