"01 - At the Earth's Core" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burroughs Edgar Rice)

is beginning to get on my nerves."

"I think that I may state quite positively, David,"
he commenced, "that we are--" but he got no further.
From behind us in the vicinity of the prospector there
came the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that ever
had fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned
to discover the author of that fearsome noise.

Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the
sight that met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it.
Emerging from the forest was a colossal beast which closely
resembled a bear. It was fully as large as the largest
elephant and with great forepaws armed with huge claws.
Its nose, or snout, depended nearly a foot below its
lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk.
The giant body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair.

Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous,
shuffling trot. I turned to Perry to suggest that it
might be wise to seek other surroundings--the idea had
evidently occurred to Perry previously, for he was already
a hundred paces away, and with each second his prodigious
bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed
what latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed.

I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the
forest which ran out toward the sea not far from where we
had been standing, and as the mighty creature, the sight
of which had galvanized him into such remarkable action,
was forging steadily toward me. I set off after Perry,
though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It was evident
that the massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed,
so all that I considered necessary was to gain the trees
sufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safety
of some great branch before it came up.

Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at
Perry's frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safety
of the lower branches of the trees he now had reached.
The stems were bare for a distance of some fifteen feet--at
least on those trees which Perry attempted to ascend,
for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger of
the forest giants had evidently attracted him to them.
A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge cat
only to fall back to the ground once more, and with each
failure he cast a horrified glance over his shoulder at
the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-stricken
shrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest.