Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs Read Online Free PDF

said.
    “Will you tell me what that was about?” Beaton asked.
    “Government business,” Tarzan said. “Now, tell me why you’re following me.”
    He hovered, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. But Beaton waved at the only waiter and ordered another glass of tea.
    “Sit,” he said. “This will take a little while.”

    Beaton had sat in the heat of the day, waiting for Greystoke to arrive. After two hours, he believed that Greystoke had left, and then Beaton had to decide if he would try to find the man again.
    Then Greystoke showed up, looking a bit dusty, but no worse for wear.
    By then, Beaton had made his decision.
    “The British government would like your fortune to fund the war effort,” Beaton said.
    Greystoke frowned. “What does that mean?”
    “It means that they had an expert who would claim there was no way that the baby handprint in your father’s diary could have been your father’s son. They decided that they would declare the fingerprint void. And then they would confiscate your lands and holdings. I was to notify you of all this and figure out what your holdings were here in Africa.”
    Greystoke’s face reddened. “They thought I would submit to this?”
    “There are rumors in London that you are a savage, milord.”
    Greystoke’s eyes narrowed. “Do you believe the fingerprints valid?”
    “I did not at first,” Beaton said. “I did think, however, that someone in your family would have protested long before now. Still, I needed the work. I decided to decide when I saw you.”
    “You called me ‘milord,’” Greystoke said.
    “I did indeed,” Beaton said. “You have conducted yourself extremely well, even in extremis . I think the British aristocracy should be proud to have you in its ranks.”
    “They can still pursue this,” Greystoke said.
    “They can,” Beaton said. “But they won’t. First, I can guarantee that it will take me many months more to find you. And when I do, you will tell me that you would take this matter to the courts. And by the way, if it does come to that, go to the French for your fingerprint analysis. As I said earlier, they invented the science. They know it best.”
    Greystoke studied Beaton. “Is there a reason you’re doing me this favor?”
    Beaton smiled. “I realized when I heard that gunshot in the Grand Post Office that you could have been killed. And honestly, my reaction surprised me, milord. I was saddened. I believe we need you. You are no savage, sir.”
    Greystoke smiled in return. The smile was warm, but it sent a shudder through Beaton all the same.
    “Apparently, you met me on a good day,” Greystoke said.
    Then he drank his tea in one gulp and walked away.
    Beaton did not follow him. Beaton did not watch which direction Greystoke took.
    The war would continue, and Greystoke would continue to fight Germans as he searched for his wife. Greystoke had not enlisted, he was not fighting in trenches in France.
    He was much more effective here, in Africa, destroying Germans in his hunt for information.
    And if anyone pressed Beaton later on why he had made this decision, he would say simply he knew no one else who could face the enemy single-handedly and triumph.
    He would say honestly that he had never met another man quite like John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, the man whom they called Tarzan.

Among the hideous creatures in Pellucidar, ERB’s world at the earth’s core, are the Sagoths, which the Emperor (David Innes) describes as “barely sapient gorillas.” Leave it to bestseller Mercedes Lackey to come up with a tale of Pellucidar that is narrated by, of all things, a Sagoth—and a Sagoth that possesses all the hopes and emotions of any of its human counterparts. So join her as she relates the story of Mirina, known as The One Who Fell.
    —Mike

    The Fallen
    A Tale of Pellucidar

    Mercedes Lackey

    I am Mok, son of . . . well, I do not know who my father was. My mother was named Lur, but there are many Lurs among the