{"product_id":"2940014019514","title":"PELLUCIDAR","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       PROLOGUE\u003cbr\u003e    I  LOST ON PELLUCIDAR\u003cbr\u003e   II  TRAVELING WITH TERROR\u003cbr\u003e  III  SHOOTING THE CHUTES--AND AFTER\u003cbr\u003e   IV  FRIENDSHIP AND TREACHERY\u003cbr\u003e    V  SURPRISES\u003cbr\u003e   VI  A PENDENT WORLD\u003cbr\u003e  VII  FROM PLIGHT TO PLIGHT\u003cbr\u003e VIII  CAPTIVE\u003cbr\u003e   IX  HOOJA'S CUTTHROATS APPEAR\u003cbr\u003e    X  THE RAID ON THE CAVE-PRISON\u003cbr\u003e   XI  ESCAPE\u003cbr\u003e  XII  KIDNAPED!\u003cbr\u003e XIII  RACING FOR LIFE\u003cbr\u003e  XIV  GORE AND DREAMS\u003cbr\u003e   XV  CONQUEST AND PEACE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePROLOGUE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSeveral years had elapsed since I had found the opportunity to do any\u003cbr\u003ebig-game hunting; for at last I had my plans almost perfected for a\u003cbr\u003ereturn to my old stamping-grounds in northern Africa, where in other\u003cbr\u003edays I had had excellent sport in pursuit of the king of beasts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe date of my departure had been set; I was to leave in two weeks.  No\u003cbr\u003eschoolboy counting the lagging hours that must pass before the\u003cbr\u003ebeginning of \"long vacation\" released him to the delirious joys of the\u003cbr\u003esummer camp could have been filled with greater impatience or keener\u003cbr\u003eanticipation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd then came a letter that started me for Africa twelve days ahead of\u003cbr\u003emy schedule.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOften am I in receipt of letters from strangers who have found\u003cbr\u003esomething in a story of mine to commend or to condemn.  My interest in\u003cbr\u003ethis department of my correspondence is ever fresh.  I opened this\u003cbr\u003eparticular letter with all the zest of pleasurable anticipation with\u003cbr\u003ewhich I had opened so many others.  The post-mark (Algiers) had aroused\u003cbr\u003emy interest and curiosity, especially at this time, since it was\u003cbr\u003eAlgiers that was presently to witness the termination of my coming sea\u003cbr\u003evoyage in search of sport and adventure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore the reading of that letter was completed lions and lion-hunting\u003cbr\u003ehad fled my thoughts, and I was in a state of excitement bordering upon\u003cbr\u003efrenzy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt--well, read it yourself, and see if you, too, do not find food for\u003cbr\u003efrantic conjecture, for tantalizing doubts, and for a great hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere it is:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDEAR SIR: I think that I have run across one of the most remarkable\u003cbr\u003ecoincidences in modern literature.  But let me start at the beginning:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am, by profession, a wanderer upon the face of the earth.  I have no\u003cbr\u003etrade--nor any other occupation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy father bequeathed me a competency; some remoter ancestors lust to\u003cbr\u003eroam.  I have combined the two and invested them carefully and without\u003cbr\u003eextravagance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI became interested in your story, At the Earth's Core, not so much\u003cbr\u003ebecause of the probability of the tale as of a great and abiding wonder\u003cbr\u003ethat people should be paid real money for writing such impossible\u003cbr\u003etrash.  You will pardon my candor, but it is necessary that you\u003cbr\u003eunderstand my mental attitude toward this particular story--that you\u003cbr\u003emay credit that which follows.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShortly thereafter I started for the Sahara in search of a rather rare\u003cbr\u003especies of antelope that is to be found only occasionally within a\u003cbr\u003elimited area at a certain season of the year.  My chase led me far from\u003cbr\u003ethe haunts of man.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a fruitless search, however, in so far as antelope is concerned;\u003cbr\u003ebut one night as I lay courting sleep at the edge of a little cluster\u003cbr\u003eof date-palms that surround an ancient well in the midst of the arid,\u003cbr\u003eshifting sands, I suddenly became conscious of a strange sound coming\u003cbr\u003eapparently from the earth beneath my head.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was an intermittent ticking!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo reptile or insect with which I am familiar reproduces any such\u003cbr\u003enotes.  I lay for an hour--listening intently.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt last my curiosity got the better of me.  I arose, lighted my lamp\u003cbr\u003eand commenced to investigate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy bedding lay upon a rug stretched directly upon the warm sand.  The\u003cbr\u003enoise appeared to be coming from beneath the rug.  I raised it, but\u003cbr\u003efound nothing--yet, at intervals, the sound continued.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI dug into the sand with the point of my hunting-knife.  A few inches\u003cbr\u003ebelow the surface of the sand I encountered a solid substance that had\u003cbr\u003ethe feel of wood beneath the sharp steel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExcavating about it, I unearthed a small wooden box.  From this\u003cbr\u003ereceptacle issued the strange sound that I had heard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow had it come here?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat did it contain?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn attempting to lift it from its burying place I discovered that it\u003cbr\u003eseemed to be held fast by means of a very small insulated cable running\u003cbr\u003efarther into the sand beneath it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy first impulse was to drag the thing loose by main strength; but\u003cbr\u003efortunately I thought better of this and fell to examining the box.  I\u003cbr\u003esoon saw that it was covered by a hinged lid, which was held closed by\u003cbr\u003ea simple screwhook and eye.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069098705136,"sku":"2940014019514","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014019514_p0.jpg?v=1763599221","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014019514","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}