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    From Amber Block
    From Amber Block
    From Amber Block
    Ebook47 pages41 minutes

    From Amber Block

    By Tom Curry

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    About this ebook

    A giant amber block at last gives up its living, ravenous prey.

    excerpt

    "These should prove especially valuable and interesting without a doubt, Marable," said the tall, slightly stooped man. He waved a long hand toward the masses of yellow brown which filled the floor of the spacious workrooms, towering almost to the skylights, high above their heads.

    "Is that coal in the biggest one with the dark center?" asked an attractive young woman who stood beside the elder of the men.

    "I am inclined to believe it will prove to be some sort of black liquid," said Marable, a big man of thirty-five.

    There were other people about the immense rooms, the laboratories of the famous Museum of Natural History. Light streamed in from the skylights and windows; fossils of all kinds, some immense in size, were distributed about. Skilled specialists were chipping away at matrices other artists were reconstructing, doing a thousand things necessary to the work.

    A hum of low talking, accompanied by the irregular tapping of chisels on stone, came to their ears, though they took no heed of this, since they worked here day after day, and it was but the usual sound of the paleontologists' laboratory.

    Marable threw back his blond head. He glanced again toward the dark haired, blue eyed young woman, but when he caught her eye, he looked away and spoke to her father, Professor Young.

    "I think that big one will turn out to be the largest single piece of amber ever mined," he said. "There were many difficulties in getting it out, for the workmen seemed afraid of it, did not want to handle it for some silly reason or other."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXinXii
    Release dateOct 20, 2015
    ISBN9781612100203
    From Amber Block

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      Book preview

      From Amber Block - Tom Curry

      Day

      From An Amber Block

      By Tom Curry

      Marable, in a desperate frenzy, hacked at the reptile's awful head.

      The three gazed at the immense mass, which filled the greater part of one end of the laboratory and towered almost to the skylights. It was a small mountain, compared to the size of the room, and in this case the mountain had come to man.

      Miss Betty, I think we had better begin by drawing a rough sketch of the block, said Marable.

      Betty Young, daughter of the curator, nodded. She was working as assistant and secretary to Marable.

      Well—what do you think of them?

      The voice behind them caused them to turn, and they looked into the face of Andrew Leffler, the millionaire paleontologist, whose wealth and interest in the museum had made it possible for the institution to acquire the amber.

      Leffler, a keen, quick moving little man, whose chin was decorated with a white Van Dyke beard, was very proud of the new acquisition.

      Everybody is talking about the big one, he continued, putting his hand on Marable's shoulder. Orling is coming to see, and many others. As I told you, the workmen who handled it feared the big one. There were rumors about some unknown devil which lay hidden in the ink like substance, caught there like the proverbial fly in the amber. Well, let us hope there is something good in there, something that will make worth while all our effort.

      Leffler wandered away, to speak to others who inspected the amber blocks.

      Superstition is curious, isn't it? said Marable. How can anyone think that a fossil creature, penned in such a cell for thousands and thousands of years, could do any harm?

      Professor Young shrugged. It is just as you say. Superstition is not reasonable. These amber blocks were mined in the Manchurian lignite deposits by Chinese coolies under Japanese masters. They believe anything, the coolies. I remember working once with a crew of them that thought—

      The professor stopped suddenly, for his daughter had uttered a little cry of alarm. He felt her hand upon his arm, and turned toward her.

      What is it, dear? he asked.

      She was pointing toward the biggest amber block, and her eyes were wide open and showed she had seen something, or imagined that she had seen something, that frightened her.

      Professor Young followed the direction of her finger. He saw that she was staring at the black heart of the amber block; but when he looked he could see nothing but the vague, irregular outline of the inky substance.

      What is it, dear? asked Young again.

      I—I thought I saw it looking out, eyes that stared at us—

      The girl broke off, laughed shortly, and added, I suppose it was Mr. Leffler's talking. There's nothing there now.

      Probably the Manchurian devil shows itself only to you, said her father jokingly. Well, be careful, dear. If it takes a notion to jump out at you, call me and I'll exorcise it for you.

      Betty blushed and laughed again. She looked at Marable, expecting to see a smile of derision on the young man's face, but his expression was grave.

      The light from above was diminishing; outside sounded the roar of home-going traffic.

      Well, we must go home, said Professor Young. "There's a hard and interesting day ahead of us to-morrow, and I

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