Lizard World Read Online Free PDF

when genius is allowed free access into nature’s forbidden temple.
                          
    Chapter IV.
    In which the Dentist prepares for an extraction.

    It must have been the throbbing of his tooth which broke his dream -- but as soon as Smedlow opened his eyes to the blindfold, awoke to the recognition that his hands were bound behind him, his chest confined by ropes and his feet tied to the chair, the mere agony of his mouth was nothing compared to this perfect claustrophobia. He tried to scream at first -- but then started to gag on the stuffing in his mouth and could only manage a few inarticulate moans. Since he couldn’t draw air in through his mouth, he was forced to rely on his stuffed nose -- and could hardly move his chest to breathe. He was certain he’d go crazy. But now as he was managing to calm himself down, to get enough air and listen intently, there was only that occasional rustling sound and a lungful of nauseating odor.
           Through his socks he could feel that the floor was cold like concrete but covered with something that crunched like hay. He felt certain that something was moving nearby. He stretched out his foot -- and encountered something pliant, moist, disturbingly warm. And what had happened to his shoes? He remembered, clearly enough, how he’d lost his way, crashed the car, hitched a ride in a truck with that hillbilly and that strange old bitch. But after that, he remembered . . . drowsiness, headache, nothing.
           How many hours had he sat like this? By now his left nostril had closed completely and he could only bring air in through the right. His bladder was disturbingly full and it was only his regard for civilization that prevented him from wetting himself. It occurred to him that by now, back in New Jersey, the people at the nursing home would have discovered the theft and reported the missing map to the police.
           Well Sir, at least they wouldn’t find him here. Through the blindfold, imperceptibly, the light began to grow and he was conscious, to his left, of the sound of a fly buzzing on a windowpane. At length a door creaked open. Nearby someone gathered phlegm and spat. Smedlow tried to scream through his gag, wildly tried to free his hands and feet from the ropes, but only managed to screech his chair sideways on the floor.
           “You better cut that bellyachin, mister,” said a husky voice. “There ain’t nothin’ round to hear you ’cept mesqueeters, gators and a mess a coco palms.”
           “Looks like our guest’s woke up with the sparrows,” said another voice.
           Smedlow smelled strong body odor, felt the duct tape being ripped off of his mouth, the stuffing pulled out between his teeth. Gasping for air, he almost choked as the spoon came plunging in, depositing its load of nastiness. No sooner was the feeding done than the stuffing was thrust back, the duct tape reapplied.
           “You got good kidneys, mister?” said the husky voice.
           Smedlow nodded politely, gambling on appeasement. The distress of his bladder was beginning to become intolerable.
           “Well, mister, yer chassis don’t look none too good. But if yer kidneys is as good as you say, I guess you’ll do.”
           “Can I have his watch?” said the other.
           “Yer Uncle Earl said if we got ourselves a specimen, he’d take care a the overhaul, which ain’t too much to ask, seein’ as how I seed him through the diptheria when he weren’t no bigger ’n a flea.”
      
    As the full horror of their plan now flashed upon him, Smedlow again began to groan and struggle. Chafing his hands on the ropes, he managed to pick the chair up with him, but only lurched forward a few feet before crashing sideways on the floor.
           “Mister, that ain’t gonna do no good,” said the man.
           “My kidney’s ain’t been right ever since I was