{"product_id":"2940012624581","title":"The Crystal Sceptre","description":"This ebook edition has been proofed, corrected and compiled to be read with without errors!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eContents:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI. THE END OF THE VOYAGE\u003cbr\u003eII. A STRANGE ALLIANCE\u003cbr\u003eIII. THE HOME OF THE LINKS\u003cbr\u003eIV. A RECONNOITRE\u003cbr\u003eV. HOSTILE NEIGHBOURS\u003cbr\u003eVI. LANGUAGE AND WEAPONS\u003cbr\u003eVII. IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES\u003cbr\u003eVIII. ATTACKED AND BESIEGED\u003cbr\u003eIX. THE CAULDRON OF GOLD\u003cbr\u003eX. DAYLIGHT AT LAST\u003cbr\u003eXI. A CAMP ON THE HILL\u003cbr\u003eXII. A DEADLY FOE\u003cbr\u003eXIII. THE NIGHT IN THE JUNGLE\u003cbr\u003eXIV. AN OLD ROUE\u003cbr\u003eXV. A GLEAM OF HOPE .\u003cbr\u003eXVI. TREACHERY AND A BATTLE\u003cbr\u003eXVII. SAURIANS AS FOES\u003cbr\u003eXVIII. THE ENEMY NEAR\u003cbr\u003eXIX. ADORATION SCORNED\u003cbr\u003eXX. THE CHIEF IS PLEASED\u003cbr\u003eXXI. WAR WITH THE BLACKS \u003cbr\u003eXXII. HOME JOYS AND TROUBLES\u003cbr\u003eXXIII. NEEDED MUNITIONS GATHERED\u003cbr\u003eXXIV. EXPERIMENTAL GUNPOWDER\u003cbr\u003eXXV. THE TRIBE FRIGHTENED\u003cbr\u003eXXVI. SPORT AT THE LAKE\u003cbr\u003eXXVII. AN EXPLORATION\u003cbr\u003eXXVIII. AMAZING DISCOVERIES\u003cbr\u003eXXIX. A SACRED DISGUISE\u003cbr\u003eXXX. AGAIN BESIEGED\u003cbr\u003eXXXI. LOST IN THE JUNGLE\u003cbr\u003eXXXII. THE BAMBOO BOMBS\u003cbr\u003eXXXIII. KING AT LAST\u003cbr\u003eXXXIV. A MOMENT OF REST\u003cbr\u003eXXXV. A FELLOW HUMAN\u003cbr\u003eXXXVI. SURPRISE AND SUSPENSE\u003cbr\u003eXXXVII. THE GODDESS\u003cbr\u003eXXXVIII. A PROSPECT OF WEALTH\u003cbr\u003eXXXIX. STEALING THE ENEMY'S FIRE\u003cbr\u003eXL. COVETED GOLD\u003cbr\u003eXLI. FAREWELL TO THE CAMP\u003cbr\u003eXLII. GOLDEN GLEAMS\u003cbr\u003eXLIII. SURROUNDED BY THE BLACKS\u003cbr\u003eXLIV. VALE, FAITHFUL FATTY\u003cbr\u003eXLV. NO LONGER A KING\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*****\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn excerpt from the beginning:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I. THE END OF THE VOYAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWE had lost all control of the wild balloon. It was driven ahead of the wind like a shred of rags, the car trailing behind at a fearful angle, for many of the ropes were broken and all the others were twisted in a hopeless tangle. Nearly all our ballast had fallen into the angry sea beneath us an hour after the storm first caught us in its whirl.\u003cbr\u003eI could hear the ocean roaring and swashing, where its gigantic waves toppled over each other below. The sound must have been tremendous, for the wind blew such a howling gale that neither Ford nor I could make each other hear what we shouted two feet away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOur hats were gone; Ford's face was haggard, whenever the lightning revealed him in the gloom. So intense was the darkness that I could not even see the vast bag above us. When a great flash illuminated the heavens, directly ahead, I noted the monster globe full of gas, silhouetted blackly against the glare, and knew it was slightly leaking. A small three-cornered dent was in its side already. I also observed that the sea was hardly more than fifty feet below, churning milk-white foam in its fury out of liquid ebon waves of mountainous size. The sky seemed like a solid bank of black. The darkness that followed the flash absorbed even Ford. Yet I knew that while he clung to the basket with his right hand, as I had done for above an hour, he was nevertheless attempting with his left to heave out the bag of provisions and the blankets. I helped him at this and we rose perceptibly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhere we were it was absolutely impossible even to guess. That the balloon was driving ahead at more than sixty miles an hour we had long been convinced. This had been the state of affairs throughout the night. I had lost all' confidence in Ford's calculations at the end of the seventeenth hour out from Burma, for the twist which the storm had given us then threw out or broke every reliable instrument we had, leaving not so much as a compass. I was not an aeronaut like Ford, yet I knew we were doomed, unless some change should occur, and that quickly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFord, by the light of a flash, had seen a rope which was sawing open a seam in the silk, as it slashed and writhed in the tornado. When another blinding illumination came, I saw him climbing up in the ring to cut this rope away. The car tilted more than before; I fully expected to go hurtling out at every jerk. Suddenly two ropes, worn to a thread, on the ring, parted without the slightest warning. The car gave a lurch and all but turned bottom-side up. I heard a cry, as I swung out full length, suspended by my arms, and was even slightly struck on the foot, as Ford went plunging down. The balloon shot upward, relieved of his weight, and I was alone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow long I clung there, swinging far out behind the wounded machine, is more than I would dare to say. My arms finally ached so intensely I could scarcely endure the pain. Dangling ropes beat me like knouts, for a time, and then wrapped and twisted about me like coils of a snake. Obviously these must have supported my weight at the last, for in a spell of dizziness and weakness I lost my grip and then was conscious only a second, when I thought, with the utmost unconcern, my end had come. Like a dummy on the tail of a kite, I dragged below the wreck of the car and was whirled thus unconsciously on, above the hungry sea.","brand":"Leila's Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069423927536,"sku":"2940012624581","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012624581_p0.jpg?v=1763570684","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012624581","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}