In reply I had five of the feluccas cannonade them. When they scampered
away at the sound of the terrific explosions, and at sight of the smoke
and the iron balls I landed a couple of hundred red warriors and led
them to the opposite end of the hill into the tunnel that ran to its
summit. Here we met a little resistance; but a volley from the
muzzle-loaders turned back those who disputed our right of way, and
presently we gained the mesa. Here again we met resistance, but at last
the remnant of Hooja’s horde surrendered.
Juag was with me, and I lost no time in returning to him and his tribe
the hilltop that had been their ancestral home for ages until they were
robbed of it by Hooja. I created a kingdom of the island, making Juag
king there. Before we sailed I went to Gr-gr-gr, chief of the
beast-men, taking Juag with me. There the three of us arranged a code
of laws that would permit the brute-folk and the human beings of the
island to live in peace and harmony. Gr-gr-gr sent his son with me back
to Sari, capital of my empire, that he might learn the ways of the
human beings. I have hopes of turning this race into the greatest
agriculturists of Pellucidar. When I returned to the fleet I found that
one of the islanders of Juag’s tribe, who had been absent when we
arrived, had just returned from the mainland with the news that a great
army was encamped in the Land of Awful Shadow, and that they were
threatening Thuria. I lost no time in weighing anchors and setting out
for the continent, which we reached after a short and easy voyage.
From the deck of the Amoz I scanned the shore through the glasses that
Perry had brought with him. When we were close enough for the glasses
to be of value I saw that there was indeed a vast concourse of warriors
entirely encircling the walled-village of Goork, chief of the Thurians.
As we approached smaller objects became distinguishable. It was then
that I discovered numerous flags and pennants floating above the army
of the besiegers.
I called Perry and passed the glasses to him.
“Ghak of Sari,” I said.
Perry looked through the lenses of a moment, and then turned to me with
a smile.
“The red, white, and blue of the empire,” he said. “It is indeed your
majesty’s army.”
It soon became apparent that we had been sighted by those on shore, for
a great multitude of warriors had congregated along the beach watching
us. We came to anchor as close in as we dared, which with our light
feluccas was within easy speaking-distance of the shore. Ghak was there
and his eyes were mighty wide, too; for, as he told us later, though he
knew this must be Perry’s fleet it was so wonderful to him that he
could not believe the testimony of his own eyes even while he was
watching it approach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account