The Essential Ellison Part 2

"Help," shouted the fearful scientists, but they were screaming in vain. They were in the heart of Africa-in the midst of wilderness where no one could hear them.

As the explorers were slowly being pulled into the quicksand they saw another terrifying sight. On the branch of a huge tree above them a big, hungry-looking black leopard was growling!

Even if they could get out of the quicksand, how could they escape the danger above?

CHAPTER 3: MAGIC GARMENT.

Lower and lower sank the doomed scientists, when Coby, who was from Texas, seemed to have an idea.

He stretched toward the edge of the quicksand pit and grabbed a long vine that had fallen from the tree above.

"You can't pull yourself out on that!" yelled Professor Locksley. "It isn't attached to the tree."

"Wait an' see," said Coby in his Texas drawl.

As he sank deeper and deeper in the treacherous mud, Coby fashioned a la.s.so from the fallen vine and tied it around his waist. Then, as his chest went under, he threw the rope and slipped it over the head of the hungry cat in the tree above. The startled animal fell over the side of the limb opposite the one Coby was near, and as the strangling leopard fell, Coby was pulled out of the quagmire by the weight of the beast. Once out of the muck, Coby freed the rope from the neck of the dead leopard and, bracing himself, pulled each member of the group out before any harm could come to them.

"That was a smart piece of work, Coby," said Doc, the medic of the expedition. "Where did you learn to rope like that?"

"I wasn't born in Texas for nothing," smiled the big man. After changing clothes and collecting gear, the explorers set out again in search of the Gloconda.

The next day they found themselves in a dark swamp area, surrounded by fierce-looking natives. Without hesitation the scientists were tied securely and marched miles to a village where they got a glimpse of what the natives had in mind. In the center of the village, surrounded by logs, was a huge pot!

"Cannibals," whispered Riles to the terrified bunch, "we'll probably be Sat.u.r.day night stew!"

"Very funny," replied Doc, "but if one of those heathens eats me, I'll give him a stomach ache."

Then the captives were shoved before a huge native who was wearing a horrible mask and a spotted yellow loincloth.

"Look," said Phipps, "the savage is wearing a Gloconda skin!" The medicine man, noticing that they were all looking at his loincloth, said slowly, "Skin magic-big snake." Then he motioned to the pot and said, "Take."

CHAPTER 4: LAIR OF THE DEVIL SNAKE.

The six men were untied and forced to get into the huge pot which was filled with water. As the last man got in, the natives brought out a large, burning torch and set fire to the logs around the pot. The water got hotter and hotter and suddenly the natives began dancing crazily around the terrified men.

Then without notice, Doc grabbed the medicine man by the neck as he whirled by. Pulling his knife, he ordered him to call off the savages. He made him understand that he would be killed if they tried to stop the scientists' escape.

Disgruntledly the medicine man repeated the message and then lapsed into a stony silence. Slowly the cannibals walked away from the men who had now crawled from the burning pot. After collecting gear, they fled with the savage into the jungle.

Hours and miles later the explorers finally came to a halt. Doc turned to the medicine man and said in pidgin English, "Where you get skin?"

The native shook his head and slowly answered, "Big devil snake-bad-big bite-me no go cave!"

"You go or we'll kill you," Doc warned. He gave the native a prod with the knife and the savage leaped to his feet and started off into the jungle.

After walking through swamp, lowland, jungle and hills, they finally came to a large cave. Then, with a shaking voice, the medicine man said, "Me go, please, B'wana!"

"O.K., beat it, but don't tell your buddies!" ordered the explorer-doctor.

Without hesitation the frightened native made a break for the jungle and disappeared in the tangle of vines and trees.

"He won't come near us again," remarked Phipps. "He's too afraid of whatever is in that cave!"

Slowly they crept up on the black cave and then...two eyes, far apart, glared out at them. Was it the Gloconda?

CHAPTER 5: SMOKE OUT.

"Wow," breathed Coby, "look at those eyes! That baby must be at least 50 feet long!"

"That's larger than any of the other African snakes," replied Professor Locksley, "it must be the Gloconda. Just think, here we are in the twentieth century and about to see a reptile that lived in the days before men were known. Amazing!"

"But how are we ever going to get that monster out of the cave and into this big steel cage?" asked Riles.

