When the World Shook: Being an Account of the Great Adventure of Bastin, Bickley and ArbuthnotHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Science
When the World Shook: Being an Account of the Great Adventure of Bastin, Bickley and Arbuthnot
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Adventure stories; Science fiction
Unfortunately, however, just as they were emerging from the cave,
Bastin, always the most awkward of creatures, managed to leave hold
with one hand, so that his passenger nearly came to the ground. Never
shall I forget the look that he gave him. Indeed, I think that from
this moment he hated Bastin. Bickley he respected as a man of
intelligence and learning, although in comparison with his own, the
latter was infantile and crude; me he tolerated and even liked; but
Bastin he detested. The only one of our party for whom he felt anything
approaching real affection was the spaniel Tommy.
We set him down, fortunately uninjured, on some rugs, and also in the
shadow. Then, after a little while, we moved both of them into the sun.
It was quite curious to see them expand there. As Bickley said, what
happened to them might well be compared to the development of a
butterfly which has just broken from the living grave of its chrysalis
and crept into the full, hot radiance of the light. Its crinkled wings
unfold, their brilliant tints develop; in an hour or two it is perfect,
glorious, prepared for life and flight, a new creature.
So it was with this pair, from moment to moment they gathered strength
and vigour. Near-by to them, as it happened, stood a large basket of
the luscious native fruits brought that morning by the Orofenans, and
at these the Lady looked with longing. With Bickley’s permission, I
offered them to her and to the Ancient, first peeling them with my
fingers. They ate of them greedily, a full meal, and would have gone on
had not the stern Bickley, fearing untoward consequences, removed the
basket. Again the results were wonderful, for half an hour afterwards
they seemed to be quite strong. With my assistance the Glittering Lady,
as I still call her, for at that time I did not know her name, rose
from the chair, and, leaning on me, tottered a few steps forward. Then
she stood looking at the sky and all the lovely panorama of nature
beneath, and stretching out her arms as though in worship. Oh! how
beautiful she seemed with the sunlight shining on her heavenly face!
Now for the first time I heard her voice. It was soft and deep, yet in
it was a curious bell-like tone that seemed to vibrate like the sound
of chimes heard from far away. Never have I listened to such another
voice. She pointed to the sun whereof the light turned her radiant hair
and garments to a kind of golden glory, and called it by some name that
I could not understand. I shook my head, whereon she gave it a
different name taken, I suppose, from another language. Again I shook
my head and she tried a third time. To my delight this word was
practically the same that the Orofenans used for “sun.”
“Yes,” I said, speaking very slowly, “so it is called by the people of
this land.”
She understood, for she answered in much the same language:
“What, then, do you call it?”
“Sun in the English tongue,” I replied.
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