[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and pulled out the golden bar which was the Firebird.
It was warm against his fingers. It glinted faintly in the grey light of the
abyss.
He pressed it gently and felt the bars move apart in his fingers. For an
instant the dazzling wings sprang open between thumb and forefinger, very near
his face. A light like sunshine bathed him, showing up every glittering grain
of soil in the overhang so near his head. And a wonderful fount of sheer
strength poured through him gloriously. . . .
"The Firebird!" Nethe cried, above him and out of sight. She must be able to
see the radiance though she could not see the device itself. There was a soft
thud as she threw herself flat on the lip of the shaft. "You have it!" she
cried. "I see the fire! Give it to me and I'll save you!"
Page 36
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But Sawyer even in his extremity knew better than that, He dared not let the
Firebird stay open more than the few seconds necessary to replenish his
failing strength. He did not know what dangers lay latent in it. He had a
horrid vision of the winged Firebirds swarming about him out of nowhere, out
of some
Gateway opened in infinity, while he hung helpless to fight them off.
He snapped the bright wings shut. The fountain of energy died, but that
pouring of sheer power seemed to have stored itself in his nerves and muscles,
for he felt marvelously refreshed, no longer hungry or thirsty.
At any rate, he thought, Nethe was not going to get the Firebird.
He had been looking for a safe hiding place. Now that it was too late, he had
found the ideal spot. He pushed the closed golden bar of the talisman into the
burrow, digging it firmly into the soil against the rock. Then he found a
second rock and jammed it tightly in after the first.
After that, he tried to climb the rope-like root, but the extra energy he had
gained brought him only up to the edge of the overhang which began to crumble
precariously as he dangled, the root slipping and jolting. He stopped climbing
and simply hung on till the dirt stopped showering past him. Above him, there
was more of an Opening now, and he thought he caught a glimpse of Nethe.
file:///F|/rah/Henry%20Kuttner/Kuttner%20-%20The%20Well%20of%20the%20Worlds%20
UC.txt (34 of 76) [2/4/03 10:18:30 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Henry%20Kuttner/Kuttner%20-%20The%20Well%20of%20the%20Worlds%20
UC.txt
Pretty problem.
Certainly he couldn't hold on forever here. But if he fell, she wouldn't get
the Firebird. Its hiding place might be precarious. It too might fall. The
squirrel might tunnel around the rock, guided by its insatiable curiosity, and
become the wealthiest squirrel in creation by finding the
Firebird for itself. In any case Nethe would not get it.
So, he thought grimly, he was in a position to bargain. He turned gingerly on
his root and craned up the air-well.
"Nethe," he called. "Can you hear me?"
Her brilliant face appeared like magic over the grassy verge. The grass
dripped, and showers of rain drove now and then down the open well and blew in
gusts past Sawyer's cheek.
"If you can get me up," he told Nethe, "I'll bargain with you."
She stretched out a demanding hand.
"I don't trust you. Give me the Firebird first."
Sawyer sighed. "All right. You'll have to stretch a little farther, though.
Here, reach!"
The smooth, narrow, subtly distorted hand waved blindly a foot above his face.
Sawyer laughed aloud and seized her around the wrist with a desperate grip. He
pulled, one threatening, experimental tug.
"Got you now!" he said. "Pull me up or we both go down."
The scream of sheer fury that rang out from her just above his head made him
jump convulsively. In the same instant the arm he held lashed into frenzies of
writhing in a wild effort to shake him off. It was like holding a twisting
serpent. The root he hung upon swayed and jolted, began ominously to creak.
His own teeth were rattling with the violence of the struggle. He hung on for
dear life, shouting above the furious, hissing curses she was gasping out as
she fought:
"Stop it! Nethe, stop it! Hold still or we're both done for! Pull me up!"
"I can't pull you up, you fool," Nethe said wildly.
"That's interesting, in view of the bargain you were trying to make." Sawyer
told her, locking his grip harder around the lashing wrist. "Now I come up or
you come down."
He heard the breath hiss through her teeth. He smiled up into the brilliant
face straining down above him, almost too bright to look at because of the
Page 37 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
and pulled out the golden bar which was the Firebird.