"Here's my idea," said Phipps. "Why don't we find out if there are any other ways out of this cave. If there are, let's seal them with rocks and sticks. Let's split up and look for them and when we're all back I'll tell you my plan."

The six explorers set off in different directions and within a half hour they were all gathered in front of the black cave again.

"Well, any other places where the monster could get out?" asked Phipps.

The answer was unanimous-no other exits. "All right then, here's what we do," announced Phipps. "We'll set a log on fire and throw it in the cave with whatever is in there-that way we can smoke it out. We'll put the cage in front of the cave so that it can't get away."

Soon the cage was in front of the cave and a flaming log was thrown into the darkness beyond the mouth of the cave. Minutes pa.s.sed, then a loud hiss was heard and a streak of yellow shot out of the cave and into the cage. The door shut and the six explorers were the first men to see a Gloconda.

It was a huge reptile-sixty feet long and four feet wide, with a wrinkled yellow skin. Two horns protruded from its head and a vicious forked tongue slithered in and out of its mouth. It had a stubby pair of legs in front that resembled hoofs of deer. On the end of its spearlike body was a huge sack. This was the mysterious creature the scientists had been hunting-the deadly GLOCONDA!

Little did the adventurers know what was ahead of them when with a grin on their faces they lifted the heavy iron cage on their shoulders and headed back to the coast.

CHAPTER 6: STARVATION AHEAD.

It was 105 degrees in the shade and it was even worse for the six explorers who were carrying a 60-pound snake in a steel cage. They had been walking two days in the direction the compa.s.s said would be South. At last, when they could walk no longer, they set down the cage and their food and ammunition and fell into a restless sleep.

At the break of dawn the men were awakened by the sound of parrots screaming from somewhere near by. The explorers rose and, to their horror, saw that the food supplies were gone.

"Must have been monkeys," said Sorenson, the tall biologist.

"No, it wasn't," said Doc, pointing to the Gloconda's cage, "look at our little horned friend here!"

Six pairs of eyes turned to the cage and there they saw a horribly misshapen snake-stuffed until it looked ready to burst. The supplies had been left too close to the cage and the hungry reptile had eaten them all.

"What will we use for food?" cried Riles.

"There aren't enough berries and fruits to keep us alive in this section," replied Phipps.

"We'll just have to do the best we can," said old Prof. Locksley as calmly as he could. "It looks as though we may have a starvation diet ahead of us, gentlemen."

The old man lifted his part of the steel cage, grabbed his rifle and said, "Shall we go?"

The others followed suit and in a few minutes the caravan of foodless men set forth once again.

CHAPTER 7: MIRAGE.

Eight days without food doesn't help a man and when you've got.a heavy load to carry it helps even less!

This was the predicament that Prof. Locksley, Doc, Phipps, Sorenson, Coby and Riles faced. They had been struggling through the thick jungle for weeks now. For the last eight days they had gone without food.

"If it weren't for this ugly snake, we'd be eating right now," complained Sorenson.

"Well, let's face it, gentlemen," said Prof. Locksley. "We wanted this snake-now we have it, so let's not gripe-shall we?"

On and on through the twisted black ma.s.s of vines and foliage went the starving band. It was on the tenth day, when their clothes were tom into ribbons and their stomachs crying, that Doc saw water.

"It must be a mirage," gasped Phipps, "there's no water on the map to the south except at the coast; we couldn't have gotten there so soon!"

"Yes, let's go in another direction," said Coby weakly.

As they were about to turn around they heard a low, loud whistle. Dropping the cage they staggered through the brush and there they saw what they were hoping for-a freighter!

"We must have gotten mixed up-we're at the coast," shouted Riles. A half hour later the men and the cage with the snake were safely aboard the freighter, heading back to the United States. The men were comfortably quartered above decks, but below, in a heavy steel cage, lay the greatest reptile discovery in two centuries-THE GLOCONDA!

The Wilder One.

Johnny Branrnash stopped his motor-bike outside the bar and motioned his gang to do the same. He hitched up his Levis, pulled his goggles off his eyes, and swaggered into the beer-parlor. Approaching the bar, he said, "Say, dad, how 'bout a brew?" He stood sullenly sipping his beer, while the rest of his gang of motor-bicyclists were happily playing the juke box ("Viennese Refrain"), playing bridge, or drinking. Johnny surveyed the bar; it was the same as all the others. The barmaid loped by and gave him a come-hither look. He turned his back. She was the same, too. Everything was always like everything else. Why couldn't something different and exciting happen?

"Bartender, another beer!"

That was when he saw her. From the very first she looked exciting. Maybe it was because she had three eyes. But it was different, and Johnny was impressed allover himself. She strode into the bar, clad in a leather jacket with "Moll" written on it and emblazoned with the emblem of the Amalgamated Motor-Bicyclists of America. Johnny was thrilled. Her Levis were spotted with grease, her hair was tangled. Moll banged a small fist on the bar and ordered a double shot. The bartender snapped: "I'm sorry; we do not serve ladies in this establishment."

"Ladies be d.a.m.ned!" muttered Moll. She grabbed the bartender by the collar and slapped him across the face six times. "I said, gimme a double shot."

"YES, ma' am; right away."

Flexing his biceps and grinning, Johnny walked over to Moll. "The name's Johnny, Johnny Branmash. Le's dance."

"Get your d.a.m.n greasy hands offa me, mac!" she snarled, and tossed down her drink.

Johnny stared at her dumbly. Now everyone was watching. His reputation was at stake. A faint bit of previously-unknown fear crept into his eyes, but he had to try again. "I said, le's dance!"

She turned, smiled at him sweetly, and hit him with a left jab to the stomach. As he doubled over, she smashed his chin with a blistering right. He started to topple, and Moll shoved him across the room, through three tables, the juke box, and out the door. He landed in the gutter beside his motor-bike, sobbing and bleeding. He clutched his bike to his ma.s.sive chest and there, sitting in the road, Johnny Branmash cried for hours.

The Saga Of Machine Gun Joe.

When his company moved out, Joe was in the forefront, the heavy barrel casing of the disa.s.sembled machine gun rigid across his shoulder, the bandolier of ammunition dangling from his other hand.

Joe was the soldier's soldier. When the Major slid into their trench and said, with sweat running down his face, "Take Hill 561. Now! Jump!" it was Joe-who they called "Machine Gun" Joe-who was first up out of the trench and streaking across the sh.e.l.l-marked ground, racing up that slope to the position.

It was always Joe who ripped the gun loose from its mounting and double-handed it as a light weapon, instead of waiting for the rest of his company, and who more than likely wiped up the enemy single-handed.

Joe was the soldier's soldier.

He went into the battle with that d.a.m.ned half-smile playing about his lips, courage seeming to stand up in his eyes and DARE the gooks to take a shot at him. He had more guts than anyone in the regiment. And more medals to prove it. There wasn't any job too tough or too big for Joe.

So when his company moved out-they said it was to stop a concentrated wave of North Koreans who had moved into the breech North of WungJo-he was out front, whistling a little song, seeming to spit in the face of Fate. The rest of the men admired Joe, and "Machine Gun" Joe knew it. But he was a square guy and he wouldn't let the men make an idol of him.

About twenty miles the other side of the Kukashabii Oil Reservoirs, they split up into teams, Joe and his buddy Karl going over the hill toward the designated area where GHQ had said the bulk of the gook advancement was located.

"Karl," said Joe, unslinging the bandolier of ammo and dropping the gun barrel "you rig the gun here, on this rise, while I go scout out and see what gives."

Karl gave a mock-salute and a little smile, because that was what Joe did, and he watched with love and admiration as Joe pulled the two matched.45' s out of their holsters, stuck a b.u.t.t in his mouth, lit it and walked out of sight, up over the hill, into the face of that enemy horde.

Joe scouted for three hours, ranging far afield, till he was cut off completely from Karl the machine gun, the outfit entirely.

He topped a rise-AND SAW THEM!

There he stood on b.l.o.o.d.y Ridge, two guns in his hands, a cigarette in his mouth, and all three smoking.

Forty thousand gooks coming up the hill, screaming death at him! Brave Joe. The guy with guts enough for the whole regiment! He pumped two fast shots into their ma.s.s, hitched up his belt...

...and ran like h.e.l.l!

You can't BEAT odds like those!

Introduction To Glowworm.