
A Four-Part Novel
Transcriber's Note:
By Charles Willard Diffin
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER I - A Man Named Smith
CHAPTER II - Gold!
CHAPTER III - Red Drops
CHAPTER IV - The Light in the Crater
CHAPTER V - The Attack
CHAPTER VI - Into the Crater
In a bleak, frozen landscape the remnants of an ancient tribe huddle in a deep cave, haunted by a relentless storm and the shadow of a saber‑toothed predator. Their uneasy leader, Gor—a towering figure of raw strength and primitive cunning—rallies the frightened people with promises of safety and a path beyond the raging white wind. As the tribe listens to his fervent calls, the narrative immerses listeners in the harsh, primal struggle for survival, drawing vivid pictures of howling blizzards, flickering firelight, and the desperate, animal‑like instincts of a people on the brink.
The story then pulls the group into a daring trek toward a mysterious, dormant volcano whose dark heart is said to house a forgotten, glowing source of life. Along the way, Gor’s leadership is tested by unexplained noises, strange markings, and a growing sense that something far older and more powerful watches from the depths. Listeners are carried through a tense, atmospheric journey that blends raw wilderness adventure with hints of an ancient, hidden world waiting to be uncovered.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (310K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Sep 12, 2009
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
1884–1966
Best remembered for energetic early space adventures, this pulp-era writer brought an engineer’s eye to sweeping interplanetary fiction. His stories helped shape the fast-moving style of science fiction magazines in the 1930s.
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