酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

The Lost Continent-Part38_C.J.Cutcliffe Hyne(1865-1944)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
terror, and incapable of further emotion (save only for Phorenice



who still had nerve enough to show no concern), what had been

threatened came to pass. The capstone of the throne slid out till



it reached the balance, and the next shock threw it with a roar and

a clatter to the ground. And then a strange tremor seized me.



After all the scheming and effort, what I had so ardently

prayed for had come about; but yet my inwards sank at the thought



of mounting on the stone where I had mounted before, and taking my

dear from the hollow where my hands had laid her. I knew



Phorenice's vengefulness, and had a high value for her cleverness.

Had she left Nais to lie in peace, or had she stolen her away to



suffer indignities elsewhere? Or had she ended her sleep with

death, and (as a grisly jest) left the corpse for my finding? I



could not tell; I dared not guess. Never during a whole hard-

fighting life have my emotions been so wrenched as they were at



that moment. And, for excuse, it must be owned that love for Nais

had sapped my hardihood over a matter in which she was so privately



concerned.

It began to come to my mind, however, that the infernaluproar



of the earth tremor was beginning to slacken somewhat, as though

Zaemon knew he had done the work that he had promised, and was



minded to give the wretched city a breathing space. So I took my

fortitude in hand, and clambered up on to the flat of the stone.



The lightning flashes had ceased and all was darkness again and

stifling dust, but at any moment the sky might be lit once more,



and if I were seen in that place, shaggy and changed though I might

be, Phorenice, if she were standing near, would not be slow to



guess my name and errand.

So changed was I for the moment, that I will finely confess



that the idea of a fight was loathsome to me then. I wanted to

have my business done and get gone from the place.



With hands that shook, I fumbled over the face of the stone

and found the clamps and bars of metal still in position where I



had clenched them, and then reverently I let my fingers pass

between these, and felt the curves of my love's body in its rest



beneath. An exultation began to whirl within me. I did not know

if she had been touched since I last left her; I did not know if



the drug would have its due effect, and let her be awakened to

warmth and sight again; but, dead or alive, I had her there, and



she was mine, mine, mine, and I could have yelled aloud in my joy

at her possession.



Still the earth shook beneath us, and masonry roared and

crashed into ruin. I had to cling to my place with one hand,



whilst I unhasped the clamps of metal that made the top of her

prison with the other. But at last I swung the upper half of them



clear, and those which pinned down her feet I let remain. I

stooped and drew her soft body up on to the flat of the stone



beside me, and pressed my lips a hundred times to the face I could

not see.



Some mad thought took me, I believe, that the mere fierceness

and heat of my kisses would bring her back again to life and



wakefulness. Indeed I will own plainly, that I did but sorry

credit to my training in calmness that night. But she lay in my



arms cold and nerveless as a corpse, and by degrees my sober wits

returned to me.



This was no place for either of us. Let the earth's tremors

cease (as was plainly threatened), let daylight come, and let a few



of these nerveless people round recover from their panic, and all

the great cost that had been expended might be counted as waste.



We should be seen, and it would not be long before some one put a

name to Nais; and then it would be an easy matter to guess at



Deucalion under the beard and the shaggy hair and the browned

nakedness of the savage who attended on her. Tell of fright? By



the Gods! I was scared as the veriest trembler who blundered

amongst the dust-clouds that night when the thought came to me.



With all that ruin spread around, it would be hopeless to

think that any of those secret galleries which tunnelled under the



ground would be left unbroken, and so it was useless to try a

passage under the walls by the old means. But I had heard shouts



from that frightened mob which came to me through the din and the

darkness, that gave another idea for escape. "The city is



accursed," they had cried: "if we stay here it will fall on us.

Let us get outside the walls where there are no buildings to bury



us."

If they went, I could not see. But one gate lay nearest to



the royal pyramid, and I judged that in their panic they would not




文章总共2页
文章标签:名著  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号