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Authors: Edgar Rice Burroughs
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and the whole affair set in the masonry of
wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater
or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling
material, for an almost incalculable period of time.
As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of
this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of
these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those
of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies,
however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one
offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief
almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an
opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in
a large, well lighted chamber.
Chapter V — The Perfect Brain
*
The song that had been upon her lips as she entered died
there—frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the
center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor—a body
that had been partially devoured—while over and upon it crawled
a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore
at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits
to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh—eating it
raw!
Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes
with her palms.
"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?"
"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones
of horror.
"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor
for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and
fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since
they are never called upon to do aught but eat."
"It is hideous!" she cried.
He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise,
in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then
he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from
which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the
walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These she
guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads
until they again required their services. In the walls of this
room there were many of the small, round openings she had noticed
in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could
not guess.
They passed through another corridor and then into a second
chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated.
Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies
assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls.
Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the
chamber.
"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I
captured in the fields above."
The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them
whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller
openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from
them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads.
Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in
place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent
direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the
leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then
the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She
noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that
worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she
guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others.
Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He
addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors.
Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it
gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl
resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she
cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The
expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not
tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had
filled them with
wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater
or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling
material, for an almost incalculable period of time.
As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of
this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of
these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those
of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies,
however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one
offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief
almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an
opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in
a large, well lighted chamber.
Chapter V — The Perfect Brain
*
The song that had been upon her lips as she entered died
there—frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the
center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor—a body
that had been partially devoured—while over and upon it crawled
a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore
at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits
to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh—eating it
raw!
Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes
with her palms.
"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?"
"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones
of horror.
"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor
for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and
fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since
they are never called upon to do aught but eat."
"It is hideous!" she cried.
He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise,
in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then
he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from
which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the
walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These she
guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads
until they again required their services. In the walls of this
room there were many of the small, round openings she had noticed
in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could
not guess.
They passed through another corridor and then into a second
chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated.
Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies
assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls.
Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the
chamber.
"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I
captured in the fields above."
The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them
whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller
openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from
them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads.
Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in
place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent
direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the
leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then
the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She
noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that
worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she
guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others.
Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He
addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors.
Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it
gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl
resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she
cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The
expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not
tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had
filled them with
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