It was warm against his fingers. It glinted faintly in the grey light of the
abyss.
He pressed it gently and felt the bars move apart in his fingers. For an
instant the dazzling wings sprang open between thumb and forefinger, very near
his face. A light like sunshine bathed him, showing up every glittering grain
of soil in the overhang so near his head. And a wonderful fount of sheer
strength poured through him gloriously. . . .
"The Firebird!" Nethe cried, above him and out of sight. She must be able to
see the radiance though she could not see the device itself. There was a soft
thud as she threw herself flat on the lip of the shaft. "You have it!" she
cried. "I see the fire! Give it to me and I'll save you!"
Page 36
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But Sawyer even in his extremity knew better than that, He dared not let the
Firebird stay open more than the few seconds necessary to replenish his
failing strength. He did not know what dangers lay latent in it. He had a
horrid vision of the winged Firebirds swarming about him out of nowhere, out
of some
Gateway opened in infinity, while he hung helpless to fight them off.
He snapped the bright wings shut. The fountain of energy died, but that
pouring of sheer power seemed to have stored itself in his nerves and muscles,
for he felt marvelously refreshed, no longer hungry or thirsty.
At any rate, he thought, Nethe was not going to get the Firebird.
He had been looking for a safe hiding place. Now that it was too late, he had
found the ideal spot. He pushed the closed golden bar of the talisman into the
burrow, digging it firmly into the soil against the rock. Then he found a
second rock and jammed it tightly in after the first.
After that, he tried to climb the rope-like root, but the extra energy he had
gained brought him only up to the edge of the overhang which began to crumble
precariously as he dangled, the root slipping and jolting. He stopped climbing
and simply hung on till the dirt stopped showering past him. Above him, there
was more of an Opening now, and he thought he caught a glimpse of Nethe.
file:///F|/rah/Henry%20Kuttner/Kuttner%20-%20The%20Well%20of%20the%20Worlds%20
UC.txt (34 of 76) [2/4/03 10:18:30 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Henry%20Kuttner/Kuttner%20-%20The%20Well%20of%20the%20Worlds%20
UC.txt
Pretty problem.
Certainly he couldn't hold on forever here. But if he fell, she wouldn't get
the Firebird. Its hiding place might be precarious. It too might fall. The
squirrel might tunnel around the rock, guided by its insatiable curiosity, and
become the wealthiest squirrel in creation by finding the
Firebird for itself. In any case Nethe would not get it.
So, he thought grimly, he was in a position to bargain. He turned gingerly on
his root and craned up the air-well.
"Nethe," he called. "Can you hear me?"
Her brilliant face appeared like magic over the grassy verge. The grass
dripped, and showers of rain drove now and then down the open well and blew in
gusts past Sawyer's cheek.
"If you can get me up," he told Nethe, "I'll bargain with you."
She stretched out a demanding hand.
"I don't trust you. Give me the Firebird first."
Sawyer sighed. "All right. You'll have to stretch a little farther, though.
Here, reach!"
The smooth, narrow, subtly distorted hand waved blindly a foot above his face.
Sawyer laughed aloud and seized her around the wrist with a desperate grip. He
pulled, one threatening, experimental tug.
"Got you now!" he said. "Pull me up or we both go down."
The scream of sheer fury that rang out from her just above his head made him
jump convulsively. In the same instant the arm he held lashed into frenzies of
writhing in a wild effort to shake him off. It was like holding a twisting
serpent. The root he hung upon swayed and jolted, began ominously to creak.
His own teeth were rattling with the violence of the struggle. He hung on for
dear life, shouting above the furious, hissing curses she was gasping out as
she fought:
"Stop it! Nethe, stop it! Hold still or we're both done for! Pull me up!"
"I can't pull you up, you fool," Nethe said wildly.
"That's interesting, in view of the bargain you were trying to make." Sawyer
told her, locking his grip harder around the lashing wrist. "Now I come up or
you come down."
He heard the breath hiss through her teeth. He smiled up into the brilliant
face straining down above him, almost too bright to look at because of the
Page 37 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]