Chapter 4: Escape

An intolerably bright light that seemed to sear his eyeballs was the first thing of which Jim was conscious. Then he became aware of his aching head, of a sense of utter lassitude, as if he had been bruised all over in some machine that had caught him up and held him in its grip for endless aeons.

At last, despite the pain in his eyes, he managed to get his eyelids open. He tried to struggle to his feet, only to discover that he was firmly bound with what appeared to be tough creepers, pliant as ropes.

After the lapse of a few minutes, during which he struggled with the receding waves of unconsciousness, he came to a realization of his surroundings. That light that had so distressed him--though the effects were now beginning to pass off--was a pillar of smoke and flame, shooting out of the crater of a volcano about a mile away, across a valley.

He was lying in the entrance to a cave, pegged out on his back, and bound by the tough creepers to the stakes driven into the ground. Up to the mouth of the cave grew huge tree-ferns, cattails, cycads, and such growths as existed in earlier ages in the warm, moist regions of the world.

Beneath the level of the cave a heavy white fog completely shrouded the valley, extending up to within a short distance of the volcano opposite. But on the upper slopes of the volcano the sunlight played, making its crater a sheen of glassy lava, intolerably bright.

Beyond the volcano Jim could see what looked like an expanse of ocean.

He groaned, and at the sound a creature came shambling forward, carrying what looked like a huge melon in either hand. Jim recognized the Drilgo, Cain.

Chattering and mumbling, Cain placed one of the fruits to Jim’s mouth. It was a sort of bread-fruit, but he was too nauseated to eat, and rejected it with disgust. Cain offered him the second fruit.

It was a hollow gourd, the interior filled with a clear fluid. Jim drank greedily as the Drilgo put it to his lips. The contents were like water, but slightly acid. Jim felt refreshed. He looked about him.

The Drilgo uttered a chattering call, and immediately a host of the savages swarmed into the cave. Men--undoubtedly men, in spite of the brow ridges and the receding foreheads, carrying long spears, consisting of chipped and pointed heads of stone, with holes bored in them, through which long bands of creepers passed, fastening them firmly to the shaft.

Chattering and gesticulating, the Drilgoes surrounded Jim as he lay helpless on the ground. Their savage faces, their rolling eyes, the threatening gestures that they made with their spears, convinced Jim that his end was a foregone conclusion.

But suddenly a distant rumbling sound was heard, increasing rapidly in volume. The floor of the cave vibrated; masses of rock dropped from the walls. The light of the volcano across the valley was suddenly obscured in an immense cloud of black smoke. The twilight within the cave was succeeded by almost impenetrable darkness.

Shrieking in terror, the Drilgoes bolted, while Jim lay straining at his ropes, expecting each moment to be crushed by the masses of rock that were falling all about him.

Suddenly a soft whisper came to Jim through the darkness: “Jim! Are you safe! Where are you? I can’t see you! Speak to me!”

It was Lucille’s voice, and Jim called back, husky and tremulous in the sheer joy that had succeeded his anticipation of instant death.

Then he felt the girl kneeling at his side, and heard her hacking at his bonds. A whole minute passed before the stone knife was able to sever the last of the stout withes, however.

Then Jim was swaying on his feet, and Lucille’s arms were about him, and for a few moments their fears were forgotten in the renewal of their love.

“I heard what that devil said to you last night,” the girl said. “He means to kill you with awful tortures. He is away now, on some task or other, but he’ll be back at any moment. We must get away at once--we three. Dad’s in another cave not far away, and his guards bolted after the earthquake.”

The earth was still rumbling, and the cavern still vibrating, but it was clear that there was no time to lose. As soon as the quake subsided the Drilgoes would return. Guided by Lucille, Jim groped his way through the cavern. The girl called softly at intervals, and presently Jim heard old Parrish’s answering call. Then the old man’s form appeared in silhouette against the dark.

“I’ve got Jim,” Lucille whispered. “Are you ready, dad?”

“Yes, yes, I’m ready,” chattered the old man. “Now’s our chance. I know a place where we can hide in the thick forests, where the Ray of the Atlanteans cannot penetrate the mists. Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Gripping hands, the three started back toward the point where a faint patch of darkness showed out the entrance to the cavern. They were nearing it when another and more violent shock flung them upon their faces.

Huge masses of rock came hurtling down from the roof and sides of the cavern, and again the three seemed to escape by a miracle.

Suddenly a huge shaft of fire shot from the crater opposite, evolving into an inverted cone that made the whole land dazzlingly bright. It pierced the mists in the valley underneath, and by that light Jim could see a great wave of lava streaming down the mountain sides, like soup spilled out of a bowl.

A gush of black smoke followed, and the light went out.

“Now!” gasped Parrish, and, clinging to one another, the three darted out of the cavern’s entrance. Another terrific shock sent them stumbling and reeling and sprawling down the side of the mountain. Jim heard old Parrish wailing, and, as the shock subsided, groped his way to his side.

“You hurt?” he shouted.

“Lucille, Lucille,” moaned the old man. “She’s dead! A big rock crushed her. I wish I was dead too.”

Jim called Lucille’s name frantically, and to his immense relief heard her crying faintly out of the darkness. He rushed to her side and held her in his arms.

“Where are you hit, darling?”

“I’m--all right,” she panted. “I was stunned for a moment. I--can--go on now.”

But she went limp in Jim’s arms, and Jim picked her up and stood irresolute, until he heard Parrish shambling toward him over the heaving ground.

“She’s not hurt, I think, only fainted,” said Jim. “Which way, Parrish? You lead us.”

“Down the slope,” panted Parrish. “We’ll be in the ferns in a minute. We can hide there for a while, till she’s able to walk. God help us all! And I was once Professor of Physical Chemistry at Columbia!”

The outcry might have seemed comical under other circumstances; as it was, Jim heartily re-echoed old Parrish’s sentiments in his heart.

The last shock was subsiding in faint earth tremors. The two men plunged down into the heavy fog, which quickly covered them, Jim carrying Lucille in his arms. He felt the ferny undergrowth all about him, the thick boles of tree-ferns emerged out of the mist.

“We can stop here for a while,” panted Parrish. “Crouch down! They’ll never find us in this fog, and in a few minutes, when Lucille’s better, we can go on.”

“You must tell me where we are and what our chances are,” said Jim, after again ascertaining that Lucille was unharmed.

“I’ll tell you, Dent, as quick as I can. It’s the place where I’ve spent five years of hell as the slave of that devil, Tode. I never dreamed, when we were working on the old Atom Smasher, that he had adapted it to travel in the fourth dimension. He’s taken us back twelve thousand years or so to the island of Atlantis. History hasn’t begun yet. Atlantis is the only civilization in the world. The rest are Drilgoes, Neanderthal men, wandering in the forests, and still in their stone age.

“It’s true, Dent, what old Plato learned from the Egyptian priests. Atlantis has been slowly sinking for thousands of years, and all that’s left now is the one great island that we’re on. Nearly all the Atlanteans, the Cro-Magnon men, have perished, except for a few who have crossed in ships to the coasts of France and Spain. They’ll be the founders of modern Europe--Basques and Iberians, and Bretons and Welshmen. Our ancestors! It makes my brain reel to think of it!”

“Go on! Go on!” said Jim.

“There’s a great city on the island, known as Atlantis too. As big as London or New York. With flying-machines and temples and art galleries and big ships that they’re building to carry them away when the next subsidence comes. They know they’re doomed, for every few days there’s an eruption now